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Daring to Engage Gratitude – The Gift That Keeps on Giving

I love gratitude and consider it a gift in my life. This month we have an extra special excuse to focus on what were grateful for. We get to hopefully be with family and friends who love us, we get to sit around the table and talk about what we’re thankful for. We get to give knowing glances of gratitude to each other. It’s a really cool holiday and one that can sweep you away with joy and gratitude if you let it.

It can also be a time of sadness and challenge for some people. The holidays can bring on all sorts of emotions. Regardless of how the holiday season impacts you, there is always something you can count on to help lift spirits and joy. It’s free. There’s no right way to do it. You can be incredibly generous with it. There is a limitless supply. It creates a powerful impact. It soothes the spirit. It’s Gratitude.

My dare to you this holiday season is to reach out and “gratitude” someone. Go out and make an impact. Not only on the people you know and love – but on the people you don’t. Go out and engage someone you barely know. Let them know how grateful you are for them. Let them know that you see the little deeds that go unnoticed, that you care, that you’re grateful they’re a part of your organization, or your community or your family (for those distant relatives), or your team.

Whoever it is, engage with them from the heart. See them. Thank them. Acknowledge them. Engage them. Do whatever feels right and authentic to you. Do something that will matter. It’s amazing how much a little nod of gratitude can matter. And it’s even more amazing the ripple effects it can have. So go, have fun and show some gratitude. Be generous with your gratitude. Let me know how it goes.

Here are a couple of other things you can do this holiday season to raise that holiday cheer even more and get ready for the New Year:

Start a gratitude journal: Every day journal 3 things you are grateful for.

Break the funk: Whenever you are feeling in a “funk” or low or grumpy – think about what you have to be grateful for. Make a list and check it twice!

Give: Donate time, food or money to a cause that you care about.

Appreciation Days: Dedicate a full day to letting people know how much you appreciate them.

Gratitude Rounds: Spend 10 minutes at the end of every hour doing the “Gratitude Rounds”: make phone calls, write letters, go out of your way to thank the guy at the coffee shop for making you that fabulous coffee every day.

Gratitude DTE Style: (Sincerely) thank someone you’ve butted heads with for teaching you so much and making you stronger (Remember, those who we are most different from, have the most to teach us 😉

Impact Gratitude: Thank your mentors, parents, kids, sibling, colleagues, spouse, teachers, team members, etc. for the impact they’ve had on you this year.

Many ways you can do it. Three rules: make it authentic, go out of your way to do it and make sure it lands! ENJOY!

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3 Steps to Help Your School Get a Free Exterior LED Changeable Message Lawn Sign

Exterior school signs are a must when it comes to identifying your campus. Those with changeable message or electronic moving message (LED) areas are even more useful in that they not only identify your facility, but also increase communication with students, parents and your community. Announcing events, promoting fundraisers and recognizing achievements are only a few examples of the benefits of exterior school signs with message areas. While signage is not always a top priority when budgets are tight, many schools are still able to acquire new signage at absolutely no cost to them.

For example, Apollo Beach Elementary School in Florida, was able to purchase a new LED electronic message center sign for their school at no cost to them as a result of donations from local businesses. The companies donated funds for the new sign in exchange for their company name being featured on the base of the sign. Everyone benefitted. The school received a brand new sign to help increase communication with everyone who passes by the school each day. The businesses are recognized as generous supporters of the school.

You can get a free sign for your school too! Simply follow these 3 easy steps:

1. If you are unable to take on the sign project yourself, determine which organizations associated with your school can help.

The following types of organizations will often take on the goal of obtaining a new sign for a school:

Student organizations such as the student council
Student service organizations (Key Club, Beta Club, National Honor Society, etc.)
Athletic groups (cheerleaders or a specific team)
PTA/PTO
Booster Clubs

2. Identify which businesses in your community to offer sponsorships to.

Types of businesses that have been known to sponsor sign projects for other schools include:

Insurance Agencies
Real Estate Agencies
Service Orgnaizations (Junior League, MADD, etc.)
Automotive Dealers
Service Businesses
Dentists
Pediatricians
Restaurants

3. Decide what to say when the businesses are contacted.

Establish a sample script to follow when contacting businesses.
Obtain a quote from a reputable sign company, preferable one that specializes in school signs and provides a lifetime warranty.
Be sure to tell them the benefits that the sign will bring to the school, the community and to their business.
You may want to consider sending a letter or postcard and following up with a phone call.

