Mum of three Dani Saveker is launching a worldwide ‘Inspire Kindness Movement’ to mark her 1000th consecutive day of random acts of kindness.
What began as an experiment to explore kindness and the impact of kind acts in society, including mental health and wellbeing, beginning with her first on the 1st January 2016, Dani has carried out a Random Act of Kindness every day, and clocks-up her 1000th day on the 26th September 2018.
Dani, who lives in the West Midlands, England, explains: “The 1000 days have included an amazing range of acts from paying for a stranger’s coffee, leaving sweets and a note on a stranger’s car at the supermarket, to sending notes to friends.”
The Inspire Kindness Movement and her journey is not Dani’s day job – she is the Global CEO of The GLAS Group, an organisation she founded to help give structure to family businesses, corporate teams, entrepreneurs and individuals.
Dani says that kindness is, however, one of the greatest skills a successful business leader can develop, and she often combines this with her work. She’s also designed and delivered kindness workshops to primary schools, demonstrating that kindness is for everyone, regardless of age, gender and background.
When starting out, she quickly discovered that people struggle to be, and receive kindness. She also found that many children, she spoke to about kindness, felt that it was for girls only and was a ‘soft and fluffy’ thing.
“It has been quite a personal journey. I have learned much along the way, especially that kindness is good for your heart and head in every sense,” Dani says. “I have so many stories of how a world of new opportunities and contacts have opened up to me since I started – including connecting with celebrities, incredibly courageous survivors of accidents and some of the world’s greatest thought leaders.”
She adds: “I believe that kindness means to give openly, without exception or expectation, starting with yourself, and the act of being kind is proven to have a positive impact on your psychological and physical health and wellbeing, according to recent research by organisations such as MIND and the Mental Health Organisation.
“Being kind really does lift your spirits, makes you feel happy, helps reduce stress and sadness, and opens up opportunities to connect you to others.
“My experiences over the last two-and-a-half years have certainly proved this to be true.”
She adds: “Reaching 1000 days of kindness is a major personal milestone, but the beginning of another chapter in this journey. With the launch of the ‘Inspire Kindness Movement’, my hope is the random acts of kindness concept will continue to grow across the world. I don’t want this to be about what I’ve done but if we can use it to inspire others and talk about and celebrate kindness more, then I’d be delighted.”
Dani has designed a limited edition Inspire Kindness Kit to mark the 1000th day, which she hopes will be the basis for creating thousands more random acts of kindness. To support this she has also created a webpage and Facebook community, to help people build their own kindness habit, as she explains:
“Whether the Kit is bought or is gifted, it will give people a tool to help them embrace kindness and embed it into their every day lives. The kit gives some suggestions and ideas of how to get started with choosing kindness, with a challenge of completing 21 days of kindness – 21 being the number required to form a habit.
“We know the challenges of making time in our busy lives, but with its huge health and social benefits, we believe that kindness is real magic, and hope the Inspire Kindness Movement will continue to gain momentum and awareness and that being kind becomes a habit for more and more people. If I can achieve 1000 days of kindness, as a busy mum and businesswoman, then I believe anyone can bring more kindness into their life.”
Follow Dani Saveker on Twitter @DaniSaveker and the campaign’s social media hashtags #inspirekindness #kindness1000 . Join the Facebook community https://www.facebook.com/inspirekindnessmovement
To buy (and gift) a limited edition Inspire Kindness Kit – click to visit the site