Most people who perform at their peak practice gratitude, use gratitude affirmations, and have what has been coined an “attitude of gratitude”. But how can you achieve and maintain this mindset of gratitude? What can you do to become more grateful? 

There are many perks of being grateful, including improving your mood and your vibration. Additionally, being grateful is good for your relationships, your mental and physical health, and increases productivity while promoting better sleep.

But what about those days when you’re just not feeling grateful? Those are the days when you really need the benefits of practicing gratitude. 

To help get into that state of mind, I’ve put together 5 Shortcuts to an Attitude of Gratitude:
 

1) Keep a gratitude journal

Yes, this seems like an obvious one - but it can be easy to let it fall by the wayside. I keep my gratitude journal right next to my bed on the nightstand so it’s visible when I get up and when I go to sleep. Even if you only write down one thing per day, that’s effective. It can be as little as “I’m grateful I had three healthy meals”  to whatever big is happening in your life like “I’m grateful for my job that provides abundance in my life” or even  “I’m grateful my kids are healthy”.
 

2) Pay attention to the small things

It may sound small, but this is a big piece of becoming a content person in life. No one is happy 24-hours a day. Life is about the moments, the small beauties, the unseen mercies. Each day when you wake up, take a look around you and find one immediate thing you’re grateful for. The bed you sleep in, the person (or pet) next to you, the sun shining in the sky - anything that you see right away that you can be thankful for. If you start your day off by being grateful for one thing and you do this every day, then it starts to become a habit.
 

3) Hang around grateful people

The company you keep rubs off on you, we all know that. But sometimes negativity can be subtle and hard to detect. Keep an eye out for signs of people that bring you down, complain often, or don’t practice gratitude. Limit the time you spend with them. Obviously, it’s not always possible to eliminate them completely from your life; co-workers, family members, acquaintances - they’re part of life and sometimes you just have to figure out a way to accept that. But in your “downtime”, choose people who live their life practicing gratitude. 
 

4) Verbalize your “gratefuls”

Each day tell yourself, or someone around you, what you’re grateful for. You can look in the mirror and say “I’m so grateful to be alive right now. I’m grateful for my friends, my health, the roof over my head.” You’ll be amazed how quickly that puts you in a good mood and into and an attitude of gratitude.
 

5) Make a habit of looking up

This can be literally or figuratively. We spend so much time looking down at our phones, that looking up and around us at the beauty of the world is a good practice to get into. As well, “looking up” at the world with our thoughts and attitude is another way to bring us into a state of gratitude. 

These are just some of the quick ways I use to jumpstart myself into an attitude of gratitude. Do you have any tips or tricks that you use to lift yourself up? I’d love to hear them, please share in the comments!

And since we’re talking about gratitude, I have a special offer for you. It’s my Rich With Gratitude System, which includes a gratitude awakening meditation and much more, along with a free copy to gift to a loved one.

Until next time!