Happy Thanksgiving to all of our US community members!
We’re so grateful for everyone who reads, comments, shares, and participates in the Successful Blog. Here’s a little music to set the mood…
Have a wonderful day wherever you are!
15 Ways to 365 Days of Gratitude
A Guest Post by
Rosemary O’Neill
365 Days of Gratitude
Now that the turkey leftovers are just about gone, itâs tempting to start hanging holiday decorations and move on. But we should cultivate an attitude of gratitude all year long. Itâs one of the best ways to separate human-centered businesses from the robot army. Humans care about elevating others; robots only care about processing bits and bytes.
Here are 15 simple (but concrete) ways to show appreciation online.
- Give a Klout +K – you can debate whether Klout means anything or not, and CEO Joe Fernandez has said that +Ks donât directly contribute to a higher score, but it sure feels nice when someone gives you a +K, especially in a relevant topic area.
- Facebook Like – an oldie but a goodie, some people obsess over their number of âlikes,â so itâs a nice way to give a pat on the back.
- Follow or subscribe – following someone on any social network or subscribing to their feed (blog or status updates) means you are interested in what they have to say. What better way to show you care?
- RT or Mention on Twitter – the ReTweet is the highest compliment you can give someone on Twitter, and it contributes to their Klout score, so double score! Mentioning someone, in status updates or comments on other networks is like name-dropping. Often the object of the name-drop is notified, and most people enjoy being recognized publicly.
- #FollowFriday – this one has had its ups and downs, but done correctly, a nice FollowFriday on Twitter can be a nice perk for someone. I think Gini Dietrich does it best; she picks one person, writes about him/her on her blog, Spin Sucks, and then Tweets it out. Itâs meaningful, succinct, and likely to result in more followers.
- LinkedIn Recommend – for a business connection, a nice recommendation for the individual or for their products/services is a great way to say thanks. Itâs like getting a gold nugget in the mail!
- Empire Avenue buy or recommend – if your contact is on Empire Avenue, buying some shares or giving an endorsement or recommendation is a nice recognition.
- Google +1 – this is a very important one. When you give a Google +1 to a personâs content, it shows up in search results, and it means that their content is more likely to continue showing up in your search results going forward. Thatâs power.
- Twitter or Klout list – itâs pretty easy to set up lists in Twitter and Klout, and itâs a way to publicly pull the cream of the crop to the forefront. Would you like to be included in a list of âSmart Peopleâ or âPeople Who Inspire?â Yeah, me too.
- Paper.li inclusion – this is another service that has supporters and detractors, but I always feel a nice boost when someone includes my feed in a Paper.li or any other of the aggregator services (Storify too).
- Comment on their blog – this is where the action is. Offering an intelligent comment that contributes to someone elseâs blog is a sincere compliment.
- Blog roll – kick it old school; honor someone by including their blog in your âlinksâ list. Ever heard of âlink juice?â Itâs hard to come by, and a much-appreciated gift.
- Thank on Quora – if you participate on Quora (and itâs a great place to get answers directly âfrom the horseâs mouthâ), the best thank you is a âthank you.â When you give a thanks, the person is notified.
- Reply to a forum topic – it takes courage to stop lurking and start a topic in a busy forum. When you choose to reply, and add your own thoughts to the conversation, you are supporting the orginal poster and the community itself.
- Comment âlikeâ – several blog commenting systems support âlikesâ now, so you can select particular comments and single them out for praise.
My suggestion is to start every day by handing out a few of these, without any expectation of return. A day that starts with gratitude is already a success.
_____
Author’s Bio: Rosemary OâNeill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out their blog. You can find her on Twitter as @rhogroupee
How I Got from Gratitude to Grace
about gratitude.
I understand the power of the words, thank you.
I understand them so deeply that as a child I was afraid to say them.
I would watch how some people use them frivolously, I was afraid that people wouldn’t hear how much I meant them.
I was afraid they wouldn’t see in my eyes or hear in my voice that I meant them.
I feel the words, thank you, like a frog hears, deeply from his tiny ears into his lungs.
