Happy Thanksgiving Day everyone!

Wherever you are in the word today, I wish you all the best for today even if you are not celebrating this tradition of thanks giving marked in so many countries and cultures around the wold.

I love the idea of having a special day of thanks giving whereby we can express our gratitude for all that’s good in our lives.

At the same time, living with an attitude of gratitude all the time is something we can all cultivate.

Having once experienced Thanksgiving Day with my brother and his family in the USA, I know what a special day it is for so many people around the USA.

On this day, in theory anyway, we get to see all that’s good in our lives and in the world – and for a few hours we connect with our own greatness. Bit like Xmas Day, except a few weeks earlier.

Then we get back to being our “normal” grumpy and stressed selves!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every day were to be like this, a day of goodness, gratitude and appreciation!?

At the same time, I feel that people are forgetting the original meaning of this thanksgiving celebration. Even in the UK over the last few years, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have been marked with a buying frenzy and special deals – so you can buy more of the stuff that you didn’t really need or want in the first place!

And the focus seems to have shifted more to eating, drinking and getting merry – and away from thankfulness and appreciating what we have.

I’ll stop myself there before I start ranting!

Let me walk my talk, by thanking all of you who have continued to read my blog and followed me despite my infrequent postings and multiple cyber disappearances. It is you who inspire me and make me want to become a better human being. Without you and the other people in my life, I am nothing.

Thank you for allowing me to contribute to you – and please know that I continue to aspire to serve you more. And together we can and we WILL make this an even better world.

Also, during this week of Thanksgiving, please remember that no matter what challenges you may be facing in your life, we all have so much to be grateful for.

So why does it make sense to do good every day, and not just on some special day like today?

As Mother Teresa said, do good anyway, no matter what.

“People are often unreasonable and self-centred. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.” – Mother Teresa

If you look around, the world faces umpteen challenges today and it’s really time for us to rise to the challenge and make it happen for a better world for all us. At the same time we have to make the most of our own lives and make the most of what we all have.

This morning, we had a tragic reminder of the need to make the most of each day and our limited time on earth.  Australian cricketer Phil Hughes passed away, 2 days after being hit on the head with the ball. A reminder of just how fragile and delicate our lives are – and yet so precious.

Life is indeed so precious and it breaks my heart every time I hear about more senseless killings and deaths.

Of course it is not how or when you die, but ultimately what matters is how you lived your life – and the legacy you created.

A while back, a blog reader emailed me directly to challenge my way of looking at the world through “rose-tinted glasses”.

Well, as I replied to him, I am happy to see the world the way I see it. Of course it’s not about being blind to reality, but choosing to see how things can be different and in a way which uplifts and benefits everyone.

So yes, I for one am happy to be upbeat about our humanity and our potential to solve the huge problems we face today.  All around me, there are so many inspirational people who are striving to change things for the better – and their number is growing.

More and more people believe in the power of good and strive to make it a fair and just society, a world that works for everyone.

And it makes total sense to do good every day – it’s the only time we have and it’s the only time we CAN do any good! 

Yet so many of us in the Western world who have a lot to be thankful for,  so often take life for granted and never get around to make the huge difference they could make.

So what stops us from doing more good every day?

1. Fear of Failure and Playing Small

Incredibly, the biggest block to us doing more good is fear!

There is the fear of failure, success, standing out, looking stupid etc. The idea of doing some good and taking a stand for the world can seem so big, one can be paralysed with fear.

Well, feel the fear and change the world anyway!

Conversely there is the fear of playing big and not wanting to stand out – but in the words of Marianne Williamson, who are you to not let your light shine?

And if you want some kick-ass coaching to help you PLAY BIG, just visit my Think Big Coaching website and arrange a powerful, life-changing conversation with me.

2. Waiting for Perfection and the Right Time

You will never have the right moment to do some good in the world. The only moment you have is now!

So stop waiting for the right moment and for “one day, some day” – do what you can today. Whilst you can.

Strive for excellence, not perfection!

And if you are too busy with other things, ask yourself – what must I DO in my lifetime?

For Mahatma Gandhi, it was a liberated India, for Mr Mandela, it was a united, free South Africa.

