The ripple effect
In honor of World Kindness Day today, I’d like to share one of my favorite studies of all time with you:
In 2017, a group of researchers started an experiment with employees at a Coca-Cola office in Madrid. They broke up the employees into three groups: Givers, Receivers, and Controls.
The Givers were told to spend the next month doing kind things for the Receivers. After a month, there was an incredible result: both the Givers and Receivers were happier.
But the researchers wanted to go further: what would the Receivers do, having benefitted from these acts of kindness?
It turns out that the Receivers paid it forward. They started doing kind things for other people — nearly 3x more kind acts than the Controls were doing! They weren't just being kind back to the Givers, either. They were spreading it more broadly within their organization.
I love this study because it reminds me that what we do has a ripple effect, touching not just the people around you, but the people around them, and then even the people around them.
If you're inspired to start a ripple effect, here's an intention you can use today:
Today, may I help others to find joy, knowing that this action ripples outwards in ways I cannot imagine, and in the process know that I am making our world a better place.
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