What was your favourite gift ever? Does something pop into your mind maybe recently or from when you were a child?

Maybe the gift was something you really wanted and when you received it, you felt so complete!

Or maybe the gift was from someone you didn’t know well but who stepped in with something at a time when you needed it most.

Or maybe the gift was from someone who secretly responded to your enthusiasm for something you saw on a commercial, or something you desired but wasn’t in your personal spending plan to buy yourself, or a favourite collection that you didn’t realize anyone else even knew about.

I’ll bet whatever you recall as your favourite gift, it was presented with an element of surprise AND it delighted you to no end because of the meaning behind it.

Now, think of a time when you gave a gift to someone that created that one-of-a-kind response? How did that make you feel to surprise sometime to a point of them being at a loss for words?

Aha! ~ “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” ~ Winston Churchill

A couple of years ago I took some pictures at a friend-of-a-friend’s 50th birthday celebration then framed a collage of them as his gift that I later delivered. He hugged it, then hugged me, like I had given him the moon. I know the feeling, like when my sister gave me a print of Snoopy on his house, with his typewriter, the caption saying, “Write your own story”. The Peanuts Gang has a long and endearing personal history and at a time when I was trying to find my voice, that gift meant the world.

Each year, around Christmas time, we mail at least 200 chocolate bars, wrapped with an imprinted, timely sentiment. About half go to clients and the other half goes to providers, supporters, associates, and the rest of whom we appreciate for their contributions to our success. This year, everything is delayed and is taking so much more work than usual, so our gratitude chocolate has not yet hit the post (sigh). One of my inner circle members asked me, “What impact would it have on your business if you simply did not mail chocolate this year?” I gasped!! “Not mail chocolate?!?!?” I retaliated. Nobody works for chocolate but how wonderful is it to receive a sweet token of unexpected, sincere appreciation?

Silent gratitude might put a wonderful vibration into the ethers but openly thanking someone for being a meaningful part of your life puts a warm hug in their heart and yours, too.

Generosity never comes with a price tag; in fact, “No one has ever become poor by giving.” Anne Frank

Give out loud.

Let’s turn up the giving a notch, shall we? For starters, here is your FREE copy of my latest book, 50 Simple Ways to Market to Humans. THEN … make sure you are in the Aha! Moment Trailblazer Facebook group where we will talk later today about making a life by giving. AND FINALLY…we have a BRAND NEW PAGE … if you can give us a “like” we’d love it!!😊 THANK YOU!!!

Succeed Deliberately!

Jae M. Rang, MAS           

Strategist, Speaker, Author, Mom