12/21/2010
I believe the more narrowly you focus your goals the better chance you have of success.
My goal with our holiday letter every year is pretty simple, to inspire people (thanks to Harvey Bravman who showed me this is possible with his holiday letter many years ago).
After sending out our annual holiday letter to some friends (see below), a number of people emailed us back telling us about nice things they've done. Some are little, some are big, but they're all pretty inspiring. Here are a few examples:
- One friend of ours surprised a friend by doing his barn chores one chilly night before he came home.
- Another couple anonymously paid for the lunch of a teen raising money for Toys for Tots.
- One business owner who was struggling with a rough year went out of his way to get a gift card for everyone at his shop.
- Someone else started making weekly dinner for a single father with leukemia.
- Many people have written us to say they're donating to a charity, including the AIDS Foundation, the Lymphoma Research Foundation, and the Northern Berkshire Santa Fund.
- One friend decided to help a friend in need by setting up a website to collect money so the friend could travel south and reconnect with family and introduce her son to his cousin.
Let's Start an Avalanche Of Good
If this inspires you to do something inspiring, comment on our Facebook posting about it or send it along to leah@gravityswitch.com and we'll do it anonymously for you. :)
Our Holiday Letter:
The other day, one of our developers, Rob, told me a story about his horrible trip to the mall on Black Friday. He was already in a bad mood because his old washer and dryer broke. So there he was on the busiest shopping day of the year, looking to replace them.
By the time Catherine came and asked if she could help him, he was pretty grumpy and snappy. After talking for a bit, Rob discovered that Catherine (who was very sympathetic to his woeful washer/dryer tale) had been working for 18 hours and was still smiling. When getting in his car, Rob realized that his bad mood had completely evaporated. In the midst of an absolutely crazy day, Catherine managed to bring him some peace and joy.
Rob said this inspired him to be a little more aware of his power to make people happier. This, in turn, inspired me to do something nice for someone. The other night we got our favorite waiter at the Sierra Grille. He's always so upbeat, I couldn't help giving him a 40% tip to spread a little holiday cheer.
I know you're busy and have a lot going on in your life right now, but I'm going to ask a favor of you: In the next week, please do something nice for someone else.If you think of it, drop me an email and let me know what you did. Who knows, it might inspire me to do one more nice thing and start an avalanche of good.
Thank you,
Jason
Gravity Switch gives over 15% of our corporate profits to charities.
See some of our other good deeds and this year's employee donations at www.gravityswitch.com/fun/givingback/