I hope you had a meaningful Thanksgiving yesterday. A day filled with family, rest, reflection, and appreciation for the blessings of the past year.

But today, the day after Thanksgiving, I want to offer you a new lens. Because gratitude isn’t a holiday. Gratitude is a leadership strategy.

In fact, gratitude may be one of the most powerful performance multipliers available to you not because it’s warm or sentimental, but because it rewires how you think, respond, create, and lead.

And today, I want to take you deeper than the traditional “I’m thankful for…” list.

This isn’t a holiday message. This is a transformational one.

This is the kind of gratitude that builds leaders.
The kind that shapes culture.
The kind that strengthens your vision.
The kind that accelerates growth inside and outside your business.

This is the form of gratitude I’ve studied, practiced, and taught for more than a decade.

 

The Thanksgiving Trap: Most Leaders Stop Too Soon

Yesterday, millions of people expressed thanksgiving, but thanksgiving and gratitude are not the same thing.

Thanksgiving is giving thanks for something you have already received...something you can see, touch, hear, smell, or experience physically.

This is why we send thank-you cards.
This is why we give thank-you gifts.
This is why we celebrate when the result finally shows up.

But gratitude is different.

Gratitude is the emotional, spiritual, and intellectual state of being thankful in advance.
Thankful for what is unfolding even if you can’t see it yet.

Gratitude is thanksgiving plus faith.

Thanksgiving = looking backward.
Gratitude = looking forward.

When leaders only practice thanksgiving, they stay anchored to yesterday.
When leaders practice gratitude, they step into their future.

 

The Most Overlooked Leadership Skill: Gratitude for What Hasn’t Happened Yet

Gratitude is:

“Thanking and having the same conviction of thanks in advance of receiving it.”

Read that again.

Gratitude is the thankfulness you express before the results show up.

This is what makes gratitude a strategy not just a sentiment.

Most people celebrate when the result is in their hand.

But the truth is:

• By the time a result shows up, it’s old news.

• It’s simply the physical download of an idea that was already given to you.

• It’s the final step in a long process that began long before you saw evidence.

And if you want to live, lead, and grow at a higher level, here’s the shift:

What if you stop celebrating only when the result appears and started celebrating when the idea arrives?

Because the idea is the first sign that the result is already in motion.

 

Where Every Result Really Begins (The SEC Model)

One of the most profound models I've learned from my mentor Paul is the SEC Framework: Spirit — Intellect — Physical.

It’s simple:

S = Spirit / Source

This is where ideas originate: the creative Source, the invisible intelligence, God, the IS, the formless substance.

E = Energy

The movement of that idea through you: your imagination, intuition, reason, perception, and will.

C = Creative Power

The force that transforms an idea into form.

I = Intellectual Faculties

Where the idea becomes thought, vision, strategy.

P = Physical

Where the result finally shows up: the visible outcome.

In business terms, here’s what this means:

Everything in your life and business exists twice: first in idea form, then in physical form.

• You receive an idea.

• You shape it intellectually.

• You work the idea through strategy, team, culture, execution.

• And eventually, it appears as a result.

When you understand this, gratitude becomes more powerful.

You don’t wait for the physical result to be grateful. You’re grateful the moment the idea hits your mind. Because that’s when the real creation began.

 

The Law of Gender: Why Results Take Time (and Why Gratitude Sustains You)

One of the most misunderstood principles in personal and business growth is the Law of Gender; which states:

“Every seed has an incubation and gestation period.”

A seed needs time. It needs nurturing. It needs the right environment. And your ideas are seeds. You can’t rush them. You can only support them.

This is why gratitude is so essential:

Gratitude keeps you aligned during the gestation period.

You know the idea came from Source.
You know the result is guaranteed unless you sabotage it.
You know your only job is to keep the environment healthy.

So you remain grateful even when progress is invisible.

Because you understand that invisible progress is still progress.

 

How Leaders Unknowingly Kill Their Best Ideas

An idea can be killed if you plant it in the wrong environment.

Here are the environments that kill the seed:

• Doubt

• Fear

• Apathy

• Procrastination

• Criticism from others

• Imposter syndrome

• Lack of clarity

• Poor stewardship

• Wrong people

• Wrong pace

• Wrong priorities

• Wrong patterns

Every leader has done this; myself included.

The seeds were good.
The ideas were right.
But the environment was wrong.

 

 

How Gratitude Prepared You for the Ideas You Have Today

I believe very step of your life: every success, every failure, every detour, every season has prepared you for the ideas you currently hold.

Read that again.

Everything that happened in your life
The good, the bad, the confusing, and the painful was your preparation for the idea that now belongs to you.

For me...

I had to be from that town.
I had to be a college drop out. Hey, I went to 3 colleges...I tried...it just wasn't for me:)
I had to be a telecom sales manager.
I had to be a retail leader and lead over 70 multi-million dollar locations.
I had to move 9 times in 11 years.
I had to partner with John Maxwell.
I had to become a certified professional coach and corporate facilitator.
I had to leave my corporate career and start my own coaching business.
I had to partner with Paul Martinelli and Dr. Robert Cialdini.
I had to step in as COO of a Branding Agency, a B2B SaaS Company, and a Software Development Firm.
I had to step in as Creative Director for a sustainable fashion brand.
I had to transition my coaching practice to a business growth strategist.
I had to experience a lot of failures.
I had to meet a lot of new people.
I had to endure those long seasons of reaping and sowing.
I had to learn tough lessons from failure over and over and over. 

