But we’ve found that best way to make the New Year better is to take some time over the Holidays to make a list of what went right this last year. We call it our Annual Accomplishments List. It forces us to really think about all that we have accomplished in the “Old Year.”

Every year about this time, we spend an hour or two going through our calendar to help us recollect what happened. Then we make a list of everything we’ve accomplished, everything that did go right, and all the great times we had. We also add all the great people we met or did business with. We take the opportunity to continue to grow these new relationships by putting them into our contacts and sending them a personal note of appreciation before the year end. If you use this method, it’s amazing, but you will discover that you are making progress, making new friends and achieving your goals!

By taking the time to put together your “Old Year” list several great things can happen. You become more grateful instead of frustrated, hopeful instead of fearful, and most importantly you have real evidence that you can achieve your goals. All this results in an attitude you can take with you into the New Year where you will expect solutions. You will be looking for them at every turn. You will be less likely to overlook solutions just because they weren’t wrapped in a pretty package and hand delivered. The more you appreciate what you have the more you get what you want, if for no other reason than you are focusing on what you want and not what you don’t!

Now you are ready to work on your New Year’s resolutions with the confidence that comes from success. You can more easily visualize your new goals finding their way onto your next year’s Annual Accomplishments List. Why? Because you took the time to appreciate your progress this year, saw it all on one list and said, “Yes! I can do this!”

We want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who has followed us and shared our blog posts, joined us on social media, and attended our talks and Keynotes throughout the year. We hope that our experience has made a positive difference in your lives and businesses.

Michael and Bonnie say thank you for a great Old Year and we wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Happy Old Year! Be Thankful for What Went Right to See More Go Right! appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

The media capitalizes on our natural self- preservation instincts and the bad news can become down right addicting. But in the process something else is happening. We are getting conditioned to expecting bad news. And that conditioning can easily make us less likely to look for and celebrate what’s going on that is right.

We actually play a game with the news every day. It’s called “Find the good news!” We each take a section of the paper or news site over breakfast and hunt for the good news. First one to find it wins! We have to really dig because it’s usually hidden in the back somewhere. Yes, it’s quite challenging and some days we have to settle for a department store ad as the only “good” news.

But we often find 2 or 3 great uplifting pieces of information. It’s not only better for digestion but it gives us some hope and a positive attitude to start our day. If the bad news will really affect our personal security, you can bet we will hear about it from our friends, family, neighbors or colleagues. So we don’t worry about missing something important to our survival.

Today was especially challenging, but Bonnie won the ”Good News” game with an article she found on the back pages where a team at the University of California in Irvine may have discovered a way to eliminate malaria. Malaria! The mosquito born disease responsible for half the deaths in the history of man! Last month Michael won with “Flowing Water Discovered on Mars!” Also in the back pages.

We also face daily personal and professional frustrations that can affect our outlook. To keep ourselves pumped up, we keep a log of all the milestones we have achieved toward each goal. When we get a little depressed, we go back and read the litany of our progress. Never mind if there was no progress one week. Taking the larger view of history, we regain our positive perspective that we are in fact making progress.

We use these and other techniques to prevent us from getting into the victim mindset where we view ourselves as helpless and powerless to make a difference or a change.

We are convinced from our own personal experience, that when you acknowledge what you want when you see or hear it, you get more of it! Why? Because you are conditioning yourself to expect solutions and you are looking for them. That expectation can keep you going through the difficulties and challenges. You keep a sharp eye out for solutions.

You are less likely to overlook a solution just because it wasn’t a shining diamond presented in a velvet box. In fact it’s often a mud-covered rock that conceals an uncut diamond that requires you to work with it. Maybe you catch a glimpse of a tiny spark of light out of the muddy rock. But you are tuned in. You see it because you are looking for it.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! More of what you are grateful for is coming your way!

Probably the greatest way to condition yourself to expect solutions and to tune in to opportunities is to acknowledge what you already have and give thanks. You can’t give thanks without recognition, appreciation, and a wish for whatever good news you find to endure.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Here’s to getting more of what we are thankful for!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Gratitude Gets You More of What You are Thankful For appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.