Random Acts of Kindness

What are random acts of kindness (RAOK)? According to Wikipedia, a RAOK is a selfless act performed by a person or people wishing either to assist or to cheer up an individual person or people.

Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you – Princess Diana

Over a period of four weeks, researchers from the University of British Columbia assigned people with high levels of anxiety to do kind acts for other people at least six times a week. The acts of kindness included holding the door open for someone, donating to charity and buying lunch for a friend. The researchers found that doing nice things for other people led to a significant increase in the positivity of people’s moods.

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention

I decided to create my own two week random acts of kindness challenge which involved fourteen kind acts.

Random Acts of Kindness Challenge

1) Sending my mum flowers to say thanks for being the best mum in the world.

2) Ordering a Tesco shop of food for a friend who had just had a baby (including all the yummy food you are not allowed to eat during pregnancy e.g. Camembert).

3) Clearing out my wardrobe and taking the clothes to a charity shop.

4) Buying a copy of the Big Issue.

5) Placing my husband’s favourite chocolate bar in his bag along with a note to say thank you for everything.

6) Sending a friend birthday flowers.

7) Donating anonymously to a charity site.

8) Giving the cleaner a pay rise along with a note to say thank you for all her hard work.

9) Sending a friend a bottle of champagne and chocolates to say well done for all her hard work in completing a flat renovation.

10) Buying chocolates for work colleagues and anonymously placing them on their desks.

11) Buying champagne glasses for a friend who loved the ones we were drinking out of in a bar.

12) Organising a surprise night out for my friends.

13) Sending a friend my favourite motivational book in the post.

14) Signing up for organ donation.

No act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted

I found this random acts of kindness challenge to be a really positive experience and I genuinely enjoyed being responsible for putting a smile on people’s faces. I spent the two weeks thinking about other people and what I was going to do that day in order to make someone happy which in turn made me happier.

I challenge you to take part in your own random acts of kindness two week challenge and see how this experience will positively impact you and the people you impact. Some more examples to help you do this include; write thank you letters, send anonymous flowers, volunteering and sponsoring someone who is competing in a charity event.

Be the reason someone smiles today

The moral of this blog is to always be kind and do kind acts for others. There are many benefits, with the main one being that you will simply be happier. Those who spend money on others report much greater happiness than those who spend it on themselves. Just to add to this, people who are kind and compassionate are usually the most successful.

What Should You Do Next

Caroline Wellingham is an accredited career and life coach and a certified NLP Practitioner. She loves encouraging, motivating and inspiring clients to achieve their career goals and ambitions. If you want to become passionate about your career and you think you could benefit from a career change coach then book in for a free 45 minute consultation: https://calendly.com/raisethebarlife/45-minute-coaching-session

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