What must you do in your lifetime?

Don’t hesitate a day longer. Start today.

3.  Waiting to Know How to Do Good

Not knowing what good to do in the world today is a really dumb place to come from!

From today onwards, you can simply show kindness to everyone you meet.

Do not wait to be enlightened one day with your life purpose, so you can then spend the rest of your life blissfully focusing on doing good in the manner you were supposedly pre-ordained to do so!

Simply make it your life purpose to be kind and loving every day – and then carry out your good deeds daily to the best of your ability.

And if you are still looking for ideas to spread kindness, just choose from any of these 31 ways to carry out random acts of kindness

The world needs you do to some good – do not keep it waiting!

Get the Life you Love – 9th Anniversary

We all have deep within us this calling and a capacity to help others, to make a difference in some way and to make ourselves count.

It is this belief that drives me to coach, to blog and to publish books. And this is why exactly 9 years ago this week, I published my book “Get the Life you Love“.

Exactly 10 years ago on 25th November 2004, I met up with my friend Ritu Sethi and we got talking about our goals for the following year. When I mentioned I wanted to write a best-selling book within a year, she challenged me to do so.

I accepted her challenge and agreed that the defining moment proving that I had achieved my goal would be to see my book on the shelves of Borders Bookstore, Oxford Circus, a year from that day – and then the two of us would celebrate with champagne.

Did I do it!? Yes!

This photo taken on 25th Nov 2005 is testimony to what you too can do with some focus, dedication, accountability and most importantly ACTION!

A few months after this photo was taken, Borders Bookstores gave my book a national listing and stocked it in over 60 stores. Then a few years later during the downturn, they went bust!

This story gives me an opportunity to ask you some powerful questions:-

1. What’s next for you?

2. What will YOU achieve by 25th November 2015?

3. Who will you have to BE to achieve this? 

4. What about in 10 years’ time!?

Answers below in the comments box please:)

And so it happened that 9 years ago this week, I took a video of my book rolling off the printing press. Every aspiring author’s dream video!

That summer of 2005, I spent many days and weeks in Regents Park and created something that been so fulfilling and rewarding to me.

Having sold thousands of copies since then, I feel I have achieved my intention of helping and contributing to a lot of people.

From the original print run of almost 4,500, I am now down to my last 100 or so copies. Over the years, the mountain of books delivered to my home has now dwindled down to less than two packs of 60!

(And these 100 copies too would have gone a long time ago, if it wasn’t for the beauty and efficiency of print-on-demand, whereby I get to fulfil Amazon orders automatically by having single or more copies printed by Lightning Source, my international printer).

Signed Copies for You and Your Friends

I now intend to see the remaining 100 copies sold by Xmas – and am sending out signed copies to readers around the world.

Please click on the Paypal button below to order your copies.

This is the perfect gift for Xmas and the New Year – I can even send it as a gift on your behalf! Just contact me by 10th December and I’ll get some copies out to your loved ones:-).

I am grateful to all of you for sharing this journey with me.

The exhilarating thing is that the 9 years since I published the book have just flown by! It’s scary too!

I would love you to get my book and go through the many lessons and exercises – and I can guarantee your life will be impacted in a positive way.

Please do let me know how you get on with my book – and I would really appreciate it if you would write a review on Amazon afterwards.

And I always welcome all feedback about anything I do or say.

Please also let me know how else I can help you get the life you love in 2015. On this day of gratitude and appreciation, this is the question I would like you to answer:-

How else can I serve you?

Finally, during this week of Thanksgiving, please remember that no matter what challenges you may be facing in your life, we all have so much to be grateful for.

To help you celebrate and appreciate all that you have got to be thankful for, check out my special articles about this special time.

Thanksgiving Lesson 1 – How To Embrace What You Already Have

Thanksgiving Lesson 2 – How To Let Yourself Give and Receive

Thanksgiving Lesson 3 – How To Add a Little Sizzle to Your Relationships

Thanksgiving Lesson 4 – How to Harvest the Wisdom from my Blogger Friends

Thanksgiving Lesson 5 – How to Serve Others at the Global Table

Thanks everyone!

Images courtesy of  woodleywonderworks and katerha