Creating Thanks and Catching Up
November 21st, 2010 // 10:54 am @ Scott
Sure I look forward to the Holidays but probably for different reasons than most. I like to think that I do a pretty good job of staying in touch and showing love and appreciation to my family all through the year, not just on a couple days each month.
But, I do know that the rest of the world goes on ‘pause’ for a few days every time a Holiday passes and it gives me a chance to hit the gas pedal and get some much needed time to catch up.
Oh, of course I’ll have the routine Thanksgiving day celebration and we’ll do our part to try to raise the retail stats for Black Friday. In between all of that, I’ve got stacks of client files and undone projects ready for long nights in the office and a marathon day at a Starbucks. I’ll let you know how it goes… the funny thing is, when focused and “pedal to the medal” it’s amazing how much one can get accomplished and put into motion.
Just the other day on one of our weekly ‘touch base’ calls, Ryan was telling me about some TV show where a person was down to just 9 days of cash left to keep their business afloat. Ryan properly stated, “geez, 9 days, seems like a long time anymore… imagine what we do in less time than that.”
One of the big points about the Info-Summit and any GKIC Event is massive action and using Lloyd Irvin’s “gun-to-the-head” philosophy. I was talking with a client the other day and he mentioned the need for some extra help on some projects that were outside of what we might routinely do for him. He said he needed them quickly and I ask what that meant, he said a week or so, and I said, “humbly speaking, give us a week and we can do anything.” He joked that he was going to say 48 hours just to see how I’d respond…
Of all things to be thankful for, most aren’t thankful enough about the time they have and the opportunity that’s available. I’m not one to take ANYTHING for granted, but I’m also pretty fatalistic. I’m one of those people who wakes up reminding myself that I’ve now got one less night left, and soon, one less day.
Call me crazy – I’m not negative about it – I look at it as the ultimate appreciation and respect for what we each have to be thankful for. I don’t want to waste what has been given, that I’ve got no control over.
See, I believe just waking up it the greatest gift of all, and it so happens to be the one we all have in common regardless of anything else. The rest of the stuff we’ve got to be thankful are results of the decisions we make and the actions we take.
My rule for Thanksgiving is simple, giving thanks is not a Holiday event but a daily occurrence and the more you practice it, the more things you’ve got to be thankful for.
We call it being self-reliant. Not to take away from all the wonderful things like freedom, family, health, etc, these are all things to be thankful for and never look beyond. But at the end of the day, what separates You, me and us as entrepreneurs is our willingness to take on the responsibility of providing, creating, and sharing reasons, opportunities, wealth, and things in general to be thankful for.
Show me someone who’s a practitioner of “thanks” giving and I’ll show you someone who’s got a lot to be thankful for. No coincidence.
After eating well, loving a lot, and sharing some moments with my family, I’m going to dive into work and follow my personal motto of working when others aren’t and get busy creating more things to be thankful for.
Allow me to say THANKS to you and know how much I appreciate you and our relationship together. I’d like to give you a little pat on the back that you do deserve. Use your entrepreneurial influence to create more reasons to be thankful to yourself, and you’ll be giving everybody around you more to be thankful for.
Enjoy the Holiday, your family, the food, and get out there and spend some money and help the Holiday Season get off to a good start. It’ll thank you for it in ways you’ll never know.
Category : Blog