The business sponsor approach to obtaining new school signage can also be combined with another fundraiser although it often is not necessary. Wentzville Schools received donations in the range of $15,000 from builders in their area for new school signs. You too can work with your local businesses and let your community know about the good things that are happening at your school!

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How to Choose Your Home Based Internet Business

When choosing your home based internet business, it is crucial that you not only select a product or service that excites you but more importantly one that has significant popular appeal. Home based business success does not come easily or swiftly, so do not expect to start making money immediately. If it is time to look for some additional income and select the best home based internet business the first step is researching. Our website is dedicated to researching tested and proven business ideas. It is strongly encouraged to search for working from home ideas and opportunities that have been tested and proven, have passed an intensive screening process and are above all legitimate. There are three main options to home internet business, namely Advertisements, Affiliate Programs and developing and marketing your own products. In this issue we shall deal with the Affiliate Programs option.

Affiliate programs offer the best opportunities to start an online business, or to grow an existing one to new levels as joining affiliate programs on the internet to create residual income is easy. Simply put, Affiliate Programs in an online business is where you refer prospects to affiliates websites. When you send someone to the affiliates website and they decide to buy, you will be awarded a generous commission that can be as much as 80% of the total sale price. Another thing which is especially good about promoting affiliate products is that somebody else has gone to the trouble of creating them and someone else has gone to the trouble of optimizing the site so that it will convert as many visitors to customers as possible. Some sites that run affiliate programs are extremely generous by providing you with online training materials to help you drive more visitors to their site.

Also many of them will provide promotional banners and links which have been proven to work and which will make your affiliate experience even easier. You will also find a variety of affiliate programs promoting, for example, personal development programs, E-books, AdSense, freelance article writing, paid for leads programs, survey participation, advice services, etc. Visit our website to learn how you can tap into the lucrative affiliate marketing world easily. As an affiliate using these practical ideas, you will be given all the tools, training and help you need. Whether you’re looking for ideas to start your own online business, ways to earn extra income online, a second income or online home business opportunity, affiliate residual income programs or internet business building ideas, you’ll find the best, most effective, legitimate offers featured there. You will also find proven online home based business success strategies, affiliate marketing solutions, information and ideas that will not only help you start and build your own online home internet business, but also teach you how to market an internet business and make an income online. If the idea of earning multiple streams of affiliate income appeals to you, then you are in the right place.

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Fashion Toddler Outerwear Size Guide

My kids always have several Corky coats each season, so I’ve sort of become a pseudo expert in the sizing of these great coats. First of all the coats are always generously cut, fit very true to size and almost always have a roll-up cuff that lets you get extended wear with the coat. My rule of thumb when buying children’s outerwear is to always go up one size from the size clothes that my child is wearing in August and September. All kids will grow into the size quickly and you won’t be stuck trying to find a new kids coat at the end of February!

For instance, when my girls were wearing 2T clothes in August, the time a lot of people buy new girls coats to get the best styles, they looked adorable bundled up in their slightly oversized 3T Corky coats and matching hats at the end of October. But, by early April the Corky coats still looked great on them, but I sure was making good use of those four inch roll down cuffs! This strategy has worked well for me from when my girls were infants, right through their toddler and girly years, and all the way up to size fourteen.

Here in New England, it gets cold fast right at the end of October and can stay very cold right through April. The coat you buy in August needs to fit your child for nine months! When your child tries on the coat when you buy it remember, your child is probably wearing a light weight summer outfit and as it gets cold they will be wearing bulky sweaters, turtle necks and jumpers.

You can look through websites for size charts and they are fairly useful. But in the end it comes down to a judgment call on what size toddler coat to buy. The best measurement to go by is sleeve length because this is the part of the coat a child will outgrow. Once the sleeves are too short you need a new coat. Now if say a swing coat becomes a little shorter as the season progress that’s okay you won’t need to buy a new coat. Also, if you’ve bought a generously cut boutique coat you won’t need to worry about the coat not fitting across the chest. It’s those short sleeves that will always be the problem!

I have three girls and my experience with Corky coats started fourteen years ago when my oldest daughter wore a twelve month swing coat and popover hat that would result with strangers stopping us to ask where we bought the coat. If I had to guess, I’d imagine that I’ve bought more than 100 Corky coats over the years. I can say, whenever I bought a Corky coat one size larger than the clothes that my children wore in August and September, I was never disappointed with the sizing. I hope you find this of thumb helpful.