We teach this concept of the 25 reasons WHY. It’s meant to get to the real driver and purpose for you. Since this is the season for gratitude, I thought I’d try a small twist to the exercise and list the “25 MOMENTS I am thankful for in 2013.”
I admit, I was inspired by this amazing TED talk on gratitude.
Please note: This blog has nothing to do with hiring, growing, leadership, sales, client experience or culture.
This blog is my personal reflection and an exercise that truly connects me with what really matters. These could easily be all about my family, and there are of course MANY more moments this year that I am grateful for. In no particular order (that would be impossible), here are my 25 moments of gratitude in 2013.
I am thankful for:
1. The birth of our second child, James Joseph. He turns 11 months today and is all smiles – well, except for when he is crying.
2. Being able to say that I was there for Ellie’s first day of school. This day will never leave me.
3. Our teammates, Emily and Carrie, who are FINALLY home safe and on the road to recovery with their families.
4. Family weekends. This spring weekend was simple, unplanned and an unexpected good time. My family always believes in me, supports me and gives me exactly what I need.
5. My TWO awesome kids who are the joy of my life – Halloween this year was so fun!
6. The wonderful family at entreQuest who continue to live our values everyday with our clients. This is the team supporting the at risk, at promise youth in this city for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Chesapeake.
7. The opportunity to have written and published the #1 book in the world, Grow Regardless. And yes, for three days we beat Fifty Shades of Grey!
8. My fourth concert experience with the best date to see JT & JZ.
9. I am thankful our team was recognized yet again as a “Best Place to Work” (for the third year in a row).
10. Being asked to sign as a new keynote speaker with the most prestigious speaker’s bureau in the world, the American Program Bureau (not bad company, right?).
11. eQ’s awesome new office space after 9-years at the ETC.
12. All of the great press we have received this year, including Fox, Bloomberg, Forbes (to name a few).
13. Being invited to join two amazing communities, cadre and Maverick. Through these groups, I was able to meet one very cool CEO.
14. The thousands of people who purchased my book, Grow Regardless, and continue to share with me how they’ve used the book in their own lives. It has been an honor. This one in particular was pretty cool.
15. Being asked to be the commencement speaker at my alma mater, Patterson High School.
16. My amazing wife. This was a relaxing weekend with friends in Atlantic City and our first weekend away from both kids.
17. Family time at the beach over the summer. One of my favorites things to watch is all of the cousins playing together.
18. The amazing support of my in-laws through the ups and downs. They are always loving and accepting.
19. Being hired by a billion dollar company to help them triple in size. It was also pretty cool that we were this close to meeting Warren Buffet. Here are the eQ partners about to deliver on our plan.
20. All of the groups that hired us to speak about Grow Regardless this year, including Microsoft Partner Channel, Fox Architects, McCormick Corporation, Vistage, Executive Renaissance Forum, SpeakerBox Communications, Central Scholarship, Carroll Hospital, The Maryland Chamber of Commerce, Carr Workplaces in CA, (just to name few) …
21. The Ravens winning the Super Bowl. It makes the list because I was able to experience this with my Dad firsthand. This is a memory that will never leave me.
22. My old partner and co-founder of entreQuest, Jason Pappas. He always pulls through in the clutch. It would be hard for me to ever make a list like this and not have him on it.
23. Malcolm Gladwell and Dan Pink allowing me to sit in the middle of their great work.
24. Baltimore’s own Wes Moore reading Grow Regardless, twice!
25. My daughter recognizing at 3-years-old that giving back is important. She recently got her first haircut and said, “Can we give my hair to a sick girl to make her feel beautiful?” It was a proud moment.
Joe Mechlinski is CEO and Co-Founder of entreQuest, where he's helped hundreds of companies prosper through some of the worst economic times in history. Joe's debut book, Grow Regardless, an instant New York Times bestseller, defines strategic growth, change management, and organizational development.
