Mowing Someone Else’s Lawn Will Improve Your Day
We all know that being generous and helping people makes us feel good. It doesn’t always have to cost a lot of money or take a lot of time.
This week, Tim Ferris shared a post by Alexandra Franzen detailing: “50 Ways to Be Ridiculously Generous — and Feel Ridiculously Good.” Most of the ideas won’t cost you dear, and many of them also only take a few minutes, so they won. ” It takes me a whole day to complete.
While I definitely recommend checking out the full list for your own motivation, here are a few of my favorites that are completely free:
- Find a small free library near you and donate a book. Can’t find it? Start alone.
- Be like Diane von Fürstenberg and start your day by sending one email specifically designed to help someone else – with no direct benefit to you – before doing anything else. Introduce yourself, send some support, offer a helpful resource or link.
- Sneak into your closet and donate some treasures toDress For Success – or its equivalent in your country. You will clean up the clutter of your wardrobe and help the struggling lady look like a star in her next job interview.
- Enjoy a little good news from a friend. (“WHAT did you do? Exactly? You’re AWESOME!”) Model the unbridled enthusiasm that you want to see in this world.
- Create an 8Tracks or Spotify playlist for your loved one. Bonus Credit: Give your playlist a special “reason” or “theme”, like “Listen to this while you get ready for your first date with Zach!” or: “Play some music before your TEDx Talk. You will do GREAT. “
Again, the idea here is not to spend a ton of money. While being “generous” can obviously mean cutting back on some big checks, it can also mean simply being generous with your time or praise.
You are also not limited to just what you do from this list. Think of something simple you can do to improve the lives of those around you, and do it. Mow your neighbor’s lawn while you mow your own, or simply grab his paper from the driveway and walk it to the front door.