I heard two guys talking the other day. “What are you doing for Thanksgiving weekend?” asked the one. His friend responded, “Well it's more like Thanks’taking’ weekend as I am 'taking' the day off, 'taking' the family to my dreaded mom's house, 'taking' time to visit my stupid in-laws and 'taking' the lawn furniture to the garage.” The first guy's response was, “Whoa you sure sound negative!”

I smiled behind them as I thought the same thing. Where did he learn to be so ungrateful for people who feed him dinner, a family to drag around and a house that has lawn furniture?

Thanks”taking” is seeing your life through a 10% lens. Thanks”giving” is seeing it through the 90% one.

What if we stopped taking from people and gave back? I know people who expect others to take care of them but rarely, if ever, do they give back. What if you took the time to thank those who have given so much to you? 

What if your work place wasn’t the place that took from you but the place that gave you the life that you have? Even if your job isn’t your dream job, it’s a job. Some of the happiest people I met this week have shared stories of being unemployed.

Do you thank your employees? I see CEOS get up in front of staff and rattle off sales reports and strategic plans. As leaders, we have to stand in front of our staff and say “Before we start this meeting, the most important thing I can say to all of you is … thank you.”

Clients are tired of us taking their money and not giving thanks. When a client walks in say “Thank you so much for coming in today.” When they call, the first thing we need to say is “Thank you so much for calling our business.” Thank them again when they leave. I sign all emails, Grateful or Thankful.

Add “please” to yes and “thank you” to no. Try it, it changes how kind you sound. Anytime you say yes add “please”, if you say no add “thank you”. Apply this to every real conversation, email and text you send - at work and at home! This is something I taught our teenagers at a very young age. Yes and no on their own can be rude. Make it a rule.

Sometimes we give everything we have to the world and take from the people we love. Go home and give your best self.

Happy “giving”!