[Introduction music plays in the background.]

Janet: Hello everyone. I’m Janet Pilcher, the host of Accelerate Your Performance. Today is our final episode for 2023. We’re going to take a holiday break and we’ll be back with you on January 8th, 2024.

I hope you get some time to relax and enjoy the holiday season.

[Intro music stops playing.]

I start with the words of the holiday season, to put smiles on your face. Just listen and enjoy these words: angel, candy, carolers, chestnuts, chimney, tree, elf, family, festive, frankincense, frosty, Santa Claus, Rudolph, holly, mistletoe, nativity, ornaments, presents, Scrooge, slay, stockings, gingerbread, goodwill.

Let me say that word again. Goodwill, a friendly or helpful attitude toward others. I’m recording this podcast as I traveled to my last partner visit in 2023, and today I traveled through the airport, the Delta Skyclub, to a car rental, to a hotel, and every service worker I came in contact with today expressed goodwill, a friendly, helpful attitude toward me.

I was walking on the plane and a young man working at the airport smiled at me and said hello as I was about to bypass hm without acknowledging him. And then I stopped, walked back, and I said hello to him.

When I got off the plane, my shoe was untied, and the service worker called my attention to it.

When I entered the hotel, airport desk, sky club, and restaurant, everyone, I mean everyone, expressed goodwill today. From the morning throughout the day until the end of the day, I experienced so many service workers expressing goodwill. At one time, I almost stopped to pinch myself to make sure I was living in the world and not in a dream.

They influenced me to take that personal goodwill with me into the holiday season.

I connected then to an article by Bob Daley, The Value of Goodwill: Do You Serve Others First? I became kind of interested in goodwill. What do we mean by goodwill? He suggested we measure our goodwill by answering these questions.

Do we have a personal reputation as a good person? Are we a person who can be trusted? Are we reliable? Do we work with others based on honesty and integrity first, above all else? When people describe us to others, do they do so fondly? Are we people who others want to be around us? Do we gather people together? Do we have a track record of acting fairly in all situations? Do we serve others first? And when the chips are down and everything is going wrong, can others rely on us to rise above the chaos, identify root causes, and get to work solving the problems?

Our actions align to these questions show our personal goodwill. It’s our actions.

That’s what I experienced today, people’s actions of personal goodwill. It felt good, made me smile. Just like the words of Christmas and the holiday season I spoke of at the beginning of this podcast. Those words make us smile. Personal goodwill makes us smile, fills us with joy.

[Outro music plays in the background.]

I wish you love peace, joy, and personal goodwill this holiday season, and I look forward to connecting with you in 2024.

Have a great holiday.