Gratitude, Grit, And Year-End Sales Momentum

A short break can be a powerful reset, and this Thanksgiving we’re using the pause to sharpen focus, build momentum, and double down on what works. Ken Collins opens up about why gratitude is more than a seasonal mood; it’s a daily operating system that rewires how you lead and sell. From the religious and spiritual frames to the brain science behind strengthened neural pathways, you’ll hear how a grateful mindset helps you notice opportunities, build stronger relationships, and steer your business through the holiday rush with clarity.

We also unpack the show’s early access rhythm—episodes release on podcast platforms a full week before the blog recap goes live at Strategic Horizons Consulting—so you can catch stories and tactics sooner when they matter most. Ken shares a concise “holiday panic mode” sales plan for owners who feel late to the party, focusing on quick wins, proven channels, and simple offers that move the needle without adding chaos. The throughline is practical: amplify what already works, communicate clearly, and use the goodwill you’ve earned to finish the year strong.

Community is the multiplier here. Ken offers heartfelt thanks to clients, guests, and listeners, then urges owners to support each other with sincere reviews, local purchases, and shared wins. If you want to tell your story on the show—or just grab a no-pressure chat about your business—Ken’s door is open. Take the breath, set your intentions, and meet us back on December 1 for a fresh conversation with a new guest. Subscribe for early access, share this with a fellow owner who needs a nudge, and leave a review to help more local stories reach the people who need them most.

Be sure to follow or subscribe!  And, if you're a local business owner who'd like to be featured - or know someone whose story should be told - get in touch at Ken@StrategicHorizonsConsulting.com

This show is brought to you by Strategic Horizons Consulting (a division of Ken Collins Marketing).

