Thank You Thursday
Guess what day it is!
Guess what day it is!
Do you know what day it is?
Anyone?
It’s not just Thursday.
It’s Thank You Thursday!
Take time today to write at least one hand-written thank you note to someone.
On Monday, I shared about one thing you can do in 2014 to stretch yourself – Go To Guatemala With Me In 2014!
Today, I want to challenge you to join the Thank You Revolution. Start by signing up for the 90 Day Thank You Note Challenge. Click here to see how you can join the challenge. It’s the perfect thing to add to your goal list for 2014!
Start today by writing at least one thank you note to someone who gave you a gift this Christmas.
90 Day Thank You Note Challenge
Take the 90 Day Thank You Note Challenge today with @jonstolpe – http://wp.me/p27Qjv-19k #ThankYouRevolution <Tweet This>
I’m part of a revolution.
It’s not what you think. I’m not revolting against the government (although this sometimes seems like an idea worth pursuing). I’m not revolting against Dallas Cowboy fans (despite the Cowboys are an Eagles’ fan’s worst enemy). And I’m part of an American Revolutionary War Reenactment Group (my brother and sister-in-law were though).
I’m part of the Thank You Revolution.
My friend, Matt McWilliams, started this revolution over a year ago when he challenged readers of his popular leadership blog to develop of discipline of hand-writing a thank you note to at least one person every Thursday. Call it Thank You Thursday.
I took Matt up on his challenge, and I haven’t looked back. Almost every week since joining the Thank You Revolution (TYR), I have written at least one thank you note to someone in my office. At first it was a little scary…What will people think of receiving a hand-written thank you note from me? Will it seem weird? Or will they really feel appreciated? Then it became exciting as people responded with enthusiasm, surprise, and gratitude when I took the time to jot them a simple note.
I wrote about one of my experiences with the Thank You Revolution in a post I wrote for Matt titled The Power Of Gratitude. Now, it is routine. I look forward to writing these notes to people in my office. And I’ve even begun to expand my notes beyond the walls of my office.
The results continue to me amazing. Fellow employees have approached me over and over again in appreciation for my simple note to them. And I’m starting to see the ripple effect of my efforts at my own office. People are talking about it in management circles, and fellow employees and managers are starting to write hand-written notes of their own. For an east coast construction firm, this is incredible.
Here’s the deal – I think you can change the world around you by developing the same discipline.
With this in mind, I’d like to challenge to test run the Thank You Revolution. I am so convinced that this revolution will have a positive impact in your world that I’d like to lay down a challenge with some teeth. Here’s how it will work:
90 Day Thank You Note Challenge
Sign up now through December 31, 2013. To sign up, leave a comment here AND sign up for Matt McWilliams’ Thank You Revolution by clicking here.
Starting January 2, 2014, write at least one hand-written thank you note to a co-worker, a colleague, or another deserving recipient. For the next 90 days (13 weeks), write at least one thank you note to someone new. Be sure to keep a record of your thank you notes. Record the date, the recipient, and the reason for the thank you note. If you need help learning how to write a thank you note, check out Matt’s great instructions here.
At the end of 90 days (March 27, 2014), if you have not have note seen the impact of testing out the 90 Day Thank You Note Challenge, I will send you a box of thank you notes for free. In order to qualify for the free thank you notes, you must sign up for the challenge as directed above, you must write at least one thank you note every week for 13 weeks, you must send me your recorded list of thank you note efforts, and you must tell me why you don’t think the 90 Day Thank You Note Challenge had an impact in your circle of influence.
At the end of 90 days, I hope you’ll stay with the Thank You Revolution, and I invite you to share your 90 Day Thank You Note Challenge success stories.
So, what do you think? Are you with me? Sign up today in the comments!
30 Days Of Thank You
A month ago, I set out to be intentional in my gratitude. I posted each day with a “Thank You” post expressing my appreciation for something or someone in my life. This has been a great discipline. We rush through life so rapidly. We often forget to stop to count our blessings. My Mom always sings a song called “Count Your Blessings”. I remember thinking this was corny when I was a teenager (sorry Mom). But I’ve learned that counting our blessings is a great way to find contentment. These 30 days have STRETCHED me, and they have helped to establish a healthy habit of thankfulness is my life.
Before we get too far into December, I wanted to recap my Thank You posts from November.
30 Days of Thank You
Here’s a list of the Thank You posts from the month of November.
