High Leverage Kindness: low effort and big impact things you can do to make someone's day

A friend of mine was moving to a new city and my best friend Chloe jumped at the opportunity to help him move.

"I LOVE helping people move."

I thought this was such a strange thing to be so passionate about. When I asked Chloe why she was so weird, she shared how impactful it was when a friend helped her on moving day.

An extra pair of hands on a generally stressful day can make a huge difference.

This is why Chloe has helped over a dozen friends move out or move into their new place.  She calls this just one of her many acts of high leverage kindness.

She never gave me a formal definition but from what I gathered, an act of high leverage kindness is a relatively low effort and big impact thing you can do to really make someone's day.

While I personally don't believe there is any "shortcut" to building relationships, I do believe that you can definitely be strategic. If the by-product is spreading kindness to others... then sign me up.  

Since that conversation, I've also helped many of my friends move and feel very proud to do so.

If you feel inspired to do some kind of acts of high leverage kindness, I've made a small list over the years that may get you going:

• Be the best host for a friend visiting your city: It's just a normal weekend for you but you have the opportunity to make their trip or vacation extra memorable.
• Offer to babysit: I babysat my nephew so my sister could have a free day (or several hours) to herself. For a new parent, this is a game-changer.
• Give compliments: I do this all the time to strangers and especially to men. I rarely get compliments as a dude but when I do, I remember those moments forever. Spread the love!

• Leave Amazon reviews: Authors (like myself) rely on reviews to let other buyers know this is something worth checking out. It means the world to any author, especially if they are self-published.
• Write Google Reviews: Small businesses rely so much on google reviews. Post photos. Rate 5 stars. Mention specific staff members' names so their boss can praise them.
• Mentor others: One teacher/mentor can drastically change the course of someone's life.

• Donate blood: Chloe has been donating blood for years because, with every donation, your blood saves three lives, which is crazy! This motivated me to donate for the first time this year.
• Let someone cut in front of you at the grocery store: If someone only has one or a few items, I tell them they can just go in front of me.
• Write handwritten cards: to your friends, mentors, anyone really. Thank you emails are also great.

I actively do all (and more) of these things naturally after years of making these behaviors a habit. Even if I don't see the immediate impact, I can trust that this act of high leverage kindness will make someone else's life just a little bit better.

These items are relatively low effort but have the potential to really brighten someone's day. This is why I love high leverage kindness. 🙂

What do you all think? Have any other ideas to add?