Five Things I’m Thankful for this Thanksgiving Season

Next week is Thanksgiving. The holiday always reminds me to take time to reflect on what’s happening in my life. What am I thankful for and what might need a little more attention.

Let see if my list matches yours this Thanksgiving. Here’s what I’m thankful for this year. 

The first thing I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving is my family and friends. It’s been a challenging year as I lost several people who impacted my life for many, many years. How do you remember the people who make such a huge difference in who we are? I thankful to all the people who made such a huge difference to my family and friends. Thank you for all the time you invested to make our lives and world a better place.

The second thing I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving are my clients and partners. They continue to challenge me to learn and grow. They willing to share what works and what doesn’t in hopes that others can learn and grow from their experiences. It takes special people to be willing to share for free what they spend money on. My time. I’ve been told that you become the people you spend your time around. I believe that my clients are many of the world’s most creative leaders and innovative organizations.

Without their guidance, I would have to have to find a real job. Just kidding, I have a great career. Where else can you go and use all your experience to create a better future for the world? As many of my clients move toward their next big adventure, I’m thankful for all they taught me about life and living.

The third thing I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving are the people who share and contributed to our communities. When our writers and support people write, they don’t get paid for what they do.  They do it for an opportunity to make a difference in our world. The messages they share come from the heart. It’s amazing how much many of them have grown and changed over the past year.  Many are so busy, they have little time to share their ideas here on a regular basis.

Others have moved on to larger platforms and bigger opportunities. I’m thankful that they invested their time here over the last year. I’m looking for bigger things from them as they continue to grow and share their messages with you on many different platforms around the world. I feel blessed to know we played a little part in helping take their lives to the next level.

The fourth thing I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving is you, the reader of our blogs.  We’ve added over 80,000 new readers over the past 12 months. Without your sharing, we would not be able to reach 175,000 people every month, sharing ideas on becoming stronger leaders in our families, organizations, communities, and, ultimately, the world.

Our blogs are shared over 500 times per week by many different leaders around the world. I talk about being global this year because over 20% of our readers come from outside North America. I could not do this without the efforts of many people I don’t know, but feel our message can impact the people in their community in a positive way.  Thank you for sharing us with your friends and community.

Finally, I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving is my advisory board.  The informal leader, my wife Tricia, reviews the many articles submitted before you get to read them. You can’t imagine how difficult I can be as a writer. She’s taking on new responsibilities here so I can begin writing and sharing my ideas on leadership on other larger platforms. I will be announcing several new partnerships for 2016 later on this year. I think you’ll want to stick around.

The other members of my advisory team are constantly challenging me to be bolder in my approach to sharing ideas. They help me focus on the bigger picture when talking with others about their own unlimited possibilities.  I’m thankful for the many doors they continue to open so that I can share with you every week. I write three or four blogs every week. Many times on many different aspects of leadership in our constantly changing world. When I get stuck, you know who gets the first calls.

When I’m not writing, I lead a successful coaching practice that focuses on the many challenges CEOs face in constantly changing global markets. Next year’s editorial calendar will continue to focus on helping you grow personally and professionally. I’m thankful that it will be completed before Thanksgiving!

My advisory team seems to know how to keep me moving towards larger opportunities that keep me growing as a leader. They provide me a successful model of what an advisory team can and should provide their senior partners with.

Without their wise counsel I would lose my ability to surprise you with the many different perspectives I share with you. They have shared they expect even bigger things for you and me in 2016.  I’m up for the challenge if you are!

So what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Next week I’ll share how we can show our appreciation to a very undeserved part of our society, serving leaders.

See you next week.