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Being in \u201cthe channel\u201d can be a challenge, to say the least.\xa0 We have to balance our personal lives with our careers, manage through complex relationships, get people to notice us when the field of people who want attention is crowded, and deal with the uncertainties of businesses that combine with each other, go under, or fail to perform like we think that they should.

Having said that, there is quite a lot to be grateful about when we think about the decisions we made to chart our careers, run our businesses, and form relationships with colleagues in \u201cthe channel\u201d.\xa0 Being grateful and appreciating what is good about our industry, our careers and our relationships has a number of positive benefits.\xa0

Being grateful makes you a happier person.\xa0 Research reveals that if you just spend 5 minutes a day writing down what you are grateful for increases your feeling of long-term happiness.\xa0

People that express gratitude are generally more well-liked.\xa0 Social capital never hurts, and gratitude tends to make us nicer, more trusting, more social, and more appreciative. As a result, we have more friendships and better business relationships.

Grateful people tend to progress further in their careers.\xa0 Gratitude can make you a more effective manager or team member, help you network, increase your decision-making capabilities, increase your productivity, and help you attract others to you. The result is that you move up the ladder quicker and your workplace becomes a more friendly and enjoyable place to be.

An attitude of gratitude promotes health.\xa0 Channel careers can take a toll on your health with lots of travel, eating on the road and long hours.\xa0 Research shows that grateful people are generally healthier, so it\u2019s good to get all the help we can.

I\u2019ve had a long career in technology, much of that involving developing and working in the channel.\xa0 At Convey, we have thousands of sales partners that use our portal services, master agents that we have automated and dozens of vendors that streamline their marketing through our services.\xa0 The bottom line is that I know the channel and here are some things that we should all be grateful for.

The Channel creates entrepreneurs. I\u2019ve been an entrepreneur for most of my career, owning my own businesses since 1995.\xa0 Sales partners and master agents are also business owners.\xa0 Without needing significant start-up capital, thousands of you left the comfort of your jobs with carriers and vendors to start businesses and create recurring revenue streams that have afforded you very good lifestyles.\xa0 And for a lucky few, you\u2019ve been able to sell your businesses creating generational wealth for your families.

The Channel is constantly evolving. Over the last 5 years, we\u2019ve seen many advances in the channel that have given us more opportunities to serve our customers with a wide breadth of new technologies.\xa0 We\u2019ve seen businesses move their phones and applications to the cloud, find better ways to connect to the Internet, cloud-based services to run every aspect of a business operation, the Internet of Things to track assets and the list goes on and on.\xa0 Evolving industries like ours grow, create opportunities for all of us, and ways to keep expanding our businesses.\xa0

The technology we offer transforms how businesses operate. I spent a good part of my career in the conferencing industry.\xa0 We made it easy and cheap to have a remote team dial in from anywhere to meet virtually instead of getting on a plane to fly into headquarters. The technology was transformative because management became collaborative, people\u2019s opinions were solicited and valued, and the remote worker became the norm not the exception.\xa0 Think about how we are transforming businesses with cloud services, contact centers and other technology. &