Episode 2: Three Steps to Giving

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Welcome to Giving your best life with Stephanie Jones, A K is a giving gal former police officer, private investigator, professional organizer who pivoted to the corporate world and then, through giving 522 gifts, became an author and inspirational speaker. Need a little positivity and inspiration in your life? Grab a mug of your favorite drink and cozy up in a comfy chair and join Stephanie as she chats about giving your best life. In each episode, she shares intentional ways to give to yourself and others how gratitude can lead to a healthier, happier, more content life and tips to accomplish your goals. Let's jump into giving your best life. Hello, friends, Thank you so much for joining me for this second episode of Giving your Best life. I'm Stephanie Jones, also known as the Giving Gal. On the first episode, I shared a bit about my giving journey, but I teased you a bit, saying that I would discuss in a future episode the three keys to finding ways to give every day Well, friends, the future is here. First, you have to wake up in the morning and declare, I'm going to give a gift today. I've been doing this for years, so I don't even really think about it anymore. I just know I'm going to give a gift, a lifestyle for me. But in the beginning, I had to wake up and remind myself each and every day that I needed to give a gift. If you have to write it down on a sticky note, just declare it and make it a daily habit. Second, you have to look for opportunities I found. If you look, pay attention to your surroundings and listen to the people around you. You see opportunities to give open up all around you. Third, and this is the most important action you can take to. Giving daily is to initiate action. When you see an opportunity, don't ignore it. Sometimes giving takes courage, especially to strangers. But I also believe in the tugs on your heartstrings to do something. When you see someone in need or fill the push to give, it does no good to see an opportunity and then ignore it. I've had beautiful reactions from taking action hugs, smiles, laughter, tears and expressions of gratitude. Hecate times I've even received a gift in return. But remember what I talked about on episode one? None of these reactions and responses are why we give we give with no expectations that will receive anything in return. Okay, Does that sound simple enough, Action One. Get up and declare. You're going to give a gift to look for opportunities. And three, when you see an opportunity, take action. You ready to put the three steps into action? Yes, Yes. Is that what I thought? I heard you say. Can you screaming out loud like, yes, Get excited about giving in, making a difference toe others. Okay, Wonderful. I think I heard you here in my home. That's better. Now let's set a giving Google. Yep. You heard that, right? A giving goal. What do you want to give once a week for a month? Every day for a week, every day for a month. Oh, what about like I did every day for a year? Okay, maybe that's too much. What if you just want to give every day for three days in a row? Friends, I really don't care. What you're giving goal is just make one and then make it specific. Like I mentioned in Episode one. My goal was to give a gift every day for a year. I'm pretty confident. If I wasn't specific, I would have given up early on as there was. If there was no in date and site to win, this crazy goal that I had set was going to end. I also set the bar low. I just stated that me, as one person, had to find a way to make a difference in one other person's life. Not five, not 20 not thousands, just one person a day. Also, I didn't put restrictions or limits on my giving. I didn't set dollar amounts. So if you feel called to donate, don't feel like it has to be a big amount. If you can only give $5 then give $5. Last time I mentioned the compound effect, and I believe in the compound effect, especially when donating your money. If you give $5 all your friends give $5 those $5 add up over time. So I believe when donating money every little bit helps. Okay, so what's your giving goal? Email me yet? Stephanie at giving gal dot com or post on social media using hashtag giving challenge. Maybe even challenge your friends to get involved. Okay, friends. I, uh I have a confession to make. May have lied to you on the last episode. I said we were gonna talk. Talk about gratitude. But darn it, I really felt the need to get you on your own giving journey. So next episode, I promise we'll discuss gratitude. As always, I'm wrapping up each episode with a giving challenge. On the last episode, I challenge you to sign up to donate blood or money to the Red Cross. But as luck and timing would have it after I put out that challenge, I read a post from my freshman college roommate, Sarah. Her son Benjamin is battling cancer. She posted how he has needed blood almost every day that he's been in the hospital in man. That just that just sucker punched me. You know, it was like that challenge got riel personal. Someone I knew. Their child needs blood to help them win. They're cancer fight. So today, I'm just going to repeat that challenge. But today we're going to do it. An honor. As Benjamin fights his battle So today I'm challenging you to sign up to give blood. You never know when a friend or family member might need it. You can go to the Red Cross blood dot org's for additional information. Well, friends, that's all I've got for you today. Until next time, go out and get to giving your best life. Thank you so much for listening. We know your time is valuable and we're grateful you shared it with us. For more information about Stephanie, her books and speaking, head over to giving gal dot com. And remember, there are many ways you can give back by subscribing Teoh giving your best life, sharing this podcast, writing a review and signing up for Stephanie's newsletter. We're grateful for you Now go out and get to giving your best life.