Today is Veterans Day in the U.S
Its a day to stop and be grateful for everything we have.
Its a time to thank all the Veterans who ever served in uniform for their sacrifice and for making our freedoms possible.
For me, its a chance to be grateful to every Veteran who made America a place where people can worship in freedom, live and work where they want, and enjoy liberties unprecedented in the course of human history.
In particular, I want to thank the Veterans in my family. Including my father, who served in the US Air Force, and his father (John Sr.), who was a Captain in the Army Air Corps.
(And generations before them, I thank my great-great-great-great-great Uncle Paul Revere, who must have summoned incredible courage during the Revolutionary War to rise in the middle of the night and alert Americans of British forces impending arrival. And yes, I really am related to Paul Revere on my mothers side.)
During WWII, my grandfather was a Captain and pilot for 35 B-17 missions over Germany and western Europe.
He too summoned the courage to rise in the middle of the night and strap himself inside a flying fortress less high-tech than todays minivan and fly straight into the heart of darkness.
And he did it with 10 other souls whose lives depended on him executing his job.
At the time my grandfather was doing all of this, my father would have been about a year old, or about the same age as my youngest son today.
Its not lost on me how much he sacrificed so that I would not have to endure what he did as I raise my son living in a country with abundant riches and freedoms he helped protect.
Now heres the crazy thing my business partner, Dr. Jeremy Weisz, also had a grandfather involved in World War II
Except his grandfather was in a Concentration Camp at the same time my grandfather was fighting to liberate those camps from overheard. And ultimately Jeremys grandfathers camp was liberated by U.S. soldiers. Soldiers like my grandfather.
Its amazing to think how we both wouldnt be here and wouldnt be doing what were doing now, if it werent for their incredible sacrifices.
Now, we cant all be researching a cure for cancer, fighting on the front lines of faraway wars to protect our freedoms, caring for the sick, or feeding the poor.
We cant all teach kids in underfunded inner city schools, fight for clean air or clean drinking water, or care for babies born prematurely in the ICU as they fight for survival.
But we can try to improve the lives of the people around us.
We can all be decent to one another, treat one another with respect and honor our differences, especially in this time of deep divisions and disagreements in the U.S.
You honor the legacy of those who came before us by doing your own small part to make others lives better.
For Jeremy and I, its about doing what we can to help others through the business we founded, and thats what you can do too.
In our case, weve chosen a group we know we can help. Business owners from the professional services who want freedom in their business so they can get back more time to be with their loved ones.
Thats what inspires me.
What inspires you? What lights you up?
Let me know in the comments below.
P.S. Id like to help you too. If you are a professional services entrepreneur and you want greater freedom, but you feel stuck in your business, perhaps we can help.