As we continue our Thanksgiving week, I want to challenge you to find four things in your life to be thankful for. Maybe it’s a house. Maybe it’s your job. Hopefully, it’s your family and friends. Don’t forget about your furry friends as well! Write out this list in a journal or on a scrap piece of paper. Actual writing gets your brain moving and helps with your creativity. Once you have your list written down, figure out if you’ve protected the things you are thankful for.
For example, if you are thankful for your family, have you taken these steps:
- have a Last Will and Testament drafted
- Purchase life insurance on yourself
- Start a savings plan with 529 accounts and retirement account you can pass to future generations
- keep a journal of your mistakes. No seriously! Chronicle your mistakes so others won’t make the same ones. Hearing real world stories of failure helps drive the point home for your close ones.
Ok, once you have this list written down, go and thank the people or things you have on the list. If your list contains your house, spend some time cleaning and repairing the things that need fixing. If your list contains a furry friend, spend an hour or so with your pet doing what they like to do. Take time to improve or maintain what you are thankful for to protect that thing for the future.
Finally, make a list of three to four things you are thankful for. No, this isn’t a typo. I mean three or four MORE things. Spend the next year being thankful for these things so that when next Thanksgiving comes around, you have less work to do. You’ll thank yourself in a year.
Rational people give thanks. Stay rational.
-B&T