Your Hidden Superpower: How to Consciously Practice Kindness Each Day
Emmy Award-winning journalist, author, speaker, and coach Adrienne Bankert shares some valuable insights from her new book, Your Hidden Superpower: The Kindness that Makes You Unbeatable at Work and Connects You with Anyone.
One of the main points in her book is practicing kindness – intentionally. But how do we make sure we do it top-of-mind?
- Add kindness to your calendar every day.
Create a fitness plan for kindness. If you’ve been practicing kindness so much, you don’t have to actually put daily reminders to be kind. But if you’re starting off, you have to put it in your schedule. Scheduling that every day gives you that muscle memory to be kind and thoughtful without even thinking about it.
- Make it a conscious effort.
Whether it’s a thank you note, paying the toll of the guy behind you, or buying a stranger coffee, make an effort to brighten their day. It’s not about the money. It’s about the thought.
- Keep it fresh.
For a lot of people, they’ve let kindness grow stale. It’s the same “buy coffee for the person in front of you” thing. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. But there are other ways that people can be genuinely kind. So be creative!
- Be aware and pay attention.
Be intentional and aware of others around you because it will open doors you didn’t know were available. As business people, be more situationally aware so that we’re not just doing things because you have it on your to-do list or on your Excel spreadsheet or in your inbox. But pay attention to the colleague who doesn’t look so good, or who might be going through a divorce, or who might have a child who’s having struggles learning because of this digital era of education that we’re in. Be your brother’s keeper and buddy up right now because there’s a lot of isolation, fear, and loneliness out there.
For more information and resources on how to consciously practice kindness every day, check out The Customer Service Revolution podcast. If you’d like to listen, head over to 020: Your Hidden Superpower with Adrienne Bankert.