About a year ago, a family friend spilled the beans on her boss’ secret. Let’s keep in mind her boss is the CEO of an established bank. He’s also a well known man in a large town. Yeah, he’s big time.
So Get. This.
Every week he writes five thank you notes. It doesn’t matter to whom it is or what it’s for. Personal, business, or the lady at the check outline. The rule goes, all five notes must be written by end of day Friday. He can’t leave the office until they’re done. No matter what. Over time, this weekly gesture has fostered relationships and brought him a great deal of business and connections.
Doesn’t this make you want to do it too?!
So guess what? I tried it and something happened I didn’t expect. An overwhelming feeling of gratitude and happiness over came me. When you take a moment to think of all the nice things that happened to you, you realize how blessed you are. It’s easy to get caught up in our own troubles and focus on the bad. As a result, we take those tiny acts of kindness for granted.
At first it’s hard to think of things. But once you get going, you’ll wish there were more than five thank you cards. To spark ideas, I flip through my planner as a reminder to what I did that week.
Here’s how you can do it too.
- Set a reminder to “write your thank you notes” in your phone for every Friday at 3 PM.
- Every Monday, gather five stationary letters or thank you cards, with corresponding envelopes and stamps.
- Place your supplies where they’ll stay top of mind. Your desk, in your planner or purse.
- When someone does something thoughtful, write them a note!
- If you forget, don’t worry. Your phone alert will remind you every Friday. That gives you two hours to write them before happy hour starts.
- On your way home from the office or out to dinner Friday night, just drop them in the mailbox. Wallah! You’re on your way to making people’s day and reminding them you appreciate them. Karma will take it’s course from there.
Pretty easy right?
A beautiful stationary solution
If you don’t have thank you cards, I have a darling solution for you. These cute cards shown here are designed by Kayla, from the Lucky Dog Mail Club {a stationary subscription box}. You pay a monthly fee and beautiful cards will arrive in your mailbox every month.
Fun story: I met Kayla on in a private Facebook Group for creative business owners. {P.S. If you’re an entrepreneur or want to become one I highly recommend requesting access!}. She was just starting out {corporate job by day and stationary side hustle by night). She was so kind to send me some of her samples after talking. Since then, she’s quit her corporate job and works for herself full time!
So tell me, would you ever try this? If you decide to give it a whirl, snap a pic and tag me! I’d love to hear how it goes. If I’m being honest, I did this religiously last year but completely fell off the bandwagon. But I’m getting back on it TODAY if you’d like to do it with me.
Not only will you strengthen your current relationships and stand out, you’ll notice all the good in the world that happens every day. It makes you feel so happy!
A huge thanks to Kayla for giving me these beautiful thank you cards. Also, my intern took these amazing photos. Thanks so much Katie! She’s actually headin
Happy Monday guys!
P.S. The Art of the Valentine {tips for writing thoughtful notes} and how some of Chicago’s top women work smarter, not harder.
I LOVE this idea! Sending (and receiving) snail mail is the best. I love the idea of saying thank you to people who might not expect it like the woman at Whole Foods I see nearly every Monday 🙂
This is such a great idea – my parents always taught me to write thank you notes, but unfortunately that habit has been lost over the past couple years! I need to pick it up again… and with cute stationary!
http://www.agneswright.com