Harvest Your Wins: How Gratitude Builds Growth

A mid-career professional's guide to reflection and growth.

Author

Janelle Howell
November 03, 2025

Inside this Special Edition

✉️ A Note from Nelle Harvesting What Matters

🏆 The Big Idea Why Your Wins Matter More Than You Think

📝 Personal Activity What Are You Grateful For?

🔎 Self-Reflection From Gratitude to Growth

Harvesting What Matters

Don’t you just love November?

Autumn is in the air and so is the smell of pumpkin spice (whether you like it or not). Comfy blankets, pumpkin patches, and candles are littered everywhere, marking a theme of warmth, comfort, and thankfulness. The problem is when you're feeling stuck or uncertain in your career, the mantra of "be grateful" can feel like empty advice.

But this month we're going to change that and explore how:

  • To reframe gratitude as a strategic tool in life and talk about how noticing what's working (even in a situation that isn't) creates clarity and momentum

  • Your wins (even the ones you're tempted to dismiss) are actually building blocks to help you prepare for what's next

  • Shifting from scarcity to possibility isn't about toxic positivity; it's about recognizing you're not starting from scratch

This short special edition is for all the mid-career professionals out there who need a little extra encouragement in embracing the notion of gratitude, especially in the toughest of times. If you’ve felt unseen, unheard, and frustrated with trying to figure out your next steps, it’s time to change your mindset.

I hope you’ll find this short guide beneficial!

So, pull up a chair, get something warm to drink and dive in!

Nelle

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”

-William Arthur Ward

Why Your Wins Matter More Than You Think

When was the last time you sat down and made a list of every single “win” in your career? Was it when you updated your resume for the last job you landed or a local conference submission? Or maybe it’s not something that’s ever crossed your mind. If you’re struggling or bored in your career, I’m willing to bet it’s not exactly something at the top of your to-list (especially if you feel that way now).

When you're anxious or upset with your career trajectory, it's easy to dismiss everything you've accomplished. That coveted promotion you received last year? Big deal. It doesn't matter because you still don't love the work you do. That successful project you launched in half the time estimated? Who cares? It’s irrelevant because you're thinking about leaving that place anyway. The skills you've mastered? Eh, it doesn’t matter. You feel you wasted years in the wrong field.

First of all, if you’ve been talking to yourself like this: Stop. Those wins aren't meaningless just because you may have outgrown where you are. They're proof of what you're capable of, and more importantly, they're clues about what you value and how you operate at your best. The project you're proudest of? That tells you something about the kind of work that energizes you. The promotion you earned? That shows you can build credibility and trust. Even the job you're ready to leave taught you something: maybe what you don't want, maybe what leadership looks like (or doesn't), or maybe how to navigate complex systems.

None of that is wasted. It's all data. Information you didn’t have before that you can now use to your benefit moving forward. The wins you're tempted to downplay are often the ones that matter most. Because they happened even when you weren't fully engaged. Imagine what you could do in a role that actually fits.

What Are You Grateful For?

It’s time to break out a piece of paper and a pen. We’re going to do an exercise. I want you to set aside some personal time and ask yourself:

What am I grateful for in my current situation? (Even if the situation overall isn't completely ideal.)

Examples:

  • "I'm grateful for the project management skills I've developed."

  • "I'm grateful my job is remote. I have flexibility to do what I need."

  • "I'm grateful I finally know what I DON'T want!"

Strategic gratitude (as demonstrated above) flips the script. When you identify what's actually working (the parts of your current role you don't hate, the skills you've built, the flexibility you've earned), you're identifying transferable assets.

Those assets become leverage and allow you to plan for your next major move (whether it’s building a new career, business, or something else). Suddenly you're not starting from zero.

What This Looks Like in Practice

If you’re in a funk, you might be hard-wired to start off with a negative and then wrap it up with a positive observation. If you use this approach, you need to be strategic about it and use a possibility (and not a scarcity) mindset to move you forward.

Instead of: "I hate my job but at least it pays well" (scarcity)

Try: "I'm grateful I've built financial stability. That gives me runway to try out other options without panicking about money." (possibility)

Do you see the difference? You’re illustrating the same fact, just communicating it in a different way. One keeps you stuck, the other creates momentum.

It’s all in how you frame it.

From Gratitude to Growth

Gratitude without action is just nostalgia. You can appreciate what you've learned, acknowledge the skills you've built, and recognize the wins you've accumulated, but if it stops there, you're just reminiscing about a chapter you've already outgrown. And what good is that?

If you’ve completed the above exercise, you’re probably thinking: Okay, now what? Well, once you've identified what's working, what you value, and what you've proven you're capable of, you need to focus on how to leverage everything. Growth happens when you take what you're grateful for and ask, "How can I build on this and use it to get to a better place in my life or career?"

The problem is most people stall: They're grateful for stability, so they stay. They're grateful for the skills they've developed, so they keep using them in the same context. They're grateful for what they have, so they stop reaching for what they want. But gratitude isn't meant to keep you stuck, it's meant to fuel your next move. When you recognize you've built something valuable, the growth question becomes: Where else could this take me? What other problems could I solve? What other impact could I make?

Think of it this way: Gratitude shows you what you're standing on. Growth is what you build from there. You don't have to choose between appreciating where you are and moving toward where you want to be. In fact, you can't build forward without first understanding what you're building FROM. That's the mindset shift you need to embrace. Gratitude becomes the foundation. Growth becomes the structure.

Before I let you go: Take one thing you're genuinely grateful for in your current situation and ask, "How can I take THIS with me into what's next?"

That's where possibility lives.

If you’re ready to stop defaulting to roles, projects, or opportunities that no longer serve you, let’s explore what your next chapter could look like. Book a free discovery call when you’re ready.

Talk soon

Nelle