Tips for Cultivating Gratitude and Manifesting Positivity

This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Manifest" by Roxie Nafousi. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.

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Do you practice gratitude? How can cultivating gratitude help you attract positive experiences into your life?

Gratitude is one of the highest-vibrational feelings. When you feel gratitude, you emit a high frequency, and the Universe responds by sending you high-frequency vibes back.

Here’s how to cultivate and express gratitude, according to self-development coach Roxie Nafousi.

What Does It Mean to Practice Gratitude?

Nafousi explains that gratitude is a crucial element of a positive mindset because it’s one of the highest-vibrational feelings. Gratitude works as a positivity magnet—when we express our gratitude for the things we already have in life, the universe matches that vibration by sending us more things to be grateful for.

However, Nafousi warns to be careful when expressing gratitude—focus only on what you’re grateful for without using “buts” (what Nafousi calls “caveats”). For example, don’t say “I’m grateful for my partner but I wish they would clean more”—this expresses gratitude and lack in the same expression. When you express gratitude along with something you lack, the negative vibrations of lack cancel out the positive vibrations of gratitude and get you nowhere.

(Shorform note: In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown also emphasizes the importance of practicing gratitude. However, rather than seeing gratitude specifically as a tool to enhance manifestation, Brown frames it as important to generally feeling worthy, fulfilled, and happy in life. She elaborates that some people struggle to express gratitude because this practice goes hand in hand with fear that you’ll lose the things you’re grateful for. Rather than experience this vulnerability, people would rather avoid gratitude altogether. This could arguably explain why people express gratitude with “buts”—to avoid the vulnerability that true gratitude promotes.)

How to Cultivate Gratitude

Nafousi makes three recommendations for cultivating gratitude and practicing it in your daily life.

First, keep a gratitude journal. Each day, chronologically record everything you experience that you’re grateful for. For example, as you progress through your day, you might write “I’m grateful to have a coffee machine in my home,” “I’m grateful for the comfortable pair of shoes I walk to work in,” “I’m grateful for the rain that watered my flowers while I was at work,” and so on. You’ll develop a positive perspective by becoming more aware of all the things you should be grateful for on a daily basis.

Second, use gratitude to respond to negative feelings. Whenever you start to feel down—unlucky, unworthy, sad, and so on—list things that you’re grateful for. You’ll overcome negative thoughts and feelings and replace them with positivity.

Third, focus on the present moment. Many people get caught up in negative emotions contrary to gratitude, like anxiety or dread, because they’re focused on the past or future rather than the present. For example, you might be feeling anxious and regretful over something silly you said five minutes ago rather than listening to your child tell you how much they love you.

To cultivate gratitude and avoid the thoughts and emotions that contradict it, Nafousi recommends focusing on and being thankful for the present moment—express gratitude for the sights, sounds, and emotions that the present moment evokes and for the people you’re currently with.

How to Practice Gratitude

In Seeking Wisdom, Julia Cameron explains that expressing gratitude is one of the best ways to reach your creative potential and manifest positivity. However, she makes a few additional recommendations that might make this concept more actionable and more applicable to people of different faiths and beliefs.

First, Cameron recommends expressing gratitude through prayer. This prayer can be sent out to whatever higher power you believe in, whether that be Allah, God, the Universe, the Matrix, or anything else. Praying on your gratitude increases your belief in the innate goodness of the universe, which will return more goodness back to you.

Next, Cameron makes a few recommendations on what to express gratitude for through prayer and how to do it. She notes that a good starting point is to express gratitude for the beauty of nature—the bright green of the grass, the coolness of the wind, the sound of rivers, and so on. Cameron says that the natural landscape tends to evoke a state of awe, which is a natural pathway into gratitude. She further explains that this method helps you to stay mindful, or connected to the present moment, as Nafousi recommends in her third suggestion.

Cameron also recommends using prayer to express gratitude for the people in your life—both those you’re close to, such as your partner, and those you’re not, such as the cashier at the grocery store. She explains that a higher power sends people into your life for a reason, so reflecting on what you can learn from these people and being grateful for their presence will help attract more people into your life that will guide you toward your destined path. You can use this as a topic for Nafousi’s first and second suggestion—you can write about the people you’re grateful for in your gratitude journal and focus on those you’re grateful for to replace negative emotions.

Finally, use prayer to express gratitude for miraculous events—like getting caught in a red light that saved you from a car crash in the intersection ahead—and moments of serendipity—like bumping into a nice yoga instructor at the grocery store the same week you start looking for a yoga class. These experiences are gifts sent by a higher power, and expressing gratitude for them will attract more gifts into your life. You can use gifts as a topic for Nafousi’s first and second suggestions—you can write about the events you’re grateful for in your gratitude journal and focus on them to replace negative emotions.

Tips for Cultivating Gratitude and Manifesting Positivity