Over the last five years, I’ve written on a number of topics, and about a number of people.

Having a blog that’s well read, well ranked, and well linked has its advantages. Quite often I’ll write about a certain company or person, they’ll find it and often times pick up the phone and call me directly to thank me. It use to blow me away, and I still gets me jazzed when someone takes the time to call about something I’ve written. It’s enabled me to connect to an number of really cool people that without this blog – I most likely wouldn’t have an opportunity to connect with.

I received such a voice mail this weekend – but this particular message took me by surprise.

What was remarkable about it was that it wasn’t anything that I had written recently. In fact I wrote it two and a half years ago – back before all the “drama” from our industry professionals started to stir and the constant shaming of the Founders, the Company, and our people who they claim have no interest in being legitimate “Travel Agents”.

The article I’m talking about was a post announcing YTB’s E-Campus training, and the person who called to thank me was Dr. Marc Mancini himself.

He found what I wrote and was so moved by my article that he immediately picked up the phone to call me to offer his sincere gratitude and thanks for my support.

I was on the phone at the time, and the caller ID said “Unknown Caller” so I let it go to voice mail. I wish I would have picked it up, because it was me who wanted to thank him – not the other way around.

Why? Because guys like Dr. Mancini are part of the solution – not part of the problem.

At the time I wrote that piece I had no knowledge of the battle that was about to erupt. We all knew there were “issues” stirring in the industry and E-Campus was a step in the right direction in qualifying and legitimizing YTB Travel Network as a true host. Come to find out years later is that you can take all the courses you’d like, attain all the credentials you want, but as long as your name is attached to an MLM host – it’s never going to be good enough for some.

These are simple minds who just won’t tolerate MLM because it’s a buzzword they throw around without having any true idea of what it is or what it means. It’s just bad. Very – very bad. Oh sure, they all claim to be experts, but have you actually seen the crap they think it is?

It makes me laugh it’s so ridiculous. So lame and comical I haven’t needed to defend any of it outside of this blog for years. If people who read that junk are stupid enough to fall for such nonsense, they shouldn’t be in business to begin with.

Dr. Mancini got his share of ridicule too just after E-Campus was announced. People called him all sorts of names, threatened to boycott his trainings – the standard threats that we’ve all come to know years later. What impresses me most about Dr. Mancini is that he had the guts to stick to beliefs. Yes, he was being paid for the courses he created for YTB (as he should be) but he never backed down due to pressure from traditionalist. We’ve seen plenty of examples over the years of just how nasty and irrational a small segment can be. Think back to MailPound and Davidoff Associates and how they were relentlessly scorned and chastised for attempting to offer value to YTB Travel Network as a Host Agency – not just some random MLM.

What’s so odd to me is that the “spin” from this small segment was (actually still is after all these years) that people like me aren’t interested in learning about the travel industry at all. The focus according to them is “recruiting” – and that my friend is a word that conjures up some of the deepest fears and phobias I’ve ever witness in human behavior.

I mean it REALLY gets some people worked up.

I’ve heard it said many times that if YTB would simply drop the MLM part of our pay plan, we just might be accepted as a legitimate agency. What these dolts can’t comprehend is that “somebody” is being paid in every Travel Host out there that charges a fee. (To the guy at the top of the pyramid no less!) We just happen to offer part of that “fee” to those who are responsible for making the sale. To me, that makes it not only fair, but a much more attractive compensation package than any other agency out there.

And for the traditionalist that are holding out hope that YTB would ever dump the MLM payment structure…sorry, nobody asked you.

No, we’ll stick with true leaders and mentors. Those who have the intelligence to see past some model and look at the people who are involved.

I recently wrote about how this industry (MLM) is chalked full of support and mentors. Nor have I been surrounded by more gratitude and love. Dr. Mancini may not be a part of MLM, but he’s got the true spirit of this industry down packed.

And for that – it’s me that is offering my sincere gratitude to him for not only acting like a true professional, but being part of the solution – not the problem.

Thank YOU Dr. Mancini.

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One of the reasons why I like Thanksgiving so much is because it’s the one time of year that most people take the time to be thankful. If some would realize what gratitude would do for their daily lives, a lot more people would use the practice on a daily – or at least weekly basis. The concept of stinkin’ thinkin’ would be a thing of the past.

As I start to formulate some of my goals and things I want to accomplish moving into 2010, there’s been a new resurgence of late about using gratitude as a daily practice. I do take time nearly every day to think about things I should be grateful for. Just this little effort has been so profound, that I’m not only doing more and more of it, but it’s one of the first New Years Resolutions on my 2010 list.