Transcript

Host Sets Thanksgiving Break

How Early Access Works

Recent Guests Recap

Unscripted Format Philosophy

Gratitude As A Daily Practice

Brain Science Behind Gratitude

Thank-Yous To Clients And Listeners

Holiday Panic Mode Sales Guide

Focus On Wins To Finish Strong

Reflect, Support Local, Leave Reviews

Learn From Past Episodes

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Hey everybody! Uh not the normal greeting that you get at the beginning of these episodes, but uh my name is Ken Collins. I am the host of Behind the Counter and Business Stories from the Four Corners. And I have no guest today, and that's on purpose. Um just wanted to let you know we are coming up on Thanksgiving. In case you didn't know, I'm sure you already knew that. But because we're coming up on Thanksgiving, I uh wanted to take a little break. Thanksgiving break, just give everyone um my guests and these business owners I tracked down for these episodes, and myself included a little bit of breathing room before the holiday rush. So um that's what this episode is going to be about. Uh uh in addition to some other things. Um basically these episodes drop every Monday. So, and then the following Monday, uh, that episode gets a dedicated blog article on my website at uh strategichorizonsconsulting.com. Um, if you so basically, if you follow behind the counter business stories from the four corners on your favorite podcast platform like um Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, you name it, you actually get each episode a full week before it hits the website. Then once it hits the website, it's also shared to social media and that sort of thing. But if you follow the podcast on a podcast platform, you will you will have access to that that each episode every week, uh um one week before everybody else sees it on the website and social media. So that's your early access window. And that's the best way to stay ahead if you like hearing new stories is as soon as they go live. And um so let's see, this this episode, this this is our Thanksgiving break episode, goes live on November 17th. And if you're hearing it, it's either November 17th or after, because it means it's live. Uh, the blog article for this one will will come out on the website on November 24th, and then we're right into Thanksgiving. So we're taking a break there. Basically, we'll pick up on December 1st with a brand new guest, and um, and then that article will come out on uh December 8th. And so far we've we've covered, let's see if I can remember these um Interwest Concepts and Desert River Guides, uh, Ramon Valdez Fine Furniture, Mushroom Zen, uh The Happy Pear, Anne Marie Dance Academy. Um shoot, I th I think that's everybody. If I'm missing somebody, I apologize profusely. I've got a million things running through my head, and I don't have a list sitting in front of me. I want to do these these kinds of episodes with just me unscripted, as well as all the other episodes. When I sit down with a guest, they have no idea what I'm about to ask them and um and what we're gonna talk about, and we just go unscripted. So that's how all of this works. And since we're heading into Thanksgiving, of course, it's that time of year. Um, this time of year is a great reminder to pause and take stock, not just um not just of your wins, uh, but of the people behind those wins. So there's this really cool thing with gratitude, and gratitude isn't just uh meant to be relegated to uh a time of year like Thanksgiving. Um gratitude is an all-year-long process, and I encourage all of you to practice gratitude on a daily basis. Um, I've heard the effects of doing that in many different ways. I've heard it religiously, I've heard it spiritually, scientifically, uh, let's see, religiously, I've heard people say that you know, God looks down and sees a grateful person and says, Wow, there he's grateful, she's grateful, that person is grateful. Let's give them more to be grateful for. And a person that's just complaining all the time will then take some of those things away, like, well, let's just complaining about everything. So let's take some things away so you don't have as much to complain about anymore. So if you're a religious type of person, that's kind of how that's framed. Spiritually, um, I've heard it explained that you know, um whatever you put out into the universe, be it gratitude or complaint, is what the universe will send back to you. So if you're sending out gratitude, you'll get things to be grateful for. If you're complaining, you'll get things to complain about. Um and all of that relates scientifically to uh just how your brain works. Your brain doesn't know in and of itself um right and wrong, good and bad, all those kinds of things. It just strengthens neural pathways for the things you think about most. So if you spend most of your time in a grateful mindset, then those are the that's the area your brain is gonna naturally operate out of. And basically what that means is you're going to see all the things to be grateful for. You're gonna open up and see all those things, and it's just gonna come natural. Um, you've probably met people like that, it seems like just everything, they're just so happy all the time, and things just go their way all the time, and you're thinking, how is that even possible? Well, it's they're doing it. So, so basically, spend your time being grateful. Um, if you spend all of your time in complaint mode or victim mode or whatever, something is always somebody else's fault, and people are doing things to you, and blah blah blah, and this is wrong and that's wrong, and that's wrong. That's what that those are the neural pathways your brain is going to strengthen. So you're gonna see everything through the filter of something to complain about, as opposed to the better way to go. See everything through the filter of being grateful for those things. So just practice uh practice gratitude all year long, and especially in this time of year, Thanksgiving time and um the basically the entire holiday time frame here at the end of the year. Practice gratitude, man. If if not the rest of the year, especially this time of year, just join the bandwagon, jump on board, and uh sing some carols. I don't know, but be grateful. Um I I'm grateful my for my clients, um, business owners who have invited me in into the door, dig around in their business to help them out, do things for them, help them improve, get uh increase their sales, all that kind of stuff. I live for that thing. And um, so I'm incredibly grateful for for the clients that I have that have allowed me in their doors and behind the scenes. I'm grateful for everyone who's been a part of this show, all of my guests um who've again opened their doors, shared their stories. Um I'm grateful for you, the listeners of this show, anybody who comments or shares it or anything, anything that's anybody who's been a part of this show. If you've done nothing but listen to an episode and then share it to your friends, you are a massive part of this show. And thank you so much. I really, really appreciate you. Um, and and it also in case you missed it, uh, speaking of the holiday season, I just uh just posted a basically a holiday sales emergency plan blog article. Um it is, I believe the name of that is something like holiday panic mode, uh last-minute plans or moves or something like that to boost your year-in sales. So basically just go over to Strategic Horizons Consulting.com and uh look for that article. It just scroll down to the bottom of the homepage and you'll see, or you can go to the blog section on in the menu, but you can also scroll to the bottom of the homepage and um you'll see the latest articles there. So you'll you'll catch uh these episodes as they're posted on the blog, but you'll also see that holiday