- November 1, 2013 – Thank You – #1 – job
- November 2, 2013 – Thank You – #2 – teenagers
- November 3, 2013 – Thank You – #3 – music
- November 4, 2013 – Thank You – #4 – home
- November 5, 2013 – Thank You – #5 – running
- November 6, 2013 – Thank You – #6 – modern-day medicine
- November 7, 2013 – Thank You – #7 – ice cream
- November 8, 2013 – Thank You – #8 – weekends
- November 9, 2013 – Thank You – #9 – geocaching
- November 10, 2013 – Thank You – #10 – church
- November 11, 2013 – Thank You – #11 – veterans
- November 12, 2013 – Thank You – #12 – traditions
- November 13, 2013 – Thank You – #13 – you
- November 14, 2013 – Thank You – #14 – Leanne (my wife)
- November 15, 2013 – Thank You – #15 – routine
- November 16, 2013 – Thank You – #16 – beach (this actually didn’t post until November 17th)
- November 17, 2013 – Thank You – #17 – friends
- November 18, 2013 – Thank You – #18 – parents
- November 19, 2013 – Thank You – #19 – grace
- November 20, 2013 – Thank You – #20 – Hannah (my daughter)
- November 21, 2013 – Thank You – #21 – Isaac (my son)
- November 22, 2013 – Thank You – #22 – sports
- November 23, 2013 – Thank You – #23 – Guatemala
- November 24, 2013 – Thank You – #24 – dreams
- November 25, 2013 – Thank You – #25 – brothers
- November 26, 2013 – Thank You – #26 – vacation
- November 27, 2013 – Thank You – #27 – cars
- November 28, 2013 – Thank You – #28 – family and food
- November 29, 2013 – Thank You – #29 – God’s provision
- November 30, 2013 – Thank You – #30 – advent
What stood out to you the most in November? How was/is gratitude STRETCHING for you?
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Thank You – #30
Thank You No. 30
Today, I’m thankful for advent.
Our family kicks off our celebration of advent today. We’ll be taking our kids into Philadelphia today for dinner and a Christmas show at the Walnut Street Theater. This is a fun way to get our hearts and brains in gear this holiday season. Each day from now until Christmas, our family will be doing something to celebrate advent.
Why are you thankful today?
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Thank You – #29
Thank You No. 29
Today, I’m thankful for God’s provision.
Did you think I was going to say shopping? I’m not a big fan of shopping, but I am so thankful for God’s provision in my life. I appreciate the material things, but I also appreciate the intangible things that God as provided in my life.
Why are you thankful today?
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Thank You – #28
Thank You No. 28
Today, I’m thankful for family and food.
I’ll be enjoying both today as we celebrate Thanksgiving at Leanne’s folks.
Why are you thankful today?
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Thank You – #27
Thank You No. 27
Today, I’m thankful for cars (and modern transportation).
It’s amazing that I can travel 300 miles in 5 hours from one side of Pennsylvania to the other. We are so blessed to have cars which allow us to travel long distances in relatively short periods of time for work and for pleasure. I can be in Guatemala City in 5 hours via air travel. And I can visit my folks in Texas in 4-6 hours depending on the number of stops at airports.
Why are you thankful today?
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Thank You – #26
Thank You No. 26
Today, I’m thankful for vacation.
I’m taking the next few days off to celebrate Thanksgiving and to be with family. As I wrote about a couple of weeks ago (Pause), it’s important to take a break from time to time. I’m looking forward to a break.
Why are you thankful today?
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Thank You – #25
Thank You No. 25
Today, I’m thankful for my brothers.
I have two brothers (actually three if you count my brother-in-law). You’ve met my brother, David, through the blog comments. He lives in Wisconsin with his family. We are different in many ways, but we have a common bond in Christ that breaks through our differences. He challenges me to think differently and to go against the flow. My youngest brother, Erik, lives in Texas. I wish we lived closer, so we could get together regularly just to hang out. He is unbelievably talented when it comes to music and cooking. And my brother-in-law, Andy, lives in South Carolina with his family. I greatly admire his intelligence and the depth of his faith.
Why are you thankful today?
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Thank You – #24
Thank You No. 24
Today, I’m thankful for dreams.
It’s important to keep dreaming – to keep taking risks. I believe that God gives us dreams worth pursuing. I’m grateful for my dreams.
And it shall come to pass, in the last days, (says the Lord,) I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 2:17
Why are you thankful today?
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