Let’s face it, not every aspect of our lives is glamorous. Not even mine. I know. #Shocked. #Amazed. #NoNickISimplyDontBelieveYourLifeIsntGlamorous. Well it’s not. Responsibility is a four letter word. I know it’s 14 letters. Play along.
Mowing the lawn? No thanks. Packing lunches for the kids gets mundane fast. (How much is hot lunch again?) Not every day punching a clock is going to be filled with fulfillment and acclaim, either.
As the day progresses, complaining gets easier by the hour. Funny thing, though. It doesn’t accomplish much.
Pro tip. Attitude changes everything. To that end, let me pitch you thankfulness. Or, more specifically, thank you cards.
Since this is a blog on a PR website, I’m not going to get too preachy (though Pastor Mark Wilson at Fowlerville United Brethren church has been doing a great series this month on the power and importance of our words – email me if you want the sermon notes). I will, however, suggest that being intentionally thankful can take your relationships to the next level. And that’s completely OK to suggest on a blog on a PR website, because the foundation of good public relations are relationships.
There’s a lot to be thankful for. Sure, there’s the big picture stuff. Family. Health. Living in the greatest nation in the history of the world (USA! USA! USA!). But that’s the preachy stuff. There’s also a lot to be thankful for in the mundanity of life, and over the course of the work day.
In the top drawer of my desk, both at the home office and at Resch Strategies’ global headquarters in cosmopolitan downtown Lansing, I keep a box of thank you cards. Scribbling out quick cards is a habit I’ve gotten into slowly over the last decade, and one that I’m always working to develop.
A new client chooses your firm? That one’s easy. Thank you card.
But thinking “smaller” can lead to bigger things, too. Someone around the block helps you track down a piece of research for a project? Thank you card.
A coworker stocks the fridge with a case of pop for the office? Thank you card.
Your spouse packs the kids’ lunches so you don’t have to? Scribble out a quick “thank you” card.
Not only will it mean a heck of a lot more than a throw-away spoken phrase to the person who receives it, it’ll make or reinforce a winning impression that could pay dividends down the road. Nobody likes a complainer. Everybody likes the person who sends them handwritten thank you notes.
But more importantly than all that, it’ll give you an opportunity to reflect on something positive happening during your day and it’ll help form a habit that can influence many more moments to come.
You can thank me later.
-- Nick