3 Things I'm Thankful For This Christmas (Beyond The Basics Of Friends & Family)
It's the end of Christmas and I'm feeling sentimental and reflective.
Well, our decorations will be up until mid-January because we like them (and don't care what the HOA thinks). The few minutes I glanced at social media today had tones of thankful posts that I will assume were genuine, but all started to sound the same. Everyone is thankful for their friends, family, their health, and job.
Not that I am NOT thankful for those things, but I wanted to think hard about what I'm thankful for beyond those things.
Thing 1: I'm A Maker
Becoming a Maker has been the third most life-changing decision I ever made (1st and 2nd will always go to my wife and kids).
Everything in my life is better because I not only understand how to Make things, but love doing it too. I cringe to accept store-bought solutions when I can build something better myself. It has also helped me re-unlock my love of movies by theming projects to be from them and combine both.
With as much as I've received by being a Maker, I want to help as many people as I can to become Makers themselves so they have the same "level unlocks" that I did.
Thing 2: I'm A Creator
Creating content has been part of my life since I started in 2002 with my first laptop.
It started with an interest in creating recap videos for events, but evolved to creating my own graphics and making them move in videos as well. It was even the primary reason I went to Georgia Tech in 2008 to pursue visual effects. While I did ultimately switch to business school (because Accounting is so much more interesting, right??), having a background in editing and content came in hand when I tried my hand at being a Maker Content Creator later in 2018.
My content strategy as The Maker Edge is changing for 2026, but I also want to help as many Maker Creators and Brands as I can with their content creation as I can.
Thing 3: Im An Aspiring Business Owner
Owning my own business has been a fleeting thought in the back of my head starting when I switched to business school in 2011.
While that thought has swirled, changed, and evolved since 2011, it has stayed at least toward the front half of my mind at least have the time. Since 2018 though, it's been steadily migrating forward until now when it's something I put significant thought and action into daily. Fortunately, that thought has also matured past the naive vision of total time freedom, no responsibilities, and millions flying passively in the door to something more based in reality that can be profitable if I put in enough hard work.
The biggest thing I am focusing on for 2026 is what I can control such as forgetting subscriber count and instead focusing on consistency of showing up and posting.