panic mode thing. So the idea is that by this time of year, if you don't, if you've not already been implementing your holiday plan um to to capitalize on year-in sales, you're late. You're way late to the party, and it may be too late. So um in that blog article, I give some things to to do for some quick turnarounds, some quick wins, some um just basically quick and easy things that you can do to boost your year-in sales. And um so yeah, uh go check that thing out. And while you're doing so, instead of being in panic mode, practice gratitude. Practice gratitude. Because some of that is going to be looking at what you've been doing right all year, and to really focus in on that and find a way to boost it for the end of the year. Um, so in doing that, be thankful for those things that have gone right. Don't focus on the things that have gone wrong or hasn't worked out, or the fact that you may be late in your whole day planning. That's not your focus. Your focus is moving forward, moving forward, moving forward. And sometimes that requires looking back at what were the proper roads we went down? What are the things that went right? Spend your time focusing on everything that has gone right and everything that you're grateful for, and then boost that. Boost those those things, and in turn, that will boost your year-in sales. So, again, um go look for the I know it starts with holiday panic mode. Um, the holiday panic mode blog article on um on my website and on strategic horizons consulting.com. Um, at the end of that thing, of course, I've got to have a call to action. So if you if you um after reading through that blog article, um if that helps you, that is amazing. Go forward into this world and do the things that you need to do to boost your year-in sales. If um you don't believe that article by itself is gonna help you to the point where you need to be helped, then uh get a hold of me. I'm more than happy to come in on a really quick, down and dirty, one-off uh uh uh basis and look at what you've got, look at what you've done, look at what you're trying to do, and help you develop a really quick and easy uh holiday emergency plan um to boost sales, your year-in sales. So that is always on the table. You can always give me a call and um um and I'll come in and help. Uh I've got again uh mentioned this, but you know, just experience in about 40 different industries. So it really doesn't matter what type of business you have, if you believe you need some help to capitalize on year-end sales, then get a hold of me now, like right now, and let's get that done. Um, and we'll make some things happen for you. So let's see. Um, I want to encourage everyone to just reflect. Um, reflect on the year and set your intentions for the for the year coming up. So, you know, take a few minutes uh this week, think about what's worked in your business this year, um, and just as importantly, who helped make those things happen? Um and then do something. Like send out a thank you text, um, write a review for another local business. Um, those things have a way of coming back to you. So yeah, you as a business owner, go to another business uh and and write a review, an online review for them. Um maybe maybe buy from someone in the local area that you've been meaning to support. Local business owners, when they band together, man, they become so much more powerful. So, so support each other. You supporting other business owners will encourage them to support you. Um it just bigs a builds a great big old support network there. And um yeah, so go do that. And and that's I mean, that's kind of that's a little bit about that's a little bit what what this podcast is about behind the counter. It's about you know understanding the heart and the hustle behind local business. Um you know, the the guests that I've had on so far, amazing people doing really cool things. And man, they are just they are just hustling, just making it happen. And um, and I want that for everyone, every small business owner in the area. I want that for you. Um, so so listen to the episodes, listen, go back and listen to all the podcast episodes. You may pick out uh from those episodes some things that people are doing that maybe you believe, ooh, I can do that and I can implement that in my business. Maybe you'll pull out things that they've struggled with. Um, and and you can feel some solidarity, some some with these people, you can feel that okay, I'm not the only person that has gone through or is going through this, and that there is a way out, because they'll explain what they did to get out of those those areas um that were challenging. So, yeah, go and listen to the the podcast episodes and and and and pull from these great people that I've had on there. If you feel you have a story, reach out to me and uh I am more than happy to come schedule schedule a time. We'll come in and just sit down and have a chat. That's really what it is. I I I go to these businesses and I just sit with the owner and we just have a pretty casual chat. If you've listened to the any of the episodes, you'll understand exactly what I mean. It's just pretty casual. Um, I follow a format, but uh, but yeah, it's just a nice, easy, casual chat. There's no video, there's no nothing. It's just you and I sitting there having a talk. And uh I love that so much. I love chatting with business owners. So um, you know, speaking of that, since I do love that, if you don't feel like you want to be on the podcast, um, you can still call me and say, hey, dude, I don't want to go on the podcast, but man, can we talk about some things? I am more than willing to come and and have a chat with you about some things. Um that's not even a you have to hire me for for something. Now, if it's if it's getting too deeply into where you know, advice that I need to give and and work and effort that I need to put in, then yeah, we'll we'll we'll alter that chat to how can you bring me in um uh to uh in an official capacity to help you. But man, if if if it's a chat you want, a chat you will get. There's there's no charge for that. I just love it. I love talking with business owners. So yeah, reach out, let me know. Let me know what's on your mind, and we can chat about that. We can go to have a cup of coffee, whatever. Um, or I can just stop by your office. Um, we can do that as well. So uh with that, I'm gonna wrap this up. I I sincerely hope all of you have just an incredible Thanksgiving, whether it's quiet or chaotic, just just make it incredible. Just an amazing, amazing Thanksgiving. Um, again, I am so incredibly grateful for all of you who have listened to the show, for all of you that um will listen to the show that I haven't known that you've listened yet. I'm I'm grateful for you as well. Um, anybody that shared an episode, shared it with their friends, told people about it, um, all of my guests that have been on, all of the guests that I have not yet scheduled, I am incredibly grateful for you as well. So remember, we'll be back. Um we're taking this little break for Thanksgiving. We'll be back with a new episode on December 1st. Again, that will hit one week before it hits on the it'll hit the podcast platforms one week before it hits the website. So December 1st, a new episode will be out, and then uh one week later you'll see it on the website. So um there'll be a will it'll be a great new conversation, great new guest, and uh we'll close out the year strong. So um again, my name is Ken Collins. This is Behind the Counter Business Stories from the Four Corner, Four Corners, uh where gratitude meets grit and small business stories come to life. I love all of you, and again, happy Thanksgiving. Have uh just a really amazing holiday, and we will uh catch you again right after that on December 1st. So, again, happy Thanksgiving. We'll see you soon.