Tag Archives: random acts of kindness

Be the Change #34 – More Random Acts of Kindness

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Pick at least one this week…

  1. Donate blood
  2. Give up your set on public transportation to an older person, a pregnant woman, a parent with small children, or someone who is carrying a lot of stuff
  3. Participate in a fund-raiser
  4. Don’t honk at the person who cut you off in traffic
  5. Sign up as a mentor at work
  6. Write a letter to someone who did something kind for you or made a difference in your life
  7. Pay the toll for the person behind you.
  8. Just for a day, share eye contact, a “thank you” and a few words with everyone you come into contact with: the bank teller, the barrista, the unfriendly person at the office
  9. Surprise your co-workers with fresh-baked muffins

And my favorite today….

10. Give your spouse, child or elderly parent your undivided attention when they are talking.

Have a great week!

Be the Change #24 – Random Acts of Kindness at Work

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We spend more time at work than most us do with our families.  For many of us, co-workers are a family away from home – and sometimes they can get on our nerves or hurt our feelings just like family members.  It can be hard to be kind.  It’s so easy to form cliques, or hold onto grudges and resentments. This week, following a nice, relaxing long holiday weekend, I challenge you to break out of the mold and practice at least one random act of kindness at work.

These 10 ideas assume that you work in an office.  Even if you don’t most, of these actions can still work for you.  Or think of your own!

  1. Bring in snacks to share. Bake cookies of muffins, or bring in a basket of juicy strawberries
  2. Offer to do a lunch, or coffee or tea, run for a co-worker who is heads-down on a deadline.
  3. Bring in flowers to brighten up the whole office. Put them in an area where everyone can enjoy them.
  4. Buy a couple of cheap umbrellas to keep in your desk to offer to co-workers who are going out to lunch or leaving for the day and have not brought one.
  5. When someone does great work, tell their boss, in person or via e-mail.
  6. Invite the new person to have lunch with you.
  7. Clean out the microwave, even if you aren’t the one who made the mess – and don’t complain to everyone in earshot about it. Just quietly clean it.
  8. Start a library in the break room by bringing in books or magazines that you’ve finished. (As a writer, this is my favorite one)
  9. Set yourself the goal of learning one new thing about one of your co-workers each day.
  10. Just generally treat others the way you’d like to be treated. Would you like to be greeted with a smile and a “good morning” at the beginning of the day?  Would you like to be cut a break when you make a mistake?  Would you like someone to ask how your weekend was, or how your sick dog is doing?  Well, then….

Be the Change #12 – 12 Random Acts of Kindness

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Promise me that you’ll do at least one of the following this week:

  1. Compliment the first 3 people you talk to.
  2. If you are shoveling snow or cleaning up debris in your yard, do your neighbor’s yard, too.
  3. Take your unwanted or unused coupons to the supermarket with you and leave them beside the product so someone else can use them.
  4. Pay for the coffee of the person behind you in line, or the takeout order for the car behind you.
  5. Start a conversation with the person beside you in the elevator.
  6. Let someone go ahead of you in the supermarket line if they have only a few items and you have a full cart.
  7. If you receive good service at a store or restaurant, tell the person’s manager.
  8. If you work at an office and a colleague provides great service or assistance to you, send them a thank-you e-mail with a copy to their boss. I am a boss and I love hearing about it when one of my staff provides great assistance; I do keep track and take it into account in performance evaluations.
  9. Instead of selling something on Craig’s Lists offer it for free.
  10. Tip 20%.
  11. Take a batch of muffins or cookies to your local library, or police or fire station.
  12. While you’re at Petco, buy an extra bag of cat or dog food and donate it to your local animal shelter.

Post some of your own ideas in response, and I’ll use them in a future post.  Or let me know how these ones work out for you.  I got most of these ideas from Parade Magazine’s Random Acts of Kindness website.  Check it out for more ways to spread kindness.