Episode 129: Take The Time To Reach Out To People and Say Thank You
For this quick tip episode, Fiona shares how a simple yet heartfelt Thank You message from a follower made her day and encourages everyone to be kind to others and be grateful for what they do. After this episode, spread the love and don’t forget to thank the people around you, too! And thank YOU for listening!
Topics discussed in this episode:
Introduction
Receiving DMs
Saying Thank You
Conclusion
Get in touch with My Daily Business Coach
Episode transcript:
Hello, and welcome to Episode 129 of the My Daily Business Coach podcast... almost at 130. It just, yeah, I know it just keeps rolling. And obviously I make these podcast [episodes]. And I know that but yeah, just when I say these numbers, sometimes it's like whoa, here we are, goodness me 129 episodes already.
Well, today it is a quick tip episode. And that's really where I give you a quick tip, tool or tactic that you can implement immediately in your business or life or both. And today is definitely one that you can do in all areas of your life, including your business. But before I get started, I just want to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which I record this podcast, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, and I pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging and to anyone out there who is listening, who is part of the Wurundjeri people, or part of any of the many, many different clans and mobs that are part of our indigenous people here in Australia. We have so much work to do. And I hope this small, little acknowledgement goes some way into reminding anyone that's listening, how much we have to do and to do your part in any way that you can to promote equality and access for everyone.
So today is a quick tip episode. And let's make it quick, let's just jump in, shall we.
So I often get DMs, which is lovely. So direct message on Instagram. And I would say, you know, daily, we get quite a few. And I try and reply to everyone I know sometimes I leave it a few days, I do have a 30 minute block on my Instagram. So when we are particularly busy, sometimes it might take me a couple of days sometimes to get back to people. But I really, really appreciate every single one. And recently I had one in particular, I was kind of having a bit of a 'blah' day, we're in lockdown. When I'm recording this, we're in lockdown. Who knows, by the time it comes out, maybe we might be maybe we'll be in like lockdown number, whatever.
Anyway, I was just sort of a bit annoyed at everything that's going on, but frustrated, I just come off the phone with a client who was really, really sort of struggling, and you know, as many many, many small business owners are. And I got this message early in the morning, and I just want to read it out. And I'm sure I hope the person who sent it isn't annoyed that I'm reading it out. But this person had sort of sent me a question. And I had replied, just quickly, just you know, as I do. And she said, "It's really cool that this is your gift - that things like this must come naturally to you, which must seem normal. Little Do you know how much of a blessing it is to others. Have a good day."
And it might seem like such a small message. And you know, I'm very, very privileged and lucky and it gets so many lovely messages. But that one just really stood out recently. And I just thought, you know, I'm also so thankful for that person to take, you know, however long it would have taken to text that maybe 30 seconds to say that because it really, really made my day. And, you know, I think we don't stop and say thank you or say sort of kind words to people as much as perhaps we could. And we might say them to our loved ones we might say thank you so much for making dinner or thanks for you know, helping with the kids or whatever it is, we might say them to our staff. But the average person that's out there, like a stranger say, you know, the person who's doing the groceries, when you go to do supermarket shop, the person who opens the door for you, you might say quick yet thanks, or nod or something without saying thank you. I really appreciate that in just stopping to say thank you to kind of say, you know, some kind words, you don't know what's going on in other people's life. And you don't know what one small thing that comes from you might do for that person.
Now I'm really, really lucky, I had an incredible childhood, really wonderful parents, who were not perfect at all, there was definitely short times that they were not so kind. But they really promoted kindness, particularly I mean, my mom did as well. But my dad was an incredibly kind man. And he had had a really tough childhood or sort of had to grow up pretty quick. And he used to say to us all the time, treat everybody as you would want to be treated because you have no idea what's going on behind closed doors.
And so I guess that's the tip for today. But if you've bought something recently, and you just really enjoyed the experience, reach out to that business owner because chances are any business owner during this pandemic is struggling in some way. There's parts of things that are stressful or overwhelming or frustrating or days when they're going to feel flat and maybe your message is going to come exactly at the moment that it needs to come to kind of pep them up and remind them that there are real people out there buying from you, and they are really, really appreciating what it is that you sell. I also wanted to kind of use this, this episode to sort of say thank you to everyone who's ever sent me a message.
