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Welcome to It's a Good Life podcast, where it's all about helping entrepreneurs think, feel, and do better. Today, we wanted to bring you a special episode from the archives, one of our most downloaded episodes. We hope you enjoy.

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Well, top of the morning to you, and welcome to the Christmas edition of It's a Good Life. I want to be the first to wish you a happy Christmas, which is what we say at home. Merry Christmas. I'm a Yank, obviously. I've been in the states now over 38 years. God bless us. But happy Christmas is the words I always associate with it. It's one of my favorite times a year, especially as part of my faith tradition, but also is wrapped up with Christmas for me is the nostalgia of growing up in Ireland and the memories of that as a kid. Christmas was a very, very special time. You know, one of the beauties of being raised in an environment. We don't have a lot of resources that things were special. You know, if you eat out all the time. And it's funny, like, this time of year, I've had so many business dinners and so on so forth, trying to eat good and whatever else. But now, oh, we're at the restaurant this night, we're at the restaurant that night. And after a while, it starts to lose a little bit of its specialness. When you eat rich foods, you know, then they stop being rich, you know, and when you can get whatever you want, whenever you want, it stops being special. And we didn't have very much, and you got a few things every year as a kid. And I always remember, you know, in Ireland, it was always dark early in the mornings and then dark early in the evening, so we have very little sunlight. We're up much more northerly in the hemisphere than most people realize. And we always remember in school, you'd go to school in the dark and you'd come home in the dark. And Christmas was like that. But there was. There was one light, and that light was on the Christmas tree. And we used to wake up first thing in the morning. We had what we called the front room. And the front room was where the Christmas tree was. And I always remember you'd look under the door to see if you could get a glimpse of whatever was inside. And the breeze would come underneath the door and blind you. You know, just your eyes were hurting and you'd feel that cold wind. But it was that sense of expectation. It was the promise of something new. And the expectation, as it turned out, was always better than the real thing. I mean, there Were certain things you got every year. We got socks every year, we got underwear every year. And then you'd get one thing that was yours. You might get a ball or maybe there was a bike. One year, I think somebody got a bike. It wasn't me. Maybe we were doing better when the old man got older. But you got one special gift. But it was just the anticipation of that. They always kept it a secret. Such a great thing. So I'm going to talk about the ghosts of Christmas past, the lessons of Christmas presents, and the blessings of Christmas future. Doesn't that sound nice? So the ghosts of Christmas past. Why does it go wrong for people? Well, the first one, like we talk about, is debt, okay? And so 34% of Americans go into more debt around the holidays. 65% said they weren't planning on taking out debt, and 57% are stressed their holiday debt is going to cause them negative effects into the new year. Okay? So my encouragement to you is my mother used to say, you know, come as you are, Come as you are. And the real gift of Christmas is the gift of you and what you bring to the table and what you bring to your conversations and what you bring to your relationships. And if it has to come with a price tag on it, then there's other issues or if you feel like it has to come with a price tag. You know, for me, I probably this year received over 100 requests from charities and ministries, and I love to support them all. And it's interesting sometimes some of these ministries and that I've even given generously to in the past, and I haven't been able to do as much this year. And you feel like, A, you're letting them down, or B, they let you know you're letting them down. It to me, it's like the most impersonal thing that happens in my life. It's the most thing that makes me feel like a commodity and not a person. Like, when I'm around my grandkids, my grandkids don't give a rip about what grandpa does or doesn't do or what he has or doesn't have. He's just Grandpa to them. My kids are the same way, by the way. And my bride, who's the most unmaterialistic person in the world, I think she just likes me. For me, that's a powerful thing. So as you think about this season and getting into the season and past the season, you know, your value is you and what you bring to the table. If you spent a few bucks More. Okay, fine, we'll deal with that in the new year. But don't keep spending more. You're the value and you don't have to keep spending more to provide value. The second ghost of Christmas pass is stress. The American Psychological association found that 38% of people are more stressed over the holiday season, resulting in physical and mental illness and substance abuse. Right. And we know, you know, there's a lot more sweet stuff to eat and there's a lot more drink flying around around the holidays. Business people are stressed. You know, businesses are prepared for the stress of the market. We're all about, we're going to help you out in the new year. We got the virtual events we're going to do and all kinds of cool stuff. So check out our website and you'll find all kinds of cool stuff that we're doing in the new year that maybe you can go, okay, I'm just going to relax over the holidays and then I'm going to kick it in the butt in the new year. And that's just the way to go. Like, we all need to rest and recover. We have to sleep every night. We need vacations and time off. And this is just a great time of year to shut it down, okay? And so if you're stressed a little bit about your business or what's in the pipeline, just go, okay, I'm going to hit it hard in the new year and we have all kinds of cool stuff for you, and I'm going to get you on the right track on how to have a good year. So you know that's coming. So then relax, okay? Show up for the virtual event