How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happy Artwork

Positively Living®: Shame-Free Productivity Conversations

The Positively LivingⓇ podcast is designed to help you prioritize your passions, personalize your approach to life, and achieve your goals without the burnout. If you're an overwhelmed multi-tasker, multi-passionate, people pleaser, creative, and/or caregiver, you'll love this mix of solo and special guest episodes. With topics like productivity, self-awareness, personal development, habits + systems, decluttering + organizing, positivity, stress management, trauma + grief, entrepreneurship, and more, you’ll find actionable advice, wrapped in humor and hope, dedicated to helping you do less, live more, and breathe easier.

All Episodes

Positively Living®: Shame-Free Productivity Conversations

How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happy

November 17, 2025 • Lisa Zawrotny • Episode 288

Text your thoughts and questions!

Practicing genuine gratitude is often overlooked because it’s such a familiar term that it's become a bit of a throwaway idea, popping up on every self-care list and journal prompt. It’s also become the unofficial theme for November, with quotes, signs, and all manner of reminders to “be grateful” without understanding the context. But beneath all of the hype is a truly transformational practice. This week, episode 288 of the Positively LivingⓇ Podcast is about how practicing gratitude can make you happy.

In this episode of the Positively LivingⓇ Podcast, I’m cutting through the “toxic positivity” and self-help hype to reveal the link between practicing gratitude and finding happiness, and giving you actionable steps to take right now to rewire your brain for a more positive outlook.

I cover the following topics:

The science behind your gratitude practice, including the Reticular Activating System (RAS) and neuroplasticity, that work together to train your brain to seek out the good.
Clarifying what gratitude is (and what it's not), especially in contrast to mindset trends like toxic positivity.
Three effective methods to deepen your appreciation beyond simple gratitude lists.
Additional resources for continued learning and habit building include the Positively Grateful Series Bundle.

Stop waiting for happiness to find you and start cultivating it today. Try one method or approach this week and take note of the change in your focus. Watch how your reality shifts when you intentionally look for the good.

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

Learn more about Positively LivingⓇ and Lisa at https://positivelyproductive.com/podcast/

Stop trying to fit into someone else’s productivity rules! Grab my free Productivity Toolkit, a collection of workbooks designed to help you explore how you work, uncover what truly matters to you, and create your very own energy-friendly systems. Get it here: www.positivelyproductive.com/plpkit

CONNECT WITH LISA ZAWROTNY:

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

(Find links to books/gear on the Positively Productive Resources Page.)

Ep 137

Gratitude Podcast Playlist

Positively Grateful Series Bundle

Dance Song Playlist V1, V2, V3

Music by Ian and Jeff Zawrotny