Even though gratitude is part of my daily round, Thanksgiving Day tends

to amplify the number of things I am grateful for and the amount of

gratitude I feel.

Wonderful food. Great family time and an infinite number of things for

which to be grateful.

I could easily list hundreds of blessings, but here are ten that quickly

come to mind.

I’m grateful to share my musings with you in hopes that you are

inspired to Just Keep Growing.

I’m grateful for my husband, Hank, who is on day 3 of his

preparations for our feast today.

I’m grateful for my brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews. And for

our 16 great nieces and nephews. Love them all so much.

I’m grateful for good friends who listen and reflect my thoughts

and musings back to me when I can’t hear myself think.

I’m grateful for my Twin Mamas, Eva and Ina, who will soon turn

186 years young. They are so, so amazing.

I’m grateful for my home town located smack dab in heart of the

heartland.

I’m grateful to have every resource I need within a mere 5-

minute drive, phone call or a single keystroke.

I’m grateful for the privilege of serving as a leadership and

business coach for over 3 decades and, now, to be serving as a life

coach for folks like you.

I’m grateful for our little home embraced by a bit of wild and a

bunch of old trees. Love our neighbors. They are the best.

I’m grateful that Just Keep Growing just keeps growing.

Your Coaching Challenge for Week 11: 

Time to get personal. What about you? How quickly can you list ten,

twenty, thirty or more blessings in your life? No need to analyze or

edit your list. Just do it. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Coincidences and

serendipities begin to line themselves up just for you, and bam. Your

life just keeps getting better and better.

Easy does it.

Start a Blessings Book. You will be amazed at how fun, fascinating, and

fulfilling every day will be when you start and end each day by being

thankful on purpose.

Every day’s Thanksgiving.

Love,
Jeanne

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He stepped up to the podium.

Adjusted the mic.

Cleared his throat.

Then, straightened his tie.

He looked out at the room full of executives and business owners. Some of us

were there because we wanted to be. Others of us were there because our boss

sent us.

All of us were ready for a nice snooze as the afternoon sunlight filled the room.

And then, through his thick Israeli accent he began to impart his wisdom.

“Organizations.” he said with a heavy sigh. “They are either coming apart or they

He turned, walked away and took his seat. And there he sat looking out at us as

we looked back at him. Stunned.

We waited. We wondered. 500 or so of us. We were his. He owned us. When he

deemed that he had the full attention and engagement of everyone in the room,

including wait staff, he approached the podium for a second time.

We were ready to listen. We were ready to learn. We were ready to buy his

books.

I cannot remember the principles he taught, or the tools he introduced, or the

books I bought that afternoon.

But I never forgot “falling apart or coming together.” I got plenty of mileage out

of this one distinction over my decades as a business and leadership coach. It

became a key diagnostic tool for me, just to notice whether the company or the

team was coming together or falling apart.

I was to learn that this coming apart and coming together distinction applies to

friendships, families, marriages, partnerships, projects, countries, churches,

political parties, you name it.

It can also apply to us as individuals…when we can’t figure out whether to go right or left, north or south, or whether to call it quits or keep on keeping on. We can simply give ourselves permission to have a proper come apart.

It helps to just notice and name it. Notice what seems to be happening. Are things

coming apart for you? Are things coming together for you? Very often a next

right action presents itself. And, we can move on. Peacefully and powerfully, we

can just move on.

Your Coaching Challenge for Week 12: 

What seems to be coming together for you at this time?

What seems to be coming apart?

As you notice and name it, see what wants to happen next? Try going there. Try

growing there.

Love,
Jeanne

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"Curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." -Walt Disney
Monica Guzman frequently asks herself this question. “What am Imissing?” As chief storyteller for the national cross-partisanorganization, Braver Angels, Monica is professionally curious. She ispassionately curious.
Braver Angels is a grassroots movement dedicated to civic renewal andcitizenship. The organization fosters brave and honest conversationsamongst its Red and Blue membership. www.braverangels.org
In her book, I Never Thought of it That Way, Monica challenges us toquestion our comfortable conditioned perspectives. She advocatestalking with people, rather than talking about them.Monica challenges us to cultivate our curiosity.
Curiosity occurs when you realize there is a gap between what youknow and what you want to know. When you’ve identified the gap orthe mystery, it can set you off on a little adventure, a quest.
And, of course, a quest requires us to create questions. Open endedquestions require a thoughtful response. You learn something and,most likely, the other person gets to learn something too.
Monica encourages us to:Talk with people rather than about them.Frequently ask ourselves “what am I missing?”Become/remain curious and neutral.Proactively seek out those whose opinions and experiences differ fromours.
Be open to build bridges in a divided world.Get curious. Stay curious.