and then relax over the holidays. You know, the other goes to Christmas past is loneliness. And I bring it up and again, we're getting to the happy place. But 66% of people report feeling lonely during the holidays. So my encouragement to you is don't go alone. You know, when I feel out of sorts, my tendency is to withdraw. I actually like my own company. I like to read, I like to research. And it's very easy for me to pull up into my office. I have a little couch in there and I'll retreat. But, you know, what's good is to get out of the shell and force yourself to go do something. Maybe it's in a community event. Maybe it's people are singing carols or there's some kind of thing going on in your neighborhood. Get out of your ordinary place and just put yourself into that spot. And so, you know, go to a Panto, as we used to say, at home, a pantomime, or you go to a show or even go to the movies where there's a bunch of other people, and just force yourself into a situation where there's people around just to be around. There's the energy of that and the connection to that. Okay, you know, you can overdo it and be too gregarious over the holidays, but no matter what, it'd be good to get around other people. The LinkedIn founder, his name is Reid Hoffman. He said, no matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you're playing a solo game, you'll always lose out to a team. Isaac Newton said, if I have further seen, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. And so we all need to do that. Helen Keller, she said, alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much. So we know, hey, watch the debt, watch the stress, and work against the loneliness. It's just easy to do. The second major point is to cover the lessons of Christmas presents, which is kind of how it can go, right? So the first thing is goodwill. You know, goodwill in life. Goodwill is a friendly or helpful attitude towards others. It's about extending kindness and helping others without exception. One of my favorite ministries in San Diego is called the San Diego Rescue Mission, and I like to support it. And it's a ministry that does a remarkable job with the homeless community in San Diego. And they do a great job of not just taking care of them for the night, but they actually will help people over the course of a year and help educate and find them work and help them find themselves. They do educational programming. They obviously help them if there's any kind of substance abuse or whatever else. But to go down and volunteer down there, you know, you always, oh, I'm coming out of my nice neighborhood in my safe place, and I'm going down to help the homeless. Am I a great guy? And the truth of the matter is, it's impossible to shine a light to someone else's path without lighting up your own. And I always come away from those experiences almost like feeling, like, inadequate but blessed. You know, a great scripture says, a cup of cold water handed out in my name, sometimes just blessing somebody, serving up some food, giving people some extra clothes, doing some things like that, to serve a fabulous thing, and it's a great thing. You know, in business, goodwill is the intangible asset. But in the human condition, goodwill is a very tangible asset and very powerful. The next thing is the lesson of Christmas present is joy. Think back to when you were a kid. And the joy, you know, just being around my grandkids and the joy they have opening up their boxes and the surprises or putting the star on top of the tree and those kinds of things. That joy is in us all. And that joy gets knocked out of us and it gets knocked out of us. And one of the things we lose is perspective. And again, when you go and serve and help people perhaps less fortunate than yourself economically, for example, it's a fabulous thing. Franklin Graham has a ministry which is Operation Christmas Child. And a lot of churches do this. You get a little shoebox and you decorate it and you put little toys and stuff in there, okay, this is for a 12 year old girl, this is for a little boy. And then they send pictures, they bring these hundreds and hundreds of thousands of these shoeboxes to disadvantaged communities all over the world and they send the pictures. And every year those pictures make it on our refrigerator. You know, it's just the face of joy of some kid who's so appreciative that someone they'll never meet and never know took the time to put a little something in a box for them. Boy, it fills the heart. So doing something in the form of joy. Carl Barth, the Swiss theologian, said, joy is the simplest form of gratitude, very powerful indeed. And then the last little piece of the lessons of Christmas present is togetherness. You know, but I've seen it in our own business, I've seen it together. You know, the pain is cut in half when you're with somebody and the joy is double. And so we want to do that. Henry Ford said, if everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself. Mother Teresa said, together we can do great things. So you know the old proverb, you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. So togetherness is a big deal. So goodwill, joy and togetherness, you know, that's just some thoughts. And maybe it makes you go, do something, take an extra minute, send a good thought, write the little extra note in the Christmas card or whatever it is, holiday card, that would be good. And then lastly, the blessings of Christmas future. And the first point, there is faith, like these dynamics of goodwill and joy and togetherness that I'm talking about, that comes from me not in my natural state, but in a state of faith. It's just a very powerful thing. And so for me, it's a profession of my own personal faith. And again, there's people there, you know, whether you're celebrating Hanukkah or whatever holiday you celebrate. Hopefully it's an expression of your own faith. Okay? Faith for me is the evidence of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And so when you talk about the blessings of Christmas future, that faith, the evidence of things not seen, the hope that is to come. And so, you know, I'm having faith in my faith for myself and my family, but for all of you, you know, And I just want you to know, you know, for me and my family, we pray for all of you. I have a very special