Here are a few things I learned after my first full week of Giving It Away. If you are on this journey with us, I hope you can avoid the mistakes I made.
Lesson 1 - When you give it away, it isn't yours any longerLast Christmas I received a water bottle with built-in filter. It was a great gift that I anticipated using often. In reality, it was odd shaped and hard use. I gave it to a co-worker thinking he would like it. He later told me that he planned to use it for watering his plants. My first thought was to take it back and give it to someone who would appreciate it. Then I remembered that I had given it to him and therefore he can do whatever he wants with it. It no longer belongs to me and I don't need to think about it anymore which is the reason I gave it away in the first place.
Lesson 2 - Think before you give
Last week I gave away my personal humidifier that was given to me as a Christmas gift in 2013. After giving it away, it dawned on me that it was a gift from my wife. I almost asked for it back and then realized that she wouldn't care. I confirmed that assumption that night to my relief.Lesson 3 - Not everyone will be excited about your gift
Who knew that a used water bottle(see lesson 1) is not a great Give It Away gift? I for one. When I told others that I was giving away my used water bottle, the most common response was yuke.
Lesson 4 - Cheating doesn't pay
Taking time each day to look through your stuff and find something to give away takes time and effort. On Thursday, I had the great idea of finding several things and putting them aside for Friday and Saturday. This worked great until I realized that doing this would keep me from creating the habit that I'm trying to form. I've decided that it is better to miss a day of giving than to cheat by storing up stuff and giving myself a reason to not think about giving.
For those of you that either daily or frequently Give It Away, what lessons have you learned?
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