A dose of daily positivity.

Inspired by Dr Rangan Chatterjee and Charles Poliquin, there are now three questions I ask my kids at bedtime:

1. What have you done today to make someone else happy?

2. What has somebody else done today to make your happy?

3. What have you learned today? ​

The first and obvious benefit is giving them space to reflect on their day, process everything they've been through and allow them to focus on the positives. It also removes the inevitable, shoulder-shrug, “good” response to my question, “How was school today?”.

And for me, for a precious moment, it’s an insight into their world and who they’re becoming. Especially when I get a gem from my 5 year old like, “I learnt that there are 140 stars in the Milky Way, which is also a chocolate bar."
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The Ripple Effect.

Something else Dr Chatterjee talks about, and something which, coincidentally, my eldest daughter is learning about at school, is the Ripple Effect, and how 5 minutes of kindness a day can begin to change everything. A bold claim indeed.
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We all know that making a positive change can often affect more than just the thing you're changing. So, in the same way, the positive effects of kindness could ripple out and improve the lives of others around you.

So for me, I'm going to start asking my coaching clients those first three questions. And I'm going to embrace the Ripple Effect, as making a positive change professionally will inevitably have a positive impact on their personal lives and relationships. And I'll sprinkle it all with 5 minutes of daily kindness.
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Inspired by Can you spare just five minutes today to be kind, by Dr Chatterjee