Thank You Notes

When was the last time you wrote a thank you note?  Here’s another question: When was the last time you wrote a thank you note and really meant it.

Early this week I sat down and wrote out some notes to people (sent via USPS even).  One note was a thank you to a couple who saw me by myself during a networking event and immediately headed my direction and made me feel right at home.  It was a short note, but it felt really good to write it and acknowledge the kindness.

I started to think about other notes I’ve written to people, email or otherwise.  I realized I probably don’t send as many as I should.  It also reminded me of a thank you email I sent almost a year and a half ago. Generally you don’t thank someone for something like this, unless it’s dripping with sarcasm.  I assure that my thank you was heartfelt.  What was I thanking someone for?  It was a bad review I received that I mark as the start of the journey that lead me to become a coach.

In the next couple days write a thank you note or a note acknowledging someone for something they did.  It will raise your spirit and the spirit of the person receiving it.

Arriving

Have you ever said to yourself, I’ll do that when this other thing happens?  I found myself doing that today.  I was thinking about the progress I’ve made since I was at a retreat 11 months ago and that I should share this with the retreat leader and thank her for her part, but I’ll do it after I’ve reached my goal of becoming a certified coach.

I know why I did that.  I want to know I’ve arrived somewhere and I can only do that by having something completed, or a big goal met.  That goal is about five months away.  Why should I wait five more months to thank this person?  Why is the progress I’ve already made not enough?

The person we’re hardest on sometimes is ourselves.  In my case, I want to make sure that I’ve really accomplished something, when I’ve really already accomplished a lot.  As for arriving, one of the definitions from Merriam-Webster is “to make an appearance”.  So, everyday I spend working toward my goal and not going into autopilot (which is so easy to do) is a day that I’ve arrived in my life.

I’m going to go write a thank you email now!