Don't Just Give Thanks, Live Thanks

Thanksgiving is a time to pause, reflect, and express gratitude for the blessings in our lives. For many, this means family, friends, health, and opportunity. But what if we went deeper? What if this year, we gave thanks not only for what we have but for who we’re becoming—and the teams helping us along the way?

Let’s not just give thanks but live thanks. Using gratitude as a tool for growth—fueling self-awareness, team connection, the messy middle, and the moments of failure that shape us.

We’ve built Wethos Copilot to provide you with insights and suggestions that empower you in all of this and so much more. But whether you’ve chosen Wethos AI to help your quest in discovery or have found other methods that work for you– we’re proud of every moment that you take to better yourself.

Thanking Ourselves First

As we celebrate National Gratitude Month, there’s an opportunity to focus on what truly matters: gratitude. But gratitude starts from within. When was the last time you thanked yourself—not for achieving something big, but for engaging with the world every day? For navigating challenges, learning from mistakes, and taking small but meaningful steps toward growth?

In many ways, gratitude begins with self-awareness. Appreciating yourself is about pausing to recognize your blind spots and cognitive biases while celebrating your natural strengths, resilience and areas of stretching. Maybe you handled a tough meeting differently or embraced feedback you once feared. These moments of self-reflection aren’t just signs of progress—they’re milestones that set the stage for deeper personal and professional growth

But let’s get personal. Think back to a recent moment where you surprised yourself—perhaps you responded with more patience than expected, or admitted a mistake without being defensive. What did you learn about yourself? These small insights form the foundation of personal transformation.

Here’s the challenge: life is never linear and gratitude isn’t just for the easy wins. It’s for the messy, imperfect, and unpolished steps in between that allow you to grow and improve both personally and professionally, or even spiritually and emotionally. On days when we feel we’ve fallen flat or “missed the mark”, take a step back. Thank yourself for your persistence, for leaning into discomfort, and for striving to be better, even when it’s hard.

Once you’ve mastered gratitude for yourself, it doesn’t stop there. It extends into the way you interact with others, setting the foundation for how you connect with your team, your leadership and everyone in between. When you show up with self-awareness, you create the space for others to do the same.

Thanking the Teams That Shape Us

We often recognize the power of appreciation and acknowledgement in our personal relationships but seem to forget its impact in the workplace. Great teams are more than the sum of their parts—they’re ecosystems of thought, energy, and effort. This Thanksgiving, look beyond the successes and celebrations that feel few and far between. Embracing the backlog, the fatigue, and the overwhelming feelings that so often define our days, and take a moment to authentically thank the individuals who make up our teams.

Gratitude for your team means looking beyond job titles and roles to see the real person behind them. It’s about recognizing the coworker who offers a fresh perspective, the teammate who quietly ensures everything runs smoothly, or the leader who pushes you to see your potential. It’s about appreciating the steady, sometimes invisible contributions that keep things moving forward—even when the weight of the workload feels insurmountable.

Understanding your team can be a transformative evolution. When we take time to appreciate diverse perspectives and unique contributions, we create stronger bonds and better results. Tools like Wethos Copilot uncover these dynamics, helping us collaborate, communicate, and even constructively challenge one another to be more. Gratitude for your team isn’t just about acknowledgement—it’s about engaging with each other more deeply, finding opportunities to build trust and bridge gaps together.

Don’t Wait Until it’s Too Late - Thanking the Messy Middle

We often save our gratitude for the finish line—the resolved project, the solved problem, the big win. But what about the messy middle? The moments where things feel hard and unclear, where mistakes are made, and progress seems slow?

The messy middle is where growth happens. It’s where resilience is built and creativity flourishes. Gratitude for these moments requires a shift in perspective: instead of focusing on the struggle, we learn to see the lessons within it. 