If you’ve watched the movie “The Secret” or read anything related to personal development and self improvement, one of the most significant and simple things you can do to improve any outcome is taking the time each day to write down a few things you’re grateful for. It doesn’t need to be fancy (although I’ve seen “Gratitude Journals” you can purchase for this very practice) but it should be done as a way of moving the negative things out of the way and allowing more positive and meaningful events and opportunities into your life.

Earlier this week I caught wind that Oprah is ending her long running talk show after 25 years. I may have seen her show less than 5 times for whatever reason in all those years. One of those times was to watch an episode with the teachers of “The Secret”. I believe it was James Arthur Ray who said you can’t receive anything new until you let go of the old. It’s like trying to fill a bucket – you can’t fill it with anything new, until you empty out some of it’s current contents. It’s a known scientific fact that the mind can’t compute two opposite thoughts or feelings at the same time. You can’t be both angry and happy at the same time. You can’t picture a tall building and a small building at the same time, and you can’t think about being sick and healthy at the same time.

What a gratitude journal does is help you empty out the old negative thoughts and feelings and replace them with more meaningful and useful thoughts that empower you. Your life always moves in the direction of the minds most dominant thought. Have you ever noticed how people who always complain about being sick are always sick? The people who constantly complain about bad things happening to them or always complain “why” have such bad luck?

Transversely, those who are constantly happy go lucky always have all the luck. Those who talk about moving up the company ladder are the ones sitting in the posh corner office with the new promotion.

This Thanksgiving, I have very personal and practical experience of what letting go of the old – negative aspects in your life and replacing them with new more empowering thoughts of gratitude can do.

About 2 months ago I made a choice to put the YTB critics on ignore. I quit reading the garbage and trash talk because the practice had broken through responsible and respectable social norms. The ideas and perspective of this small group had never matched my own experience or knowledge obtained from more reliable and unbiased sources. Furthermore, throughout this last year others who were exposed to the tactics labeled their activity as “redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter” while another outside source called the emotional outbursts a “bizarre and complete waste of time“.

Therefore, I made the choice to let it all go and move on.

I don’t remember, nor am I going to dig up the exact quote or thread, but I did go back once since I made this choice. While reading the comments section someone called someone else a “goats butt” and the words stopped me dead in my tracks. After being removed for some time, the words were extremely glaring and brought the entire two years of bantering into perspective for me. When I asked myself what value the activity possessed for anyone who read it, I couldn’t even justify it with an answer – so I simply hit the little “x” at the top right hand corner and haven’t been back since.

As a result, I’ve been able to focus more time and effort on more productive and meaningful articles that promote the value of YTB. Home life has become much more loving and fun – and opportunities have presented themselves that have produced a better financial foundation for everyone involved.

In addition, because I’m not being fed all this negative crap about how impossible it is to succeed, I’ve actually been able to resolve a couple of issues. One of the most time consuming over the last two years has been a dispute with a number of credit card companies who decided to change their rules and finance charges. Because I took exception to the changes and decided to fight, several suits were filed and a battle ensued in court. Because of various changes in legislation and because the National Arbitration Forum was not only exposed as a fraud but shut down, and coincidentally because I stopped reading how impossible it was, I resolved and cleaned up the mess I created for myself.

To state that I’m grateful to have these suits settled and dismissed by the plaintiffs is an understatement.

My family life has grown to new heights. Ronda has seen the changes in my ability to get more done now that I don’t spend so much time reading nothing more than insults, and I tend to be more responsive to the needs and responsibilities as head of the house. The kids are doing exceptionally well in school. While there’s always room for improvement, we’ve learned some new ways of motivating and helping them resolve any problems or issues they encounter. As a result, there is more open communication between us as they continue to learn and grow. Kids will be kids, and they’ll always explore boundaries – but there is far more confidence in our abilities to parent and help them grow into responsible adults.

We’re also spending more time together as a family. Not only have we spent time together on a cruise, but the holidays will also be spent with extended family for extended periods of time. Because I’m in the drivers seat with my own business and opportunities, we can enjoy this time together.

Lastly – and probably most importantly – I continue to be blown away over the readership of this blog and our newsletter. I started this blog back in 2005 and the newsletter a little less than two years ago. To see the traffic and the links created pointing here and how the newsletter has grown to thousands of subscribers is humbling. To think that an average guy like myself can have the following I’ve created and the friendships that have been formed because of both this blog and newsletter is a true testimony of what honesty, persistence, and a desire to help others can truly do. Each hit to this blog, and each subscriber that comes in for the newsletter is something that I give thanks for each and every day.

