Don't Forget to Say Thank You to the Most Important People of Your Year

I discovered a new end-of-year ritual that’s so good I had to share.

As part of my personal year-in-review practice, I made a short list of 5 people who made a difference in my life and work this year.

I’ll send them a special thank you card before the year is done.

I wanted to share this idea with you, because I was surprised at how good this gratitude exercise felt.

Sometimes we forget to recognize the people who:

• Pitched in to help when times were especially hard

• Made us laugh and cheered us up

• Gave us something generous or thoughtful

• Introduced us to someone or something new

• Made life lighter or richer by just being who they are

• Inspired us to think differently or stretch in a way we didn’t expect

Saying thank you makes such a powerful difference.

When you make time to say thank you to someone, and especially when you take the time to show heartfelt sentiment and add details about what was particularly meaningful for you, it really creates a WOW factor.

Everyone loves being noticed, recognized, and appreciated.

They will remember it, and they will remember you.

Who made a difference in your life this year?

How would your year have been different if it hadn’t been for them?

It could be someone at work, someone in your family or friend circle.

It could be a teacher or instructor, or community member.

It could even be someone you don’t know, such as a podcast host, activist, speaker or writer.

Here are a few different ways to recognize them:

• Send a card, email or video/voice message.

• Make or send a small gift.

• Give them a social media shout-out or send them a DM.

• Call or set up a time to see them.

• For work colleagues 👉🏽 Surprise them by writing a stellar, detailed recommendation on their LinkedIn profile.

• Include them in a loving kindness meditation.

Do you have personal traditions or rituals to recognize the people who've had a positive impact on your life?

Or is there an idea here you'd like to adopt?

I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments.