The “Little Good Thing” Project, Week 5

After five weeks of working on this project, I continue to get stories from people about the good things that they have started doing.   I have started to notice that there are some basic skills required to do good deeds for people every day. It is still an easy thing to do, but I feel like having a basic knowledge of some common things will help all the Heroes in Waiting out there.

I have complied the following list of the top ten things that would be helpful to you if you wanted to do a little good thing every day as well.  If you have something that you would like to add to the list, please leave it in the comments section or email me at josh@theheroconstructioncompany.com.

10)  Basic Conversation Skills -This is helpful for a couple of reasons.  Sometimes the good deed you can do is to have a conversation with someone.  Also, it can be helpful to talk to someone to find out what their needs are.

9)  Know how to jump start a car - When Kit sent me the story of helping the woman in the parking lot jump her car, I realized that this is a common problem, especially in the cold months in Michigan.  This is good to know for yourself, but also, for the others that you could help.

8)  Leave five extra minutes – Most of the things that myself and others have been doing are deeds that take less than five minutes.  I have also caught myself talking myself out of helping because I don’t have the time.  To remedy that, I have started leaving for things about five minutes early, so that I can help and still be on time.

7)  Take enjoyment in your actions – I think that one of the reasons that I have been able to keep this going every day is because I enjoy helping people, even in small ways.  If you take joy in your actions, you will be more likely to continue them.

6)  Know CPR and First Aid – I have not run in to a situation where these have been necessary, but the story from last week where Katie was required to do some basic First Aid to help someone reminded me to go get re-certified in these two lifesaving skills.

5)  Suspend Judgment – This may be one of the hardest skills to master.  Everyone will be in need of help at some time.  Everyone is pre-disposed to judgement in some form of fashion.  If you can suspend those and keep yourself open to the possibility of helping anyone, you will have a lot more opportunity to complete your good deeds.

4)  Be creative – You need to be creative.  I feel like if I fell into the habit of doing the same good deed over and over again, I would get burned out very quickly.  One of the things that I have enjoyed about this is the wide range of things that I am able to do with just a little bit of thought.

3)  Keep it simple – Most of the deeds that I do and the stories that have been sent to me are simple small things that people can do.  The point is not to do huge acts or run into burning buildings, but small ones to prepare you to for when the big opportunities present themselves.

2)  Keep track – There is an application for mobile phones that will simply keep track of how many days in a row you do something.  The claim of these is that people are more likely to keep doing something if they have record. For example say I do something for 20 days in a row, then I skip a day.  My inclination will be to want to try for 21 days in a row next time.

1)  Observe your surroundings - I have posted about this idea before, but it is important to keep your head up and your senses open when you go out into the world.  If you observe the world around you, you will notice the situations where people need you to do a little good deed for them.

There may be more things that are important, but these are the common things that I have noticed in the experiences I have had and the ones that have been shared with me.  As always, you can follow my project on twitter @littlegoodthing and be sure to check out the video explaining the project on youtube.