Once upon a time, my friend Lindsey was sitting in her office and felt kinda bored.
She was craving a new project. Nothing too big and overwhelming. Just something fun, inspiring, and ideally, speedy. Something she could realistically finish in a day or two. A quickie.
At the time, she was working as a health and nutrition coach. So, she figured, “I could write a list of different ways to be kinder to your body. And then, I could share that list online as a resource for people to check out.”
She sat down and started writing the list. To her surprise, tons of ideas flowed out. Pretty soon, she had a list of 52 ways to love your body more.
Satisfied, she decided, “Okay, I think that’s plenty.”
A few days later, Lindsey thought, “Maybe I could take this list of 52 tips and turn it into a little book. I could have my friend design a beautiful cover. I could get it printed. I can print 15 or 20 copies, and then I’ll give the book away to all my friends as a holiday gift.”
And that’s exactly what she did.
The holidays arrived. Her friends absolutely loved this little book. Several people texted her to say, “This is so cool,” “this made my day!” “I love this,” “how did you make this?”
And then came something…totally unexpected.
Turns out, one of Lindsey’s friends happened to know someone who works at a major clothing retailer.
This particular clothing company is passionate about being inclusive and body-positive, and providing stylish looks for people of all shapes and sizes. So, naturally, they loved Lindsey’s tiny book about how to love your body more.
A sales rep from the clothing company emailed Lindsey—out of the blue—and asked, “Could we place an order for your book? We’d like to sell it in our shop.”
Lindsey was stunned. She couldn’t believe they were interested in her book—after all, this was just a fun holiday gift that she’d made for a few friends.
She replied, “Sure! How many books do you want?”
They replied, “500, for starters.”
Lindsey just about spit her coffee into her computer. Whoa, what?!
She emailed back and said, “Okay, sounds great!”
And then, she leapt up from her desk and whooped with joy and did a one-woman dance party across the room.
She never intended for this project to generate money. She never imagined it would be picked up by a major store. None of that was part of the original plan. She just wanted to make a beautiful present for her friends and give it away—purely for the joy of it.
This experience changed Lindsey’s life. Since then, she has written 7 more books and counting.
There are so many lessons to be gained from this story.
To me, one of the most striking lessons is:
Generosity is a powerful force.
When you do an unexpected act of generosity, unexpected things happen for you in return.
Especially when you feel bored, stuck, or trapped, doing something generous—big or small—brings so much fresh energy in your life. One act of generosity can unlock huge doors for you.
Generosity is healing. Generosity changes lives.
Give a gift. Give a meal. Give a resource. Give a scholarship. Give a miracle. Give someone the opportunity of a lifetime. Give a few moments of your undivided attention. Give support to one friend who is precious to you.
Give with no strings attached…and who knows where it might lead?
Things might never be the same.
-Alex
PS. It's free. It starts on March 1st. And it just might change your whole year. Curious?
PPS. For many people, “giving” feels pretty natural and easy. But “asking” and “receiving” can be much harder. This will help.