Thank you for being part of this community

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

All over the U.S. this week, families celebrated Thanksgiving. It's a simple holiday where you eat a lot of yummy food (I make a killer citrus turkey, and mac and cheese with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos) and express appreciation for anything and everything.

I have a short and sweet email for you.

First, thank you for being a part of this community and reading this email. 

I enjoy writing these emails every week as my own personal exploration, opportunity to teach and sharing/reminiscing my lessons learned. This is such a fun and active community.

We get tons of responses each week, and almost every time I connect in person with someone on this email list, it’s clear that they read and benefit from these emails.

So, thank you for letting me serve you.

Second, I want to share a helpful distinction for me in this area. I've written before about my journey with gratitude, but here’s a simple breakdown I find valuable:

Gratitude

Personal reflection or feeling of thankfulness for the things you have in life. I usually view this as something you do WITH YOURSELF. 

I feel grateful for my kids. Or my height. Or really anything.

The simple exercise I do is: picture my life without something I have, and see how that feels. Then I come back to reality and realize I have it, and that emits gratitude.

Appreciation

I like to think of this as something you express to another for something they did for you. Another dorky definition is to use it in the business sense.

Dave likes to say, "Whatever you appreciate, appreciates." 

So it could sound like, “Thank you for dinner.”

“Thank you for all the hard work on this report.” 

”Thank you for running a great meeting.”

There really is no limit to what you can appreciate someone for (the things they do for you).

Acknowledgements

This is a relatively new category to me, but it’s a powerful one. Acknowledgements are more about SEEING someone for something they’re doing. 

Oftentimes, these evoke the biggest emotional responses because most of us feel unseen in many parts of our life.

It may sound like, "I acknowledge you for being a mother and an entrepreneur. That's a tough balance!"

Or, "I acknowledge you for your relationship with X employee. It’s very special."

So it may not impact you, but you saw it and want to make a point of sharing that.

Third, my five favorite quotes on gratitude!

Bonus from Brent Beshore:

Have an amazing December, and close out the year strong!!

jesse