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Delivering Happiness: Feel Grateful Now

Last  year I compiled an ambitious list of 100 things that I was grateful for.  I did this just before Thanksgiving with the intent to only list a few things, when the floodgates opened.  This experience was eye opening, and taught me two things:

1. There is always SOMETHING to be grateful for

2. Life is better when you take a minute to acknowledge those things

Just after I made my list last year, my father became ill. This year, he’s doing much better, and I can easily say that having him around and healthy is at the top of my list this year.  But Thanksgiving came and went and I realized that I’d slacked on posting my list.  So today I want to provide a short list that may, in some small way get you thinking about what you’re grateful for.  Start small, and after a few minutes you’re going to realize that things are much…much better than you think. I promise.

  1. My wife Laura
  2. My daughter Talia
  3. My unborn daughter
  4. My family
  5. My business partner Anthony Zarro
  6. My (real) friends
  7. The opportunity to be on television and talk about the business I love
  8. Being an entrepreneur
  9. Being able to tell the people I love that I love and cherish them
  10. My free will

I’m going to leave this years list at a short 10. I think if you reference my list from last year, you can see that many are the same.  If you have something you’re grateful for, I’d love to hear about it.  Nothing is more powerful than gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

100 Things I’m Grateful For

As the short work week winds down, and we begin to prepare for the festivities for Thanksgiving, I thought it might be interesting to take a step back to reflect upon the true essence of what Thanksgiving is all about.  I got to thinking about how lucky I am, and about all of the people, and things I’m grateful for in my life.  Here’s my list of 100 things I’m grateful for – I encourage you to do the same. You’ll be shocked how many good things there are in your life. Use this as a tool to help to keep you on track when you feel like things aren’t going your way, or when you feel like there’s nothing in life to be grateful for.  Add to the list as you go.  I started this list as the 50 things that I’m grateful for and I couldn’t stop.  I’m truly blessed. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

  1. My wife
  2. My daughter
  3. My family
  4. The way I feel when my daughter says Daddy
  5. My nieces
  6. My health
  7. My friends
  8. The way I feel when my nieces say “Uncle Chris”
  9. My job
  10. My Home
  11. My colleagues
  12. My boss
  13. My daughter’s laugh
  14. My mother’s love
  15. My father’s guidance
  16. My brother’s friendship
  17. My sister in law’s friendship
  18. My daughters eyes, hands, feet and belly…oh man, that belly.
  19. The way my wife looks at me
  20. My parent’s health
  21. Mobster Movies
  22. Friends that truly “know me”
  23. Music
  24. 80′s Metal (this is separate from “Music” because this particular type of music does something to me that no other music can)…ask anyone that knows me well enough to have a bad memory of me playing air guitar
  25. When my daughter dances
  26. Showering outside (in the summer of course )
  27. Beaches (the real thing, not the movie)
  28. Christmas time
  29. Smiling at a stranger on the subway and getting a smile back
  30. Being in the room when my grandfather passed. It was a profound moment.
  31. My ability to communicate
  32. The way I feel after I work out
  33. My free will
  34. My mind
  35. My body
  36. My intellect
  37. My emotional quotient
  38. YOU
  39. Any movie with Chris Farley in it
  40. The feeling of jumping into a cold pool on a hot summer day
  41. Random acts of kindness
  42. Polite people
  43. People who smile often
  44. Did I mention my daughter’s belly?
  45. My experiences while studying abroad in Belgium, and my year in London
  46. My love of travel
  47. My love of learning
  48. The sound of a G chord on a well tuned acoustic guitar
  49. The feeling of calluses on my hands
  50. Yoga
  51. Meditation
  52. A deep long breath
  53. A deep long kiss
  54. The way my wife’s hair smells
  55. The way my daughters hug feels
  56. That overall, I’ve listened to and considered deeply all of my parents advice
  57. The way my daughter sleeps with her butt up in the air
  58. The time I had with my grandparents
  59. My in-laws (seriously, they’re pretty incredible people)
  60. Coffee
  61. Bare feet on a carpet
  62. Democracy
  63. Guns N Roses (circa 1988)
  64. ipods
  65. Books
  66. My legs (ever see someone in a wheelchair do anything?)
  67. My parents tutelage, time and attention throughout my life
  68. My hometown Mahopac, New York
  69. The town I now live in Chappaqua, New York
  70. Being Italian/American
  71. Wine (preferably red)
  72. Scotch (single malt, preferably Oban)
  73. New York/The New York Yankees
  74. My passion
  75. Being man enough to tell those I love how much I love them – as often as I possibly can
  76. My experiences as a bachelor (the grass is never greener for me as a married man)
  77. My experiences with drugs (I came out the other end alive (barely), and with new perspective on what’s important in my life)
  78. My luck
  79. My college days
  80. When my wife calls me “Babe”
  81. The time I spent alone with my grandfather when I was a little boy
  82. The time my mother and father took to explain to my brother and I why that time with my grandfather would be so invaluable
  83. Electric guitars with tons and TONS of distortion
  84. Black Lamborghini’s and Harley Davidsons- they do something to my insides
  85. Latina women – even though my wife isn’t one…(they do something to my insides too) see #76 and #1
  86. Female singer song writers
  87. The Metro North conductors that smile
  88. My childhood
  89. My hair (I was convinced I’d be bald by the time I hit 30) – I can deal with a bald spot
  90. My ability to make (some) people laugh
  91. My good sense to learn by observing how my brother conducts himself
  92. My coaches – even though some still haunt me, they taught me so much about myself
  93. My teachers – some stand out, but all were phenomenal
  94. Being able to hold my dog Chelsea as she was put down.
  95. My father for teaching me how to be a man
  96. My ability to stop and smell the roses
  97. My temper. It’s challenged me my whole life, and forced me to be obsessively introspective, and acutely present at all times, lest it beat me.
  98. Being able to close my eyes and feel my grandfathers touch, hear his voice, and know he’s with me
  99. My ability to forgive
  100. My faith

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7 Powerful Questions

Recently I started to listen to an audio book called Mastering the Seven Decisions.  In the audio book the author Andy Andrews lays out 7 questions that he has leveraged to gain the most valuable information from the wisest people he’s met.   I’ve listed them here.  This Thanksgiving think about these questions, and maybe ask them of someone you respect. The answers will surprise you.

  1. What’s the first thing you do when you’re depressed?
  2. What’s the most important decision you’ve ever made in your life?
  3. What’s the worst decision you’ve ever made in your life?
  4. If you had to give an 18 yr old one specific piece of wisdom what would it be?
  5. What’s the smartest thing your parents ever did?
  6. What’s the last thing you do before your go to bed?
  7. What difference did someone make in your life as a child?

wisdom

Thanksgiving

This thanksgiving was the first time my wife Laura and I have hosted.  It was also a pretty special Thanksgiving for us because it’s our daughter Talia’s first.  We had 14 family members over the house in Chappaqua and it was a huge success.

This year I did something a bit different.  When it was time to give a toast, I took a moment for everyone at the table to really think about giving thanks and what that meant to them.  I acknowledged members of our family that are no longer with us, and I then handed out hand written letters to each person at the table telling them why I’m grateful to have them in my life.   This was a great way to start the dinner, and I was thrilled to see everyone really get into the holiday spirit.

I hope everyone had as much fun this Thanksgiving as my family.