When project deadlines are slipping, ideas are clashing, and no clear path forward it’s easy (and valid) to feel defeated, stuck, and even frustrated, but that’s where the magic happens. It’s in these challenging moments that leaders emerge, communication deepens, and innovation sparks. By reshaping your perspective, those delays become teaching moments for patience; those disagreements push your team to question previously held beliefs and refine ideas.

And while the messy middle can feel isolating, it’s important to remember that it’s a universal human experience. Everyone—whether working in a team or tackling a personal challenge—faces these moments of uncertainty. You are not alone in feeling overwhelmed or unsure. Recognizing this shared struggle creates a sense of safety and connection, a reminder that these messy, chaotic periods are part of the process for all of us.

Consider this: every challenge you face sharpens your critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Every misstep teaches you how to adapt. Thanking the messy middle means celebrating the process as much as the outcome—and embracing the idea that growth often looks chaotic before it feels rewarding.  Remember Thomas Edison’s famous quote: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

Living Thanks Beyond The Holiday Season

Thanksgiving reminds us to pause, but what if we made gratitude a daily habit? Practicing gratitude year-round isn’t just good for the soul—it’s a powerful tool. Here’s where Wethos AI can help: by understanding your natural tendencies, we can align you with opportunities to show gratitude.

Thanking Failure for Its Lessons

Failure is rarely celebrated, but it should be. Every failure carries a micro-lesson—a moment of clarity about what didn’t work and why. Think back to a recent failure you experienced. What did it teach you? Maybe it revealed a blind spot you weren’t aware of or forced you to approach a problem from a completely different angle.

Ultimately failure isn’t the end. It’s the beginning of deeper understanding. It teaches us humility, adaptability, and persistence. Most importantly, it reminds us that mistakes are not just inevitable; they are a requirement for growth. Without them, we stay stagnant, assuming perfection in a world where it doesn’t exist. No one achieves success without stumbling along the way. Being kind to yourself in those moments is just as important as learning from them.

Show yourself grace- yes that is easier said than done. It’s easy to spiral into self-criticism or feel the weight of a misstep, but every great achievement is built on a foundation of lessons learned from failure. When we thank failure, we free ourselves from the fear of it. Instead, we open ourselves to curiosity and sparks of innovation.

“When we give ourselves permission to fail, we, at the same time, give ourselves permission to excel.” - Eloise Ristad

By embracing failure with grace and gratitude, we create a mindset that not only accepts mistakes but also celebrates the courage it takes to try. This perspective shifts failure from something to avoid into a necessary step toward success.

Reflect. Act. Grow.

At the end of the day, we often can’t control what’s happening around us—unexpected challenges, shifting priorities, or even the noise of everyday life. But what we can control is how we show up.

So, this Thanksgiving, we want to thank you. Thank you for engaging in meaningful conversations that inspire growth and understanding. Thank you for allowing us the privilege to take up space and time in your day. And thank you for placing your trust in us as we navigate the journey of self-awareness and team empowerment together.

When in doubt, write it out. List simple, meaningful ways you show gratitude in your daily life. To help you get started, our team compiled a few of our favorite practices:

1. Seeking out and thanking the random acts of kindness that happen throughout the day.
2. Verbalizing positive phrases like “I am blessed,” “I am grateful for,” or “I appreciate this.”
3. Being intentional about how you talk about coworkers, focusing on their strengths.
4. Spending time in nature and taking a moment to appreciate its beauty.
5. Bringing friends their favorite snack or a personalized gift to show. they’re being thought of.
6. Recognizing the family, friends, and colleagues who always have your back.
7. Focusing on one thing in your view, and admiring it in its fullness.
8. Sharing the load with coworkers and tag-teaming projects.
9. Pausing to acknowledge even the tiniest victories in your day—they deserve gratitude too.
10. Giving back to your community or a cause you care about as a way of showing thanks.

From all of us at Wethos AI, we’re grateful for the opportunity to grow with you. May your Thanksgiving be filled with reflection, connection, and the strength to show up—today and every day.

Sign up for the Wethos AI Free trial and let Wethos Copilot help you achieve all the dimensions of gratitude.