Your Coaching Challenge for Week 13:
What do you find most mystifying? Most puzzling?
What would you most like to know?
Who might you talk with to enlighten you?
Ask for a bit of uninterrupted time to learn more about XYZ.
What open ended questions might you ask?
"Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own." James Cameron
Love,
Jeanne

----

As you reflect on the past week, focus on what went right.
Your Week 14 Challenge:What pleasant surprises did you or those you care about experience?
What situations or circumstances seemed to work out well?
What were your most significant accomplishments?
What insights occurred to you?
What problems or mysteries did you solve?
What did you learn? Unlearn?
What were you able to let go of?
What was fun or fulfilling?
When were you the most courageous? The most outrageous?
What do you appreciate about yourself?
What would you liked to have seen work out differently?

Left unattended, our mind loves to entertain itself by fretting about drama and trauma, real or imagined. Our concerns. Our disappointments. Our grievances. They call it “train of thought” for a reason, as it picks up steam.
How many times a day do you ask yourself or others “What’s Wrong?” What if,instead, you ask yourself this strange question. “What’s Right?” Be specific. Begrateful. Be disciplined. Build and strengthen your appreciation muscle. Createand own your future by calling out and appreciating what is working.
Just Keep Growing, and remember… “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.” Mae West

Jeanne
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Have you ever felt frozen, unable to move, with no clue what to do next?  Stuck. Perhaps you are waiting for the perfect idea, the perfect moment, the perfect connection, the perfect words, the perfect time.
Pretending to be your friend, perfection invites you out for coffee. And, the what if twins show up.
What if you fail?   What if you embarrass yourself?  What if you damage your reputation?  Or worse?
But!  And, this is a very big But!  But, what if you don’t take action?  What if you aren’t willing to fail?
Well, you get to stay stuck?  Stuck in your perfectly safe space.  I love the discipline of continuous improvement.  Continuous improvement assumes we will do something imperfectly, but it requires that we do our best.  Experiment.  Evaluate.  Make improvements.  Repeat.  Continue to make mistakes. Continue to improve.  Eventually achieve excellence.    The faster you fail, the faster you learn.
Practice continuous improvement.  Fail faster.  Learn quicker.  Achieve excellence.
Your Coaching Challenge for Week 16:
What would you like to achieve, accomplish next?
Why is it important to you?
What does an excellent outcome look like?
What are you willing to do imperfectly toward accomplishing that?
Experiment.
Do it!!!
Learn.
Jeanne 
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Week 16 

Carl Honore details our perennial love affair with efficiency and speed in hiswonderful book In Praise of Slowness. An award-winning journalist andrehabilitated speedaholic, Carl examines the price we pay for unrelenting speed.Carl helps us discover energy and efficiency where we least expected….in slowing down.
We tend to wait for an external reason to take it easy. A health issue is always agood excuse. The pandemic benched most of us for a good long while, whetherwe experienced illness or life simply came to a screeching halt while we shelteredin place. We were forced into it a slower state.
If you are like me, slowing down may be much more urgent for you. A healthissue is a great excuse. But, why do we need an excuse to take it easy?
Molokai, Hawaii, this not-so-famous tiny retro island gets it. Lost in time, thereare no buildings taller than a palm tree. No fast food courts. Few cars. No trafficlights. No street lights. Just brilliant, heavenly stars. The village square can beaccessed by foot. Locals meet at lunchtime or in the evenings to play ukelele,slack guitar and make music.
Life is slow. Relaxed. Rural. Peaceful.
Hammocks and palm trees invite visitors to take it easy. To let go of to do lists and unplug from their electronic devices. Just for a time. Guilt free. Just to Be.

Your Coaching Challenge: Week 16
No need to wait for an excuse. Like a trip to Hawaii or an illness. Now is a perfect time to slow down. Invite yourself over for a cuppa tea or a nice glass of water.
Unplug from your electronics. For a bit. Give yourself permission to be off line. Tohang out with yourself.
Jeanne
----

Sometimes we screw up.

