kindness journal (mini-📝 43/100)

Aug 25, 2021

For today’s piece, I wanted to just share a fun thing I started doing this year which is keeping a kindness journal.

The idea of a kindness journal is a central home for all the kindness and appreciation that anyone has ever showed you. Whenever you’re in doubt or needing a pick me up, it’s an amazing way to kick-start warm, fuzzy feelings naturally. Here’s some inspiration below for how you can get started.

Jasmine 🦋 @j_asminewang

i’ve kept a running list called “all the ways i’ve been appreciated, ever” for the last 5 years. every time someone compliments me or expresses gratitude in some meaningful way i add what they said word for word to the list. it’s far & away the best gift I’ve ever given myself.

Frank ☼ Bach @francois_bach

Next time a friend or coworker gives you props or says something nice about you, screenshot it and drop it into your 'kindness folder' — this acts as a great tool to help fight off bad days, imposter syndrome, etc. Remind yourself that you are awesome. 🌟

One additional augmentation I like is to also record the nice things you say or think about other people (and normalize just texting them out of the blue saying it!). Compliments are one of the few things that are infinite energy machines. It’s free to think of and give, and each one generates so much equivalent energy in happiness. Why not help put some more joy in the world?

spencer chang (42/100 mini 📝 ) @spencerc99

@nickcammarata in the interim i wish it was more normalized to just share a nice memory with someone when you think of it even if its been years since you talked to involved people

Curious if anyone else has similar methods or other ideas on how to do this!

This is the 43rd installment in my experiment of publishing raw, lightly edited mini-essays every day towards achieving 100 public pieces. Check out the rationale and the full list here or view my evergreen, longer pieces on my website.