The Day After

Yesterday was Inconvenience Yourself™ Day. I sent an email to people who were interested in Inconvenience Yourself™ where I committed to four things to celebrate the holiday. Thought I should provide an update of how I did. Here are the commitments:

1. Send a thank you note.
2. Take a walk in my neighborhood and pick up trash I see.
3. As I run errands, park farther away leaving closer parking spaces for others.
4. Spend time at the end of the day reflecting on what other people did for me today.

The results:

1. I wrote a note to a friend who has been supportive and encouraging in my Inconvenience Yourself™ concept.
2. I ended up with a full grocery bag of recycling and almost a full bag of trash from a 15 minute walk.
3. This was not applicable. My errands were postponed so I will honor this commitment next time.
4. What a great way to end my day - positive thoughts that reinforced that there are good people out there. When I began thinking about my day I was surprised at how many positive moments I have due to the actions of other. I plan on regularly incorporating this reflection of the positive impact other have on my daily life in a personal journal as it made me feel good again!

Did any of this make a difference? I hope so. My neighborhood looks better. I enjoyed the fresh air of a walk, even while picking up trash - getting away from work and "home stuff" - an unaticipated benefit. Sending the thank you note reminded how many people do nice things for me and of the importance of taking time to let them know. The reflection time at the end of the day was positive and uplifting way to end my day. My Inconvenience Yourself™ Day celebration was a success!

Try a commitment of your own. I plan on committing to at least one thing every day. Today my commitment is to practice patience. More Inconvenience Yourself™ ideas can be found at http://www.inconvenienceyourself.com/

Happy Inconvenience Yourself™ Day!

With a redesigned website and the third annual Inconvenience Yourself™ Day today, it is time to launch the Inconvenience Yourself™ blog. If you haven’t seen the new website, please take a look at www.inconvenienceyourself.com. I am thrilled that many Inconvenience Yourself™ ideas that have been bouncing around in my head are represented on the website - publishing the kids page of the site was a major milestone. One of my hopes is that kids will be encouraged by each other, parents and teachers to incorporate the Inconvenience Yourself™ concept into their lives at an early age.

Over the last three years, many people have shared their Inconvenience Yourself™ experiences with me. If you haven’t read any of the stories, you can find some great examples of the Inconvenience Yourself™ concept at http://www.inconvenienceyourself.com/cgi/kids_stories.cgi (these stories involve kids) or http://www.inconvenienceyourself.com/cgi/adult_stories.cgi (stories that involve grownups). Please continue to share your Inconvenience Yourself™ anecdotes and ideas at http://inconvenienceyourself.com/submit.html.

I have an Inconvenience Yourself™ experience of my own to share today. I live in South Florida. You may have heard about the widespread power outage yesterday with millions of people were without power. Yesterday was a busy day for me personally - lots of last minute things to do on Inconvenience Yourself™ Day eve. Many of those things involved a computer. When word of the power outage was broadcast, I received two phone calls. One from my friend Dawn, offering to let me come to her house to work since she had power. The second call was my sister, Ann, who lives well over a thousand miles away. She knew how much I had to do and was calling to see if she could help remotely some way. Both of these people displayed the Inconvenience Yourself™ concept. Offering their help at such a critical time for me deserves much thanks. Thanks to both ladies, not only for their offers of assistance, but encourage and support in the Inconvenience Yourself™ concept!

Coming Soon: We are gearing up to launch a weekly email to share brief stories and inspirational ideas. It will also include ideas of how to incorporate Inconvenience Yourself™ into your own life. If you would like to sign up now for the weekly communication go to http://www.inconvenienceyourself.com/join_list.html.