We forget an important appointment.

We fail to keep a promise.

We make a massive mistake.

We worry that we will make a massive mistake.

We misunderstand someone or something.

We say hurtful things.

We lose time or money, or both.

We lose our temper.

We disrespect someone. We feel disrespected.

We fail to meet a deadline. Which causes us to miss another deadline.

We get in over our heads.

We worry. We lose heart.

We blame someone else. We blame ourselves. Or both.

We “should” on ourselves.

Sometimes we screw up.

And things go sideways.

And we want to retreat.

We want to return to a time or place where we felt more “in control.”

We all talk to ourselves. And, when we really, really listen, we may discover that

these so-called conversations take on a worrisome, nagging, fretful, judgmental

tone.

The deal is that we get to choose how we talk to ourselves. And, it really does

matter. But it requires vigilance and discipline.

Tune in to the voice in your head at any given moment. Listen just long enough to pick up the vibe. The voice is usually up to something. It’s busy doing its job

which is to keep us safe. To keep us comfortable. To prevent us from doing

dumb stuff, taking foolish risks.

To prevent us from starting something new, creating change, increasing our

capacity in some way.

Really?

Really!

The only thing you need to do is to notice. To pay attention.

And to challenge what you are hearing. Really? Really.

Pay attention to your attention. It takes practice.

Notice what kinds of thoughts are running in the background of your mind? It is a bit like your hard drive.

As you discern a troubling thought pattern, simply challenge it. Is it true? Is it

empowering? Or disempowering? Then, let it go.

Notice. Do you need to forgive yourself for something? Or forgive somebody

else?

Do you need to let go of an outdated version of someone or something?

What action will you take, small or large? Do it. Repeat.

Let Go to Grow. And then, Just Keep Growing.

“Our brains are like closets. Over time they are filled with things we no longer

use…things that don’t fit anymore. Every once in a while they need to be cleaned

out.” Forget for Success by Eric Harvey and Steve Ventura
Jeanne
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The Well Lived Life by Gladys McGarey. MD….A 102-Year-Old Doctor’s Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age
I was not looking for something to add to my library, but this book found its wayinto my home. Then it situated itself strategically in a short stack of books,demanding to be noticed. To be picked up. Dusted. Read. Dog-eared. Highlighted. Revisited. Recommended.
To be clear, I am recommending this book.
The Well Lived Life by Dr. Gladys McGarey was written and published in 2022, the year Dr. Gladys turned 102. One hundred and two. 102.
Dr. Gladys inspires and guides readers to live with joy, vitality, and purpose. Shedetails 6 actionable strategies to expand our vitality. To enjoy a life that is long,happy, and purpose-driven. Combining her medical knowledge and lifeexperience, she guides readers to live a happy and healthy life.
Born in 1920, Dr. Gladys began her medical practice at a time when women werenot even allowed to own their own bank accounts. The cofounder of theAmerican Holistic Medical Association, Dr. Gladys still practices medicine and iscurrently working her 10 year plan. Her 10 Year Plan. As she boldly states at 102.she is just getting started. L’chaim, Dr. Gladys!

Your Coaching Challenge: Week 18
Grab this book off the shelf wherever you buy your books. Or drop into myfavorite book store, www.neighborhoodreads.com and tell Dawn I sent you.
Remember and reconnect with what jazzes or juices you.
Are you engaging in these jazzy activities daily?
Dr. Gladys has a 10-year plan. How about you? What’s your plan?
“The things that light you up are not random. They are connected to yourpurpose.” Erica Layne.
Jeanne
----

