Happiness guru Shawn Achor advocates doing one conscious act of kindness each day.
Last week I was lucky enough to hear him speak, after enjoying his TED talk and book about the happiness advantage.
He gave the specific example of writing a note of appreciation to a loved one. In addition to that, when I’m traveling, I like to brighten the day of someone I don’t know by leaving a note and a tip for the housekeeping staff at the hotel where I’m staying.
Because housekeeping is such hard work and the housekeeping staff is often forgotten, it brightens my day to think about the person who’s cleaning rooms coming across their note and their tip.
And while I do it for fun with no expectation of anything in return, it’s brought a smile to my face to see some return notes.
The one above was in our room yesterday when my daughter and I returned from our day of sightseeing in San Francisco. And I’ve returned to my room to some extra creative organizing of my toiletries and luggage at other hotels.
As Tony Schwartz wrote in The New York Times, “What’s most gratifying is the give for no other reason than because it feels good to give.” I couldn’t agree more.
Like Tony, I feel extremely fortunate to be able to do the kind of work that I do. And it makes me happy to brighten the day of someone who’s bringing a clean and comfortable experience to me while I’m on the road.
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