Today is someone’s birthday.

Maybe even yours.

When someone’s birthday comes up, it’s so easy to cop out and not come up with much to do for them. We’re all busy and we all have a lot of work to do, don’t we? We can’t remember everything.

For a long time I really copped out about this. I didn’t give my parents birthday gifts for at least 5-10 years. I feel a bit bad about it now. But I’m working on these kinds of things– Chris calls them “simple touchpoints of loyalty.” I think we wrote about it in Trust Agents.

One of the reasons I respect Chris is that he always makes time for everyone and makes them feel special. He knows everyone’s birthday and sends a lot of them personalized messages. We should all be a bit like that.

It’s so easy to do nothing– to go “I’ll buy them a beer” and not worry about it. But it’s also kind of lame.

When we participate in other people’s lives, we show them we’re important to us. When we skip out on them, we kind of show the opposite. Don’t we?

Once again, everything communicates. Everything we do shows something. Probably time we acknowledge what that is.


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4 responses to “Today is someone’s birthday.”

  1. Amber Whitener Avatar

    My random tangent, but if you think about it, this is what blogging is all about. Each of us, just taking one thing, and putting it in black in white. Then we type it, edit it, judge it, and if it’s worth it then we send it off into our cosmic void called the internet. And somehow, we end up answering our own questions, or at least quieting our thoughts about them for the moment. By seeing the problem externally (on the screen) we can work it out. And sometimes, when we’re really lucky, we help someone else work their situation out. I know that you aren’t really asking anything really. You are doing what I do sometimes. It’s easier to work something out if I can get it out of my busy mind. As ashamed (yet appreciative) as I am to admit it, your timing is perfect. My mom’s birthday is coming this Saturday, and she really deserves a LOT more thought for celebrating it than I’ve taken the time to plan it. P.S. She’s turning 50.

  2. Angela Moore Avatar

    Nice post! Whenever we (my company) are working with clients, we pay special attention to what our clients are saying. If they happen to mention that their birthday is coming up or they recently lost someone close to them, we make sure we send them a personal note and/or gift. They always appreciate that we went the extra mile. And that’s not to mention the personal side… making sure I at (at the very least) call and wish someone a happy birthday is important to me. I’d want the same in return.

  3. Isolde Avatar
    Isolde

    Nice post indeed.
    ‘Everything communicates. ‘ That sums it up.
    Little attentions can transform any regular day in a special moment, and of course contribute to strengthening both personal and professional relationships. I always make an effort to show friends and colleagues that I care in the most original ways, even when it’s not their birthday…

  4. Amber Whitener Avatar

    FYI – The party was awesome. 😉

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