Like, I know that maybe when I reply, people might think, oh, does she reply the same thing to everyone? And I don't, I don't I often leave voice messages. And yeah, I just love connecting with people like that. And I love hearing particularly say with the book, like I've had someone recently, he contacted me to say that the book is really, really helped and that they've won some awards. And yeah, he was like, I'm sure you know, the book played a big part in that. And I was like, well, I've shown you, you play the fact of getting those awards. But thank you.
And, yeah, so I guess today's tip is really to consider how you might say thank you, and how you might show up with kindness for somebody today.
So who could you send a message to? Who could you send a DM to? Who might you say, a proper thank you to next time you're at the shops or at the chemist or at the doctor's, my goodness, I recently had to take my son to the doctor. And, you know, I said to the woman at this, the practice manager at the front desk, I said, "Thank you, because I'm sure you've had a really stressful 18 months." And she just looked up, you know, often they're just, you know, going away on their computer doing their Medicare things not looking at you. And she stood actually her eyes looked really teary. And she said, "Oh, gosh, thanks for saying that."
Recently, I also had like a DM from someone who is changing career or I'm think she's starting something. And she was saying, she was just, you know, saying, saying thank you or saying something nice. And she's a nurse. And I just wrote back and said, you know, "Thank you for being a health worker right now, like, thank you for being a health worker, anytime." Because my mom was a nurse, I know how much they put up with and how much they go through, and how much they look after all of us, regardless of how people you know, treat them at times. And I just think those small things, we often think these things anyway, so why not just say it, you never know what it's going to do to the other person on the other end. And then it's kind of got a ripple effect. Because, you know, if I've been treated nicely and had something so nicely, then I might do the same, or I might be kinder to the next person that I meet. So you know, just kind of spread that. Spread the Love. And we all need a little bit of that we need a lot of that, actually right now.
And recently, I was watching a YouTube video from the church that I grew up going to and you know, now it's all online. And the priest was he was talking about how, you know, how he he had sort of stay behind after recording this video. And he had seen someone sort of peering into the church. And he went up and said, Hello. And he said, How are you? And she said, I'm fine. And he was like, but I could kind of tell that she wasn't fine. And I just stood in her conversation with her. And later, she texts me and sort of said that was that was like my standout moment today. Because you never know, that person may not have seen anyone for a week and just having somebody say, "How are you?" and and kind of take the time to invest in them and talk to them was really, really important to that woman. And as it should be important to all of us.
So I guess that is the tip today, to really stop and think who might I say thank you to? Whom I show a little bit of extra kindness to today? And you know, maybe there's somebody out there that you've been meaning to contact during this pandemic or if you're in Australia, during these lockdowns. And you've thought, "No, I'll just leave it, I'll just leave it." Maybe this is your site, call them up, say thank you. And if you are lucky enough to have staff, and maybe you haven't said thank you lately, maybe it's you know, sitting down and writing a handwritten note. And literally just saying, Thank you. Thank you for helping us get through all of these. Thank you for the extra work, thank you for turning up to work and putting a smile on your face, even when things are tough. So that is it. And I just sort of wanted to finish with this quote. And I remember reading this when I first started my business, and it's from anonymous, you know, those ones you just never know, is it really or just somebody who's been lazy. But anyway, it says never let the things you want make you forget the things you have. And I think that I remember writing at the time, and I was in a sort of early stage, really trying to start my business looking at competitors and thinking, I don't have this. I don't have that. And I remember seeing it and going you know what I do I have a lot to be thankful for right now. And I should really, you know, honor those things. So yeah, that's it.
Who could you be thankful for today? Who might you take a second to be extra kind to? Who might you send a DM to? Wherever you bought something recently that it was just really great experience and you just want to say thank you. And that is it. That is such a small thing, but it can have such a massive, massive impact.
So that is it for today's quick tip episode. As always, if you wanted to look through the show notes or get through that quote that I just mentioned again, you can find those over at mydailybusinesscoach.com/podcast/129. And just as I finish, honestly, thank you a genuine, genuine heartfelt thank you to every single person who listens to this podcast. I really, really appreciate it.
Thanks for listening to the My Daily Business Coach podcast. If you want to get in touch, you can do that at mydailybusinesscoach.com or hit me up on Instagram at @mydailybusinesscoach.
