Hey, welcome back to the John Maxwell Leadership Podcast. Mark Cole here and for all of our US listeners, we're willing for everybody around the world.

I am excited today to say to you happy Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow here in the United States, we have a holiday set aside for gratitude, for thankfulness.

And today I get to share with you Chris Goody, myself, and the opportunity that I have that I'm grateful for every day to carry the legacy, the banner, the pleton of John Maxwell's influence.

And I get to do that with you, our podcast family. So happy Thanksgiving. I hope that you are going to have a great day. I hope that you express gratitude because I believe gratitude really is a great trait for incredible leaders.

So in this episode, we're going to challenge you to take your gratitude to the next level.

In fact, we're going to talk today about focusing on the future. And as usual, we'll hear from John Maxwell for a few minutes and then Chris Goody and I will join together and we will share with you about focusing on the future.

How we're doing that personally, how we're doing that in our company and in the process, we desire to inspire you to focus on your future.

So be ready, grab a pen, grab a paper, John Maxwell is coming, but first I want to challenge you to download the bonus resource for this episode.

It's a fill in the blank sheet that will allow you to take notes as John teaches.

If you'll head over to Maxwell Podcasts.com forward slash future, you'll click on the bonus resource button and then you will have your fill in the blank notes. Thank you for being a part of the podcast today. Thanks for being a part of the family. Now here is John Maxwell.

Momentum is developed by pointing to a better day ahead picture and momentum is drained by looking back to what might have been.

Jack Hayford in his book, taking hold of tomorrow, the quote is in your notes said, the past is a dead issue and we can't gain any momentum moving toward tomorrow if we're dragging the past behind us.

Now I wrote down some of my very favorite thoughts to help you focus on the future, which is a momentum maker time.

Number one, you reveal your potential by where you focus. If you're focusing on yesterday, can I tell you something? That was your best day.

I never knew a person that focused on yesterday that had a better day tomorrow. So wherever you are now focused, that is exactly where your potential is.

Number two, the second thought I want to give you about the future is that the future comes fast. And that's so scary to me.

And somebody said the trouble with the future is that it keeps getting closer and closer. Thought number three on the future. A double-minded focus depletes energy.

If you want to get tired real quick, get double-focused. Someone once said the most tiring exercise in the world is carrying yesterday on your back.

Wow. Number four, until you believe in yourself, you won't believe in your future.

I have never seen or met a person who likes self-confidence in themselves that had great confidence in their future.

There's a reflection about how I feel about myself compared to how I feel about tomorrow. Number five, oh I love this one.

...