Kindness has a place every day.
This piece is authored by Dana Rosenberg, Director of the KIND Movement at KIND Healthy Snacks. Each day, Dana works to bring KIND’s social mission to life by inspiring kind acts amongst our team, celebrating individuals and organizations leading with kindness, and overseeing The KIND Foundation’s commitment to building kinder and more empathetic communities.
In honor of Random Acts of Kindness Day, I took some time to think about something that is always top of mind here at KIND — kindness. I love seeing KIND’s community, along with people across the country, getting out of their comfort zones today and performing kind acts with more zeal than usual. While a day dedicated to kindness is, of course, commendable, it does give me pause. While random kindness is good, purposeful kindness is even better. If we let it infuse our consciousness and influence our actions 365 days a year, and not just on February 17th, the potential for positive impact is staggering.
For us, that impact is evidenced in the percentage of team members (91%!) who say kindness is more top of mind since having joined the KIND team. One way the KIND team practices kindness year-round is through KINDOS — our recognition platform. Through this platform, our 600+ full- and part-time team members are empowered to celebrate colleagues for embodying our values (which include caring). Another way we strive to make kindness a 24/7 operation is through our work in local communities across the country. Our field teams, who are based in cities from Boston to San Diego, are constantly seeking ways to connect with others and serve people in need. Through flower walls, our field team passes out thousands of flowers with the intention of having each person pass that flower on to another, enabling each person to spread kindness in their own life. This year our Chicago field team gave out over 3,000 flowers in just one day!
We hope you too will join us in making kindness more top of mind each and every day. At a loss for how to incorporate more kindness into your life all year round? Here are some tips & tricks to get started.
· Stop thinking about kindness as the equivalent to being nice. Many people think being nice is the same as being kind but — for us — it’s not. Flip a switch and start thinking of kindness as nice kicked up a notch. Nice is being polite — there’s nothing wrong with being polite — but kind is having the courage to be honest. Nice is not bullying someone, being kind is having the strength to stop the bullying.
· When a colleague does a good job, don’t just write them a quick “thanks!” Stop by their desk and tell them why you’re proud of what they did. That extra step takes things from nice to kind.
· Thinking of a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while? Text messages are easy to send. Take your “hello” one step further by sending a handwritten note, even if just to say, “I’m thinking of you.”
· Ask someone about their day and really listen. Show them you heard them by following up the next day to check in, or find a meaningful way to address something they shared with you.
In the halls of KIND, we often are debating and discussing whether kindness has the potential to positively impact the world. I hope you will agree that these kind actions do have the ability to make a difference. Each of us has the power to change our communities, one kind act at a time. My hope is that Random Acts of Kindness day is the perfect way to kick start your daily kind habit!
Originally published at medium.com