“In three words, I can sum up everything I have learned about life: Itgoes on.” Robert Frost
Born 150 years ago, Robert Frost remains one of the most celebratedpoets in America. With many collections to his name and a four-timewinner of the Pulitzer Prize, Frost’s poetry is legendary. As a farmer,Frost’s works were informed and inspired by rural life.
My Grandpa was a farmer and a poet. And a teacher and aveterinarian. And a husband. And a dad. And a neighbor.
Farming the Ozark foothills, Grandpa provided for his 7 children duringthe great depression. He walked…everywhere. It was nothing for himto walk 15-20 miles a day in every kind of weather.
Folks respected him for his many kindnesses and competencies. I had alot to live up to as one of his 10 grandchildren. We all did. We still do.While in his prime, Grandpa fell ill with Parkinson’s Disease. Suddenlyand completely paralyzed, he lived his last decade bedridden in anursing home. This is how we grandchildren knew and rememberedhim.
What must it have been like to suddenly lose access to his limbs, to losehis ability to farm…to teach school… to care for his unwell wife, to bethe go-to person for family and neighbors? What must it have been liketo be trapped in a deteriorating body, confined to a hospital bed in atiny 4 th floor room in a nursing home? Whatever shock, sadness oranger he might have experienced, one can only imagine.Losing the capacity to fulfill his high-profile roles in the community andfor his family, his ego most likely took a hit. Might have thrown a fit.
How could this be? Who would he be?
He might have had a little chat with God. “Who am I now? Now that Icannot farm. Or teach. Now that I am not on call for the neighborswhen their farm animals are injured or fall sick.” He might havewondered whether he even mattered to anyone anymore. His veryrelevance at stake, he found a way to pivot into his new role as nursinghome poet.
How he worked through all of this, we will never know. We can onlyspeculate. But Grandpa did leave us some clues. With an abundance oftime and few distractions, Grandpa got busy creating verses and poemsstoring them in his head, until a visitor could capture them on scraps ofpaper or in the designated notebook.
Grandpa’s poems were published in local newspapers for his neighborsand students who remembered him fondly and respected him mightily.He wrote poems about farm life, the changing seasons, the war. Hewrote tribute poems to his nurses and caregivers. There were thepoems about his grandchildren. We kids loved those the most. We feltso special when Grandpa wrote verses about us.
Grandpa passed. Time passed. His poems stashed. Grandpa’s verseswere eventually resurrected, collected, and published for friends andfamily. This collection resides in the Library of Congress. Fourgenerations of us still read Grandpa’s poems on special occasions andremark on how relevant they are for our times.
Robert Frost passed away the same year as Grandpa, 1963. The RoadNot Taken is my favorite Frost poem. My Grandpa did not get tochoose a road. His Road Closed. He had to blaze a new trail…one thathad never been traveled. Ever. By anyone.
Had prizes been awarded for resilience, patience, positivity, and grit, Iam fairly certain Grandpa would have been in the running.Forever relevant, Grandpa’s voice and verse remind us to Just KeepGrowing. No. Matter. What.

Your Coaching Challenge: Week 19
Are you reminded of a person who navigated adversity with guts andgrace?
In what ways have they inspired you?
What lessons will you take from them?
How will you thank them or honor their memory?
“What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. Ifyou can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’tcomplain.” Maya Angelou
Jeanne
----

Last winter weighed in again sending cars sliding off into ditches, crashinginto poles and into one another, closing interstates and roadways.Freezing temperatures, bursting pipes. Calendars and schedulescollapsing under the strain. Essential businesses and services somehowrunning short staffed. And worse.
We got off way easy compared to other parts of the country.
Logic begone, I am still feeling under the weather. Bored.
No matter how many positive thoughts I think, I just wanted to givewinter a swift kick.
I find myself anticipating the joys of ground hog day like a high schoolcheerleader awaits the district playoffs. As if winter will obedientlycease and desist on this holy day. As if a proper ground hog day lunchwith friends will shush the slush.
I do realize that wishing whole seasons away is a great waste of one’slife…my life, specifically. Why was I indulging in all this discontent?Why was I throwing this little tantrum?
As the boss of my attitude, the leader of my life, I decided to nip mysorry attitude in the bud.
Taking a cue from Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, Idecided to create my own Happiness Project.
Gretchen takes happiness seriously as she guides her readers through atwelve-step program to create their own happiness project. Eachmonth has a focus or a theme.
My big “aha”….identify things you can do something about. Then, dothem.
Become a sleuth in discovering the things that are working and goingwell for you. Then, appreciate them.
Stop picking fights with the things you can do nothing about. Then,accept them.
Sounds like the Serenity Prayer to me.
“There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.” Robert Louis Stevenson
Your Coaching Challenge: Week 20
When you notice yourself slipping into the “life sucks” abyss, what arethe top three things you will do to regain your perspective? Decidethese actions before needing them. Like a first aid kit, keep this list atyour fingertips.
Your derailments can be minimized. You can be back on track,enjoying, even appreciating, every single minute of every single day.No matter the weather, no matter any other external condition.
My happiness is my business. Your happiness is your business. Let’smind our own business.
Jeanne