I believe that none of this would have come to fruition if I didn’t extract the negative and focus on the things that I should be grateful for in my life. Some of them are small, like watching my daughter actually empty the dishwasher and vacuum the rug right now. Others appear to be large, like the two year battle I endured with the with critics and the credit card companies. The point here is that no matter how big or how insignificant you might think anything is, you need to give thanks for anything that happens because no matter what it is – there is a valuable lesson to be learned.

If you can learn and grow – no matter how uncomfortable it might be to take responsibility and face it head on – that my friends is something to be truly be thankful for on the other side once you’ve been able to see the fruits of your labor and choices.

Be thankful and grateful – not just tomorrow – but each and every day with an attitude of gratitude and watch you life and circumstances change like it has mine.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

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I found this poem the other day while surfing. Needless to say, it struck me.

While I had something planned for today on gratitude, and why it’s so important to achieve what you want in life, when I read this, I realized that it said everything I wanted to say about the subject.

Do this faithfully throughout the year, and I promise you that 2009 will be the best year yet.

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.

~ Author Unknown ~

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It was 25 years ago this Thanksgiving that I participated in one of the most unique and memorable Thanksgiving Day feasts I’ve been able to recall in some time. I was working for a Top 40 radio station at the time in Pittsburgh. I had started with this station as a lowly intern, a college dropout, and when the internship ended I stayed on in various capabilities just because both they and I worked very well together. For many years I considered my time with B-94 my college education. I learned so much from this experience, and thanks to the relationships I formed there, when other Radio DJ’s went on to bigger and better things, I was often called upon to work with them.

We ran a promotion this particular year and asked people to write in and tell us what they were grateful for that particular Thanksgiving Day. A parent who’s brought them up, a teacher who has mentored them, an employer who’s provided insurance for a sick child, the letters came pouring in. As they did, the letters were read at various times of the day, and some were even able to read their own letter over the phone to be broadcast over the air.

The winner of this contest would win a fully catered Thanksgiving dinner, with all the fixings, on none other than the Mayflower. Now you may be wondering…Mayflower? Ah, you need to think a bit “outside the box” here. Like a “moving box”.

A school teacher actually won this contest and I can still remember the look on the families face when they saw none other than a Mayflower moving van pull up in front of their home. Inside the trailer was a fully waxed and polished hardwood floor, dinning room table with seating for 10, fine china, crystal glassware, silver to match, fall centerpiece with candles, and the wait staff who served this piping hot Thanksgiving feast inside the Mayflower?

Pilgrims.

The promotion got all kinds of television news coverage that year, and for many like me, it’s had a lasting memory decades later.

Many of us tend to only think about being thankful on days like today. It’s as if we can’t be too thankful, as if there’s not enough to go around. Well, there can never be enough thankfulness in this world. Starting today, and being thankful for what you have right now, will bring about even more people, places and things that you can be thankful for.

I got an e-mail yesterday from Rhonda Byrne, the creator of The Secret.

The greatest thief of human happiness and abundance is ungratefulness. Any lack in our lives – whether in money, health, or relationships – is simply the evidence of a lack of gratitude. If you focus on lack you are not being grateful, and that will bring more lack into your life. Yet the simple state of radiating gratitude summons everything to you.

Because I’ve focused on being grateful for each and every visitor to this Blog, what I thought would take 2 to 3 months for people to actually find and link to has taken less than 3 weeks. I’ve already had traffic that rivals some of the best days I’ve ever had in all the years over on the other blog format. Links pop up on the first instead of second or third page, and I’ve expanded my reach to actually help some of the people that have been laid off from Liberty Travel, and clients who were concerned about their sunk cruise booking with Cruise Value Centers. Not to mention that the Newsletter subscription has gone through the roof.

Take some time today to be thankful for what you have as you spend time with extended family. (Mine is flying in from Pittsburgh this morning, as they know a really good Travel Agent who got them a great deal!) Then see if you can extend that gratitude into this weekend. Before you know it, it’s going to be Monday and you’ve spent the entire 4 days being thankful and watch what happens.

It’s a great time to do it and you can start right now.

And thanks for being a part of this new blog. I’m honored and grateful for you taking the time to be here on this special day.

Now where’s that moving van? I’m hungry!

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

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