I have been making my way through the TEDx videos from the event that took place at the University of Nevada, Reno back in January. When I saw the video by Brian Williams of Think Kindness, I just knew that I wanted to support his cause.
I have been working with some executive coaches through my job, and they have been helping me to define my vision and goals for my life. I have written my vision statement (for my personal and professional life) as follows:
I am an inspiration to the people in my life, modeling how to make a noticeable, positive impact in this world.
I have so many facets of what that means, with goals on achieving that vision in my career, family and friendships, health, community and with my creativity.
One of my goals was to find an organization that I wanted to support both financially and with my volunteer hours. I believe I have found that match.
I met Brian and his assistant during lunch yesterday, and had a very exciting conversation. Think Kindness is a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring measurable acts of Kindness in schools and communities around the world.
We had a long conversation, as Brian told me about the work they do to improve the lives of students and children locally, but also in Kenya. As he talked, I thought of so many ways I could get involved. The most exciting program for me is where his organization goes into schools and creates a “Kindness Takeover”, challenging kids to do as many random acts of kindness as they can.
He also has a way to measure the impact of a single act of kindness, through Kindness Cards. Each card has a tracking code, and if you receive an act of kindness with the card, you are asked to go to their website, put in your code and say what act of kindness was done for you. And then you pass it on.
What I learned last week is that it fuels my energy when I am volunteering in the local schools and giving back. This program is the perfect vehicle for me to make a positive impact while doing what I love.
I’m such a believer in Random Acts of Kindness that I even put up a category on this blog a while ago, and I had intended to do acts of kindness to document here. But alas, I got side tracked. I did numerous acts, but never got them up here. I am so happy that Think Kindness has provided me with a structure around these acts, and I am happily buying up the cards to start my own little kindness revolution.
You know what else is exciting? I pitched the idea to Brian that I could write a book about kindness for children, and partner with him to take the kindness message into schools through book readings. He loved it. Now I just need to write that book.
You know what I’ve found this year? Working with the executive coaches and getting a crisp vision on what I want out of life, and what goals I need to achieve to get there, is working. I’m making progress, and you know what? I’m happy. And to me, that the key definition of success.
