6 Things Professionals Should Be Thankful For

We can all probably list out the top things that we’re thankful for in our own personal lives, but what about in our professional? With Thanksgiving here, it’s a good a time as any to reflect and give thanks to the things that make our work lives a whole lot easier. So, here’s the list in no particular order:

Smartphones

The smartphone can be seen as either a blessing or a curse, but in the grand scheme of things, they are amazing tools that every professional needs to utilize. Very few times are we ever chained to our desk and the smartphone allows us to break free and operate in a space we feel comfortable. We can answer phone calls, emails, texts, etc. and have the ability to be more responsive to the world around us. 

Yes, smartphones can be that nagging thing that keeps us tied to the office and sometimes we just want it to stop ringing. But, in those moments there’s an off button for that. Don’t see them as just another thing to use, but rather a tool that will maximize productivity. Smartphones may be making kids in high school a little bit dumber, but they’re certainly making professionals incredibly more efficient. 

LinkedIn 

Hate as much as you want on the Twitters, Facebooks, and other social media platforms of the world, but we should never count out LinkedIn. As a business professional, this tool opens the door to millions of possibilities and gives us the opportunity to stay connected (pun intended) to the other professionals we do, or want to do business, with. The “It’s not about what you know, it’s who you know” philosophy gets injected with steroids when it comes to LinkedIn.

With the chance to make connections and introduce ourselves to millions of people around the world, there is ample opportunity to meet new clients and customers who may not have otherwise known our name. LinkedIn is a great way to discover opportunities, network, and open doors to places that before seemed dark and daunting. We’re more popular than we realize and the more connections we begin to make, the more we’ll see LinkedIn’s benefits. 

Good Employees

We’ve all either been a business owner, a manager, parent, coach, or in charge of something at some point and we know first hand that good help is always hard to find. Employees who are exceptional at what they do, dependable, and reliable make a world of difference when it comes to operating anything let alone a business. Without people that we could count on, productivity would plummet and we’d never sleep because we’d be doing all the work ourselves. 

Great employees are a dime a dozen and searching for them may feel like climbing Mt. Everest. But, once we have one, we should try our hardest to hold on to them and never let them go. Sure, we’re all going to get a lemon here and there, and some of the stars may leave our atmosphere, but the ones who stay are the employees we should truly be thankful for. 

Clients and Customers

The delicious turkey dinner we’re all going to indulge in didn’t just appear…someone had to pay for it. Our clients and our customers are the ones who allow us to make money and profit each year we operate. Without them, we’d be looking for other opportunities and the pie this year wouldn’t taste as wonderful as it usually does.

Always be sure to take the time and thank those who do business with our organizations. We’re important to our clients and customers, and they’re important to us. No one side is greater than the other, so be appreciative of every single person that walks through those doors, shares their business, and of course openly writes a check.

Google 

Google is a tool that has saved professionals potentially thousands of hours each year (which was most likely then wasted on things like cat videos). Instead of thumbing through a phone a book (or any book for that matter), we can quickly type in what we’re looking for and almost all of the time find it. Need to spell a word? Don’t look in a dictionary, just Google it. 

Google gives us easier access to information that before was more difficult to find. It truly lets us work smarter. As a company, Google also gives us tools other than a search bar that make it easier to work with things like the Cloud (Google Drive), our website’s data (Google Analytics), and beyond.

Innovation

Not a second should go by that we don’t thank the people around us who are constantly innovating and searching for new and better ways to do things. Companies like Google or LinkedIn would never have been started if there wasn’t a better way to search for information or connect with the people we’ve worked with. This list wouldn’t have been able to be typed on a computer, or read from another computer (or phone or tablet), without the will to evolve.

Anything we use in our everyday lives is a product of innovation and we should be thankful that as a society we have the ability to constantly improve ourselves. New ways of spreading a message, sharing our stories, or meeting more people can’t ever be a bad thing. Sure, it makes planning and adapting a little more difficult, but if we’re not learning, we’re not living. And, if we’re not moving forward, we’re moving backward. Certainly no one has time for that.

There is Always Time for Thanks 

Personally, I couldn’t be more thankful than for the opportunity to work for Cowley Associates with Paul, Gail, and the rest of our team. There isn’t a better place to learn, grow, and do something amazing on a day-to-day basis. If we could all be so lucky, this world would be a much better place. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!