All of it has prepared me for the seed I'm are now carrying.

That’s the power of gratitude.

You start to see your life as intentional preparation not random events.

And when you understand that, you stop asking: “Why did this happen?”

And you start asking: “What did this prepare me for?”

This is where leaders become unstoppable.

 

The Advanced Gratitude Shift: Being Thankful For What Hasn’t Happened Yet

Gratitude is:

“Being thankful for that which has not yet appeared in form, but is in process.”

Let me say it plainly:

Thanksgiving focuses on what already exists.
Gratitude focuses on what is becoming.

The moment you receive an idea:

• You were chosen for it.

• You have been prepared for it.

• You have the capacity for it.

• You have the responsibility for it.

• You have the authority to bring it into form.

• And the only thing that can stop it…is you.

This is why gratitude is the ultimate growth-minded state.

It creates:

• Certainty

• Confidence

• Emotional stability

• Creative expansion

• Leadership maturity

• Resilience

• Clarity

• Patience

• Persistence

• Alignment

It’s not gratitude for what is. It’s gratitude for what will be. Because you already know the idea came from the only Source that gives ideas in the first place.

 

A Thanksgiving Tradition Worth Starting

Instead of only giving thanks for the blessings of the past year…
Begin giving thanks for all the blessings to come in the next year.

Can you imagine your entire family doing this?

But let’s bring it home to leadership:

What if you developed the daily discipline of expressing gratitude for the results you’re committed to but haven’t seen yet?

This is the mindset that changes everything.

It shifts:

From → “I hope this works”
To → “I am grateful this is already working.”

From → “I’m trying.”
To → “I am becoming.”

From → “Maybe one day.”
To → “It’s on its way.”

From → “How will this happen?”
To → “Thank you that it’s happening.”

This is faith in action.
This is creative confidence.
This is leadership maturity.

And this is the real Thanksgiving message:

Don’t just thank God for what has happened.
Thank Him for everything that is unfolding now.

 

Gratitude Through the Lens of The Pippin Method

Here’s how gratitude strengthens each pillar in your company:

Leadership — Gratitude Creates Clarity & Confidence

Leaders who practice gratitude think more clearly, decide more confidently, and navigate more calmly. They’re less reactive, more strategic, and far more emotionally intelligent.

Brand — Gratitude Fuels Creativity & Vision

The most innovative strategies come from leaders who believe possibility is already unfolding. Gratitude activates imagination, intuition, and strategic thinking.

Culture — Gratitude Builds Trust & Psychological Safety

Teams follow leaders who create environments of appreciation, acknowledgment, and optimism. Gratitude makes people feel seen and valued.

Financial Performance — Gratitude Strengthens Resourcefulness

Gratitude lowers anxiety, widens perspective, and allows leaders to see hidden opportunities. It improves decision-making, prioritization, and risk management.

 

Reflection Questions for Growth-Minded Leaders

1. Where have I been practicing thanksgiving but not true gratitude?

2. What ideas am I grateful for even though they have not manifested yet?

3. What part of my past prepared me for my current opportunities?

4. Which environments am I placing my ideas in and are they conducive to growth?

5. Where am I allowing doubt, fear, or procrastination to kill a seed?

6. What result am I grateful for in advance today?

7. Which idea in my heart scares me because it requires me to become someone new?

8. How can I lead with more gratitude in my team, my business, my relationships?

9. What would change if I believed “the idea was given to me because I am ready”?

10. What does gratitude invite me to do next?

Action Steps for Growth-Minded Leaders

1. Write down one gratitude statement for a result you have not yet achieved.

Example:
“I am grateful for the clients, opportunities, and breakthroughs that are already on their way.”

2. Celebrate an idea — not a result.

Pick one idea you’ve had recently and treat it as confirmation of what is coming.

3. Reframe one challenge as part of your preparation.

Ask: “What is this preparing me for?”

4. Speak one gratitude affirmation aloud each morning.

5. Choose one Pippin Method pillar to apply gratitude to intentionally

Leadership, Brand, Culture, or Financial Performance.

 

Gratitude Is the Gateway to Growth

The truth is this:

Your next level will not come from pressure.
It will not come from stress.
It will not come from striving.

Your next level will come from alignment.

And gratitude is alignment.

It is harmony with your vision.
It is partnership with Source.
It is confidence in your calling.
It is the energy of creative leadership.
It is the mindset of growth-minded leaders.

This is why I coach.
This is why leaders hire me.
And this is why The Pippin Method exists:

To move you from ideas → strategy → implementation → results
with clarity, confidence, and alignment.

 

A Personal Note to You, Growth-Minded Leader

If you're reading this, I want you to hear something clearly:

You have ideas because you are meant to bring them into reality.
And you wouldn’t have received the idea if you weren’t ready.

If you want clarity, momentum, alignment, or strategic support heading into 2026…

If you want help turning your ideas into structure, your structure into strategy, and your strategy into results…

If you want to grow yourself, grow your team, and grow your business…

I’d love to support you.

Coaching is the single most powerful tool for accelerating the gestation process of your ideas.
It shortens the gap between vision and execution.
It moves you from uncertain → aligned.
From overwhelmed → strategic.
From stuck → advancing.

If this resonated with you and you're ready for clarity, partnership, and direction, then let’s talk.

Your next level is already unfolding.
Be grateful for it today.
And let’s build it together.