Kindness

Be kind, but not to feel virtuous, nor to gain applause or adulation.

Those of you who are really into social media or online dating will know that personas are not real or important. What kind of person you truly are when no one is looking is your character, and that’s the real side of you that is vital to develop and nourish.

Kindness at work

You can be successful in life without screwing people over. In fact, I have found that in business, being kind to competitors and colleagues has led to a relatively low-stress and enjoyable career progression, full of collaboration and real relationships. Also, if someone is a bit mean to you, be like Ron and stay classy. We never know what someone else is going through. If someone is a Dick, assume they a having a bad day and handle them with compassion, not anger. (p.s Watch the brilliant ‘Beef’ on Netflix to see what happens when you don’t follow my advice.)

Kindness is our natural state.

We have a moral duty to show the earth and our fellow inhabitants (animals and trees included) as much love and kindness as possible. We are lucky to be here, and as we are all (temporarily) on this little planet hurtling through space together, it makes more sense to be kind than selfish, to listen more than speak and understand more than judge.  In recent times, tribalism has arguably caused a lot of division (note Douglas Murreys’ Madness of Crowds is a great book on this topic), and a society full of love and kindness is both an antidote and a goal for us all to help with.

They say LOVE is the answer, and it’s hard to argue against that! Okay… before I go and fuck hug a tree or sing a sonnet to a squirrel… I have one more little lesson for you: