Ted's Take

This has been an incredibly stressful year, a year that tests people’s mettle and concepts of success and happiness. I did, as promised, my own gut check and here is my quick list of what I am thankful for this holiday season. I encourage you all to make your own list and believe the gut check will be a positive experience for you all. Be grateful this Thanksgiving holiday. Focus on what you have and not on what you have lost.

1. Family health. We are very fortunate to be healthy as a family and even my extended family remains strong and thriving. You can never take health for granted. I am now very focused on my own health and overall fitness. It is time to get leaner and stronger and healthier. What better time than now? And to the few of my friends that are struggling with health issues, you know I am here for you;
2. Mindset. This strain on the economy and the expectations we have had on our definitions of “wealth” have been positive to me personally as they have truly helped me to build a redefinition of what true success is and how one achieves happiness. Take my questionnaire and help me to finalize a book I wish to conclude on the subject. And remember “it is only money”;
3. We are all in it together. The great thing about the economic reset is that it has been a wave that has washed over everyone. It has NOT spared any sector. This is unusual in that there are no winners or losers, only losers. So we are all part of the same community. We can all share with one another. We can exude empathy for one another and we can get out of this mess together. The next decade will be about rebuilding what was lost as a community. We might as well enjoy the journey together;
4. Family and friendships. Stressing the basics in relationships is key. I am blessed to have a wonderful and loving family and a great set of warm and caring friends. Recommit to your fundamental friendships during these tough times. Enjoy the small and daily moments with your family. Show them your gratitude with quality time and being in the present. I am and am better off for it;
5. Lockout and the rebuild. I am grateful the NHL took care of its biggest business issues a few years back and that our team took its medicine and rebuilt for its future. We are well positioned for the new NHL and for a long run of success. We went through adversity and we are now one of the few business success stories in this strained economy. I am so grateful for our fans’ support and we recommit to giving you a return on your monetary and time investments into our team. I am also grateful to the players for becoming our partners and sharing in the league’s revenues be they up or down. I also take comfort in knowing that our league and team went through very tough times and emerged stronger for it. It is a good metaphor for all of us. Taking steps back and resetting and rebuilding can sometimes be very healthy experiences;
6. Opportunity knocks. By focusing on fundamentals; being prudent; and being well financed for a rainy day, I have a few break out hits in these tough economic times: The Capitals are thriving. SnagFilms is off to a great start and I bet we can hit 100 million pages showing our film widgets by year’s end, an amazing stat. A company such as Clearspring has broken through with more than 300 million monthly uniques. GridPoint has become a leader in green technology. Revolution Money has become a leader in alternative payment platforms. If you can make it through and survive, you may end up with giant hits on the other side. Also building companies that do well by doing good and creating double bottom line businesses  seems to be the right way to launch new enterprises in these tough times;
7. Mandate for change. Regardless of your political outlook, our country provided our new President-Elect with a mandate to get us out of this malaise and the mess we are in. We are all in it together. Our new leaders have no political impediments to be successful. The country believes in our new leaders and we all want to be led and we all want our new President to be successful. He can ask us to sacrifice and he can ask us to do new and out of the box thinking and we will do it. This is a very healthy change and one that I believe will help us to become more united as a country. This is no time for partisan politics, we are all Americans. We want to be healed and we want to be stronger and more united as a people;
8. Helping those who really are in need. I have a much greater appreciation for how fortunate I am and have been able to delete a lot of noise from my life and focus on quality signals. Giving back; volunteering; and helping those in need during these tough times has made me a happier person and a more self-actualized person. I am grateful for the opportunity to help where I can make a difference;
9. Safety and security. I am grateful that we as a country have had a year of internal safety. We have also seen less and less losses outside of our borders. We have such brave men and women who serve to protect us and keep us safe and secure. We should never forget their heroics on our behalf and we should celebrate when they return home safe and sound. We should reach out to help when they come back injured on our behalf. I am grateful for the opportunity to help these men and woman and am hopeful you will find a place in your day to help them as well;
10. Thanks to you for reading my blog; for “friending” me on Facebook; for sending me emails; posting on message boards; for saying hi to me when you meet me; for cheering at games; and for being respectful and treating me as a friend in our communications. I appreciate it very much. Thank you.

This has been one of the toughest years in memory. We are all faced with our own personal gut checks and have to focus on our own personal good news and personal growth instead of burying our heads in the sands of fear and loathing.

So I am doing my own gut check and writing down everything I am grateful for from this last year. I encourage all of you to do likewise and perhaps even post some of your notes here on my blog.

I also encourage you all to take my “Happiness Questionnaire” too if you haven’t already. It is here on my blog.

So all week be grateful and be thankful for what matters. Think about it. Write it down. Thank you. And remember, ”It’s only money!”