As I considered Thanksgiving, I thought it’s time I learned more about what powers those words.
I did a search for the etymology of the word, gratitude, and found myself wandering through a world of connections.
Our word gratitude may have from the 15th Century Middle French word, gratitude which means “good will.” If it came from the Latin word gratus which means “thankful, pleasing,” it’s a cousin to the word grace.
Good will.
Thankful.
Pleasing.
Grace.
In some families, grace is a prayer.
In some, it’s a ritual and a tradition.
Some have chosen it to name a child.
But when I saw that word, grace, … it was all of those and more.
Grace …
Immediately my mind heard music, my heart saw this photo, which has been a friend since 2006.
So I went looking for the word, grace, in my own writing.
It appears twice in these ways …
… I wish for my friends to be around me. I wish for the courage to face where I’m going, to know what I know — that I’m unprepared for what I’ll be doing. … Then I breathe. Then I breathe. Then I breathe once more…. I ask permission without words, but through the grace and gentleness of my movement. I ask for faith from sky and angels who are everywhere. I need the wisdom of one who has conquered fear. … Inside the fear is the graceful wisdom I was seeking. —The Rhythm of the Rowing
and
Head and heart together. Head and heart â it took so long to know.
When head and heart come together life is a dance.
Head and heart together . . .
grace. — Head and Heart Together
I wandered back through my life to find a conclusion. I wrote it years ago, but only realized it now.
Thank you is best offered filled with trust — breathing in life without fear.
With grace and gentleness, head and heart come together in gratitude.
That’s how I got from gratitude to grace.
Wishing you your family and friends around you.
May you move in gratitude and grace.
Be irresistible.
How to Be Ever Grateful for What You Have
Thanksgiving. Families. Rooms filled with people. Old torn relationships and new relatives. Or worse. A diner and a meal alone with faded memories.
We can’t bring back or remake today into what once was.
We can’t get the folks we love to behave exactly as we might want.
We can’t orchestrate the world to turn slowly to our best thoughts.
But we can be grateful for what we’ve got.
Every day. No matter what. We can recognize and celebrate what we value most of all.
How to Be Ever Grateful for What You Have
When that clerk in the grocery shop snaps and cracks and can’t even look up to see the person that you are, think about the generous person might have seen. Smile anyway and say “Thank you.”
When that person at work treats you like an inconsequential robot, think about the value you add every day. Smile anyway and say “Thank you.”
When that family member takes over the center of the universe, think about how much nicer you can be when you’re able to see the view from the perimeter. Smile anyway and say “Thank you.”
When that person you misinterprets your good deeds, think about good feelings that came with the doing. Smile anyway and say “Thank you.”
When that gossip says things about you that aren’t true, talk to your friends who would never believe such things about you. Then smile anyway and say “Thank you.”
Thank you
for showing me I don’t get thrown by little things.
for helping me see who I am is not what you say about me.
for the opportunity to try a positive response to your negativity.
Thank you can be an invitation to set the table differently.
But most importantly,
When the people who help you thrive show up,
smile every time and say thank you.
You’ll know them by the way
they consistently say and show they have faith in you,
by the hope and time they invest your dreams,
and by the endless love they provide to see you through.
Make every breath a smile and a thank you.
Say it out loud and show to proudly in every way you know how.
It’s a forever gratitude … a generosity that goes both ways.
Smile and say “thank you” out loud to recognize how rich your life is.
Every day.
———
Thank you to everyone who has changed my life.
My gratitude is huge and will always come back to you.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
I’m a proud affiliate of
Cool Practice Review: Gratitude Challenge
Todd Hoskins chooses and uses tools, products, and practices that could belong in an entrepreneurial business toolkit. He’ll be checking out how useful they are to folks in a business environment.
Cool Practice Review: Dialogue Exercise
A Review by Todd Hoskins
Earlier this year, Liz wrote on how gratitude is more than saying “thank you.” “Breathing” gratitude contributes to thrivability, both in oneself and extending to one’s friends, co-workers, and community.
But gratitude is very difficult in the face of pain.
Can I be grateful for my divorce? For my genetic condition? For a decline in income or revenue? For a dissatisfied client?
By finding gratitude within a challenge or hardship, it takes away my victim status, and allows me to see how suffering can contribute to my growth. My wound can become my strength, and I can grin (and weep) in the face of loss because I know a stronger foundation is being built.
Businesses have had their share of pain, not just now, for it is a part of working within a living system where systemic needs are sometimes contrary to the people working within the system. At an organizational or group level, there is enormous power in sharing the individual and collective difficulties along with the growth that may emerge from the hardship. Try this exercise as a reflection on the past year, or use it in your annual reviews:
1. Each person writes down 2-3 difficulties and why they are grateful for them. Encourage your people to speak on behalf of themselves, and/or the team.
I am grateful for _____, because it has ______.
(i.e. I am grateful for John’s resignation, because it has shown me how I do not allow people who work for me to creatively experiment and try out their own ideas).
((i.e. I am grateful for losing our largest client, because it has demonstrated how much we compromised on our vision in order to keep them happy).
2. Each person shares their gratitude sentences, with no judgment or commentary from the group.
3. Offer thanks for the participation, but don’t try to solve anything. Give the exercise some breathing room. A discussion may ensue, but a debate, planning session, or analysis would be best saved for later.
Try it, and let us know how it went!
Summing Up â Is it worth it?
Enterprise Value: 5/5 â Groups should be kept below 25
Entrepreneur Value: 5/5 â Want commitment and teamwork? This helps you get there.
Personal Value: 5/5 – For family, for friends, even your network of ambient intimacy
Happy Thanksgiving!
To the Moms We Look Up To … Live Your Thank You
Moms Are People
My own mother was barely 9 years old when the Stock Market Crashed in 1929. I suppose there’s not a person today who can’t imagine what it might have been like to grow up, a child of a single mom with six brothers and sisters and no meat on the table. They all worked on a ranch and went to school when they could. She knew the hard work of living.
Lots of folks had it worse than she did.
Back then, some folks lost their homes. Some became hobos. Some lived wherever they could. The ones I knew were called “family.” People took them in. I had a lot of “aunts,” “uncles,” and “cousins” who weren’t blood relations.
My mother never forgot those times or people who found themselves in similar situations.
When I was in grade school, she helped two boys I know find places at “Boys Town” because their family couldn’t afford to raise them. In some ways she was their mother too.
And just recently on a visit to our hometown, my closest friend said she met a woman I know who’s parents hung out at my dad’s saloon. The woman told my friend that, growing up, she always looked forward to my mom’s Christmas presents. “She gave us the “good” pajamas in the pretty boxes. She always put something sweet inside with them.”
My mom used to baked tens of dozens of cookies to give away every holiday season. She would frost and decorate every one of them. Sometimes I got to help with the decorating.
When we’re lucky we have a mom like that in our house every day, but even when we don’t, moms like that are all around us.
Look around. No matter our circumstances. Moms give us powers that make us better people. Moms are models of strength and rising above bad situations. They have to choose for other people to keep things in balance and moving forward. They feed our bodies, our minds, our souls. They believe in us even when we have trouble believing.
Moms are heroes.
Sometimes moms do their jobs so well, we forget they are people. We cast them in their role and only see our relationship with them, never thinking about who they were before we were there.
Sometimes we don’t see what comes to us easily.
My mom had a girl baby that died nine days after that little girl was born. That happened 3 years before there was a me. I didn’t understand what that might have meant to her and her life, until fully a year after she died. That’s when I began to understand my mom as a human being.
They say there are moms who don’t do well. It’s an overwhelming job that requires some experience of love and fearlessness.
I say there are mom all around us, even moms who are dads, even moms who’ve never had children.
If you have a mom who has given you life or know a mom who has changed your life, let her know how you’ve looked up to her when you’ve needed her.
Without the moms in the world, we wouldn’t be us.
Let the world see the moms you look up to, the moms who have made you.
Live your thank you … to its highest value.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
I’m a proud affiliate of