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 about a simple strategy you can use
Speaker 1: to make the people in your life happier. Try leaving
Speaker 1: encouraging sticky notes where they'll find them. I'm taking this
Speaker 1: idea like our recent tip to greet people with a
Speaker 1: smile from Audrey Monkey's book Happy Campers. Monkey is a
Speaker 1: long time camp director, and her book asks the question
Speaker 1: of why most kids love summer camp so much. One
Speaker 1: answer the relentlessly positive atmosphere. And the good news is
Speaker 1: that there are practical ways to recreate this positive atmosphere
Speaker 1: at work and at home. That's why Monkey proposes what
Speaker 1: she calls the sticky notes solution. You write short positive
Speaker 1: messages on sticky notes to give the people you care
Speaker 1: about a mental boost. If you've got kids, for instance,
Speaker 1: they are prime targets for sticky notes. Monkeys say, just
Speaker 1: thinking about something you appreciate about your kid, let them
Speaker 1: know that you notice, she says, by mentioning this quality
Speaker 1: on a sticky note that you put on the bathroom mirror.
Speaker 1: The note can say something like your great sense of humor,
Speaker 1: makes my days happier, or thank you for doing the
Speaker 1: dishes without being asked. I appreciate how you help our
Speaker 1: home run smoothly. As Monkey observes, kids often hear what
Speaker 1: they're doing wrong. This is a simple way to emphasize
Speaker 1: what they're doing right. Your spouse might appreciate what he
Speaker 1: or she is doing right being called attention to as well.
Speaker 1: Leave a sticky note with a thank you message or
Speaker 1: something more romantic on the bathroom mirror or somewhere else
Speaker 1: you know your spouse will see it. The coffee maker,
Speaker 1: for instance, he or she is always the one making
Speaker 1: the morning pot, or even on his or her steering wheel.
Speaker 1: Another idea, pick one of your favorite inspirational quotes and
Speaker 1: put it on a sticky note on your own or
Speaker 1: your kid's bathroom mirror or the refrigerator. Monkey writes to gather,
Speaker 1: you can think about a positive thought each time you
Speaker 1: see the sticky note. Switch the inspirations out from time
Speaker 1: to time, and encourage your kids to share their own
Speaker 1: favorite quotes. You can deploy the sticky notes solution with
Speaker 1: care at work as well. If you're managing people, you
Speaker 1: know that you should be generous with your praise and
Speaker 1: schedule time for celebratory feedback, but sometimes it's hard to
Speaker 1: make the time to sit down with people to celebrate
Speaker 1: what's going right. In between such celebratory meetings, you could
Speaker 1: leave the occasional sticky note on a return document or
Speaker 1: printed up note from a happy client, or even on
Speaker 1: the person's desk, mention how pleased you are and call
Speaker 1: out what the person did. Well. Yes, it's easy enough
Speaker 1: to send an email saying the same thing, but we
Speaker 1: get lots of email stuff gets buried. An actual note
Speaker 1: we'll get noticed. I really like this idea. Sticky notes
Speaker 1: are cheap and they're physically small, which means that even
Speaker 1: if you wanted to, you couldn't write a novel on there.
Speaker 1: There's space for just a few words. But fortunately a
Speaker 1: few words is often all it takes to make someone's day.
Speaker 1: And if you have the power to make someone's day,
Speaker 1: well why wouldn't you. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. At
Speaker 1: before Breakfast pod. That's b E the number four, then
Speaker 1: Breakfast p O D. You can also shoot me an
Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot
Speaker 1: com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For
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