I’ve been away for a few days after getting married at the end of June. Katherine and I had a wonderful time and every part of our journey – from the night before, meeting up with our friends and family at the venue to coming back home yesterday from our trip – has been amazing and a great start to married life. The time away also cleared our heads after a very busy few months and reminded us of a couple of things that are really important, especially to me, and worth sharing.

We have a very good group of friends and it was so good to celebrate with them all. We both have very busy jobs and also live quite a distance from a lot of our friends and this can be difficult as we would like to be able to see everyone more often and spend more time with them than we do – Facebook can only keep you connected to a degree, of course. The importance of making an effort with your friends – staying in contact, keeping in touch, reaching out in both good times and bad and generally being a good friend – was made very clear at our wedding. I had some great conversations with mates of mine I don’t see all that often but it was like I had only seen them the day before. Being a good friend means a great deal and it is something that takes a lot of effort but it is all worth it.

Being thankful is also something that can be neglected by those with busy lives. Taking some time to say thank you to anyone who helps you or goes out of their way to make your day go a little bit better for any reason is worth acknowledgement. A wedding is a time when you have everyone important in your life together and we got the chance to say thank you to all of our friends and family for everything they do for us, but even if you’re not getting married any time soon, be sure to show your appreciation of those who help you. It can go a very long way.

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Ian Mountford is a Strategy Coach providing motivation and guidance to entrepreneurs, wannabe or fully-fledged. He draws from his own experience of building businesses from the ground up and spending many years helping clients to consistently achieve their goals and aspirations. Ian works with clients face-to-face and internationally.