It’s Thanksgiving week, which complicated history aside, has me leaning into the cliche of gratitude. I had looked up some journal prompts on gratitude to share with my team earlier today, so I thought I’d pull one out here.
Prompt: List 3 things you could do today to be a kinder person.
- Listen more deeply. Ask more questions. Give less advice. Despite my best intentions I get wrapped up in my own world too often and while there’s plenty of space of that in my life, I can work on being more present.
- Say ‘no’ more. Set better expectations. Don’t overcommit and underdeliver. I have good boundaries in my life, but not everyone. I want to be helpful. I want to be useful. In and outside of work. But I don’t have the time, energy, or frankly mental capacity to do everything I want to do for people. That’s not kind to the people I’m making committments to. Clear is kind and I need to get clear with myself so I can be clear with others.
- Believe that people are doing the best they can. This is a Brené Brown-ish that I deeply believe in . . . in theory. But even writing this down I had dozens of examples pop into my head. “This person wasn’t doing their best.” “This person didn’t act with good intent.” But I think the point of who people actually are is irrelevant . . . it’s about what I believe. And believing that people are genuinely doing their best begets a kinder approach, even if it’s still a hard one.
With Love,
Natalie