gentleman in my life. His name is Jeff Ginsberger. And Jeff calls me Tuesdays and Thursdays because typically I record a podcast on a Tuesday or a Thursday, and we pray together. And the prayer is always for all of you that are listening. No matter what you believe or don't believe, I want you to know that we're praying for you. And that. And part of that faith is not just the faith in God, but the belief, the faith in you that upon hearing maybe some of this good information, you'll apply some of this good information and that your life will be more blessed, that your spirits will be lifted. Maybe you got an idea or two, right? We talk about mindset, motivation, and methodologies that some aspect of that falls on you or that you hear something in an interview and you hear, oh, that person's really successful, but they went through a hard time. And I can relate to that. So I just want you to know that that's always an important thing. Maya Angelou said, let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. Let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good. And that's my hope for all of you this season, is that you'll welcome good into your home and into your life this season. The next blessing of Christmas future is gratitude. With gratitude comes an appreciation for others, a chance to count your own blessings and then to give thanks in return. I find that my heart is more swelled. My bride and I have a. We pray together every morning. And our prayer life starts with gratitude. It doesn't start with a list. No matter what's going on or how difficult things are, it always starts with what we're thankful for, the most basic of things, and it expands your heart. People say, well, does prayer change God? Well, the one thing I do know is prayer changes me. And I think that might be part of the design behind it, the chance to count your blessing and then appreciate others. I just say this. You know, I meet a lot of famous people and wealthy People and successful people. And you know, what I know is that everybody's in need of appreciation and everyone appreciates the sentiment of gratitude. It's interesting. You know, just recently I've sat with some Fortune 100 CEOs, powerful people who run billion dollar corporations. And a genuine expression at a time of a sense of gratitude that I would give to them for what they're doing and how they're going about it. And it's amazing how they just light up. Everybody needs it, we need it. And it's like a fresh water spring. And so let you be the source of expressing gratitude and appreciation to others this season. And whether they appreciate you in return or not, the blessing is in the giving of that. But I also would say there's a good chance when you appreciate others. It's amazing how that communicates the dialogue. And then the last part, you have faith, you have gratitude, then you have peace. And we talk about peace on earth, obviously we pray for that. The world's a very troubled place at this time. Peace to your fellow man and woman. And that can be locally, community, family members. I like to say, you know, the politicians every four years do a great job of tearing the hell out of the country and tearing the hell out of one another. And then we got to put it all back together. And people are having a harder time nowadays putting things back together. And I would just say, to what ends, to what ends, that's not the stuff that counts. And it's not that I don't have very strong opinions on the subject myself. And economically and freedom and the Constitution and free speech and all those things, freedom of religion, it means the world to me. But at the end of the day, for me, peace is whenever I'm talking to a human being, my faith tradition says there's someone made in the image of God. That's why taking a life is such a horrific crime, because you're taking that which is made in the image of God. So I can have someone who's made in the image of God with different political beliefs, different personal beliefs, different approach to life, but they're still made in the image of God. And that's why I. I need to give that peace and that energy of peace to other people. And if you do that, I think then you get the beautiful piece which is peace of mind. And boy, that's something good. You know, money can buy you a bed, but it can't buy you a good night's sleep. The great John Wooden, who we did a podcast about this year, said Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self satisfaction, of knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming. That's a beautiful thing. Epicurious said. He who has peace of mind disturbs neither himself nor another. Words to live by I want you to know this as I get a chance to express gratitude. I want to thank all of you who tune in on a regular basis. I want to thank you for giving me your time and your attention. I hope this podcast is a blessing to you. Let me know more of the stuff you want to hear or who you want to hear from. I'd love to know how to serve you better. Thank you to all of you who've shared this podcast with someone else and maybe someone who you thought, oh, they could really use this podcast. And I thank you for sharing that. I thank to my producers and all the team that work behind the scenes to make this podcast come alive. I started this back on St. Patrick's Day of 2016 and we're still figuring it out. We're still learning. We do believe we're gonna be putting these episodes on YouTube in the new year. We're gonna be bringing in some some very cool guests and we've kind of made a commitment to take the program to a whole other level next year. But we'd love to hear from you guys what serves you? What are your favorite episodes? I'd love to hear from you. What would you like to hear more of? Who are your favorite interviews? I'd love to hear that. And we'll be reaching out on social media around that as well. But most of all, I just wish you a great holiday season. I pray you get a chance to rest and rejuvenate and recover and that this season will be a blessing to you. My mother's phrase May the roads rise up to meet you, and may the wind always be at your back. May the rain fall soft upon your fields and the sunshine warm upon your face. And until we meet again in the new year, may God hold you all in the hollow of his hands. Merry Christmas, Sam.