Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to send birthday wishes. Well. Many people
Speaker 1: don't like a big public fuss about their birthdays. Few
Speaker 1: people wouldn't appreciate a personal note marking the occasion, and
Speaker 1: since it is very easy to send a note, you
Speaker 1: should go ahead and do it now. I will admit
Speaker 1: that this episode is a wee bit self serving as
Speaker 1: it is first airing on my birthday. But all of
Speaker 1: us celebrate a birthday every single year, which means that
Speaker 1: there is at least one opportunity to reach out to
Speaker 1: everyone you know each year to say something nice and appreciative.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of us have gotten a bit
Speaker 1: sloppy about this. In the social media era, Facebook and
Speaker 1: some other platforms will tell you that someone has a
Speaker 1: birthday coming up, which is helpful as a reminder, but
Speaker 1: then most of us just post a happy birthday on
Speaker 1: someone's feed and leave it at that. It is something,
Speaker 1: but we could probably do better. If you do know
Speaker 1: someone's birthday or you are being reminded of it on
Speaker 1: social media, chances are you also know that person's email address, so,
Speaker 1: in addition to any social media wishes, or in place
Speaker 1: of them, send a personal note wishing the person a
Speaker 1: happy birthday. It doesn't have to be long. You can
Speaker 1: simply send them good wishes, recall a happy memory from
Speaker 1: the last year, or say something you admire about the person,
Speaker 1: Say something you are looking forward to together in the
Speaker 1: upcoming year. Then wish them many wonderful birthdays to come,
Speaker 1: and sign off. It is as simple as that. This
Speaker 1: will take less than five minutes. It might just take
Speaker 1: two or three, and it will almost certainly be read
Speaker 1: and appreciated if you know the person's mailing address. This
Speaker 1: is a nice touch too to send a card if
Speaker 1: it does require a wee bit more planning, as you
Speaker 1: want the card to arrive by the person's birthday, but
Speaker 1: it doesn't take that much planning. If you put the
Speaker 1: card in the mail three to four days before the
Speaker 1: special day, that should be sufficient for most places. I'd
Speaker 1: recommend buying a pack of blank cards so you don't
Speaker 1: have to go hunting for birthday specific cards, which can
Speaker 1: be overpriced or corny. You can often buy quite nice
Speaker 1: blank stationary for less than a dollar. A card you
Speaker 1: buy in bulk If you've got the cards and you've
Speaker 1: got stamps, then you are almost always good to go.
Speaker 1: You can obviously send a text to as long as
Speaker 1: you follow the email guidelines. A simple happy Birthday is nice,
Speaker 1: but a bonus statement or two about the person makes
Speaker 1: the wishes extra special, and it really doesn't need to
Speaker 1: take more than a few seconds. You can do this,
Speaker 1: or here's an idea, call the person. I know that
Speaker 1: many people shy away from using the phone as a
Speaker 1: phone these days, but if you talk with the birthday
Speaker 1: boy or girl at other points in the year, a
Speaker 1: short call on their birthday will make them smile. Now again,
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people don't like public fuss.
Speaker 1: If you are going to throw a surprise party or
Speaker 1: rope fifty people into singing Happy Birthday, make sure the
Speaker 1: if they celebrant, is the sort of person who goes
Speaker 1: for that, And if they do, that's great. If not,
Speaker 1: a card or a call is never going to be offensive,
Speaker 1: so you know you can do that. If you are
Speaker 1: unsure of people's birthdays, it doesn't hurt to just ask.
Speaker 1: It's okay to reach out if you know them well
Speaker 1: enough that you'd be sending birthday wishes it's fine to
Speaker 1: just ask the next time you're talking, say you're making
Speaker 1: a file. If it's awkward, like you've known the person
Speaker 1: for ten years, or it's a family member and you've
Speaker 1: just forgotten, maybe be discreet about it. But you can
Speaker 1: probably do a little sleothing and figure it out. And
Speaker 1: then once you know, market on a recurring calendar and
Speaker 1: you will be able to celebrate every year. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the moves of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i
Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.