Wait until you feel grateful and you’ll wait a while. Make noticing a habit and the feeling tends to follow.

Holding out for the feeling to arrive first gets the order backwards. Gratitude is not a mood that descends and then prompts you to notice things. It usually works the other way round, where the deliberate noticing of specific, small, unremarkable things is what eventually produces the feeling, often weeks later and without announcement. The practice comes before the payoff.

Write down three things each day for one week, specific ones rather than categories. Do it even on the days you feel nothing at all, because those are the days doing the work.