| December 1, 2004 GIVE BACK In this issue... Tune in to Winn Monthly Audio Message People Profile Do Something! Quote of the Month And on BeNiceOrElse.com: Featured Article Find Your Own Path Past Newsletters November 2004 October 2004 NEW CD! Winn Claybaugh live Be Nice (Or Else!) $20  With a Special CD Introduction by TV and Radio Personality Leeza Gibbons Learn More Finalist — Learn More Testimonials Buy the Book Quantity Pricing
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"A famous swami once told me years ago that someone who’s nice always gains... Winn Claybaugh is a remarkable guy and one of the best motivational speakers in the country. In this terrific work, he brings you easy-to-use concepts that could bring interesting rewards." |
 Hi Everyone,Years ago I used to catch myself saying, “When I get my life together, then I’ll do volunteer work.” I eventually realized that my life didn’t start coming together until I started volunteering. For me, my sense of happiness has a direct relationship with the good I do in the world, and I’m not just referring to volunteerism. Although many causes and charities tug at my heartstrings, I’m never able to devote the amount of time to those charities that I would like. However, I can do “volunteer work” all day, every day. Let me give you some examples. I’m not required to smile at every person I meet, so if I choose to do it, it’s on a volunteer basis—and that makes me feel good about myself. I’m not required to notice and hug the student in my school who’s experiencing loneliness or some type of struggle, so if I do hug that student, it’s on a volunteer basis. As a business owner, I can offer the products and services of my business to support, serve, and give back to people in my community on a daily basis. On a typical day, if a hundred clients come in, perhaps two of them will receive something extra, or they won’t pay at all. I can volunteer to make those kinds of decisions, so why not? If you’re not a business owner, that doesn’t mean you can’t use your place of employment as a vehicle to make a difference in your community. If you’re a waiter or waitress, your smiles, kind words, and calling total strangers “darling” can make a difference and heal someone in need. If you’re a grocery bagger or checkout clerk, you have the opportunity every single day to tell hundreds of people to have a good day, and to truly mean it. In this month’s newsletter, you’ll find many more ways that you can give back. Thanks again for helping me live my fantasy of spreading this BE NICE message and giving nice people a voice! XOXO, Winn Tune in to Winn on the Radio!
Monthly Audio Message  In her wonderful book, Pay It Forward, Catherine Ryan Hyde wrote that even though you can’t always pay back the people who have helped you along the way, you can “pay it forward” to someone else. You can build up a spiritual and “good karma” bank account, so to speak, so the help and kindness continue to flow. In addition to Pay It Forward, Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of the story collection Earthquake Weather and the novels Funerals for Horses, Electric God, and Walter’s Purple Heart. She has two young adult novels forthcoming from Knopf (Chloe and the Search for Joy and Broken People), which will be out in Spring ’06 and Spring ’07. Catherine is also the founder and president of the Pay It Forward Foundation, an educational foundation whose mission is to inspire young students to believe they can change the world and to provide them with opportunities to do so. You can read more about Catherine’s work at www.cryanhyde.com and www.payitforwardfoundation.org, or you can contact her at ryanhyde@cryanhyde.com. Catherine’s work has inspired people around the world, and I’m proud to feature her on this month’s audio message. Click here to listen. People Profile Sometimes we need a little help in learning how to give back. That’s where nice-mentors come into play. 
One of my nice-mentors came from my own industry and happens to be a Catholic nun. Sister Bonnie Steinlage, SFP, is a Franciscan Sister of the Poor and a hairdresser for the homeless. After graduating from beauty school, she opened her own little business in the tiny bathroom of a shower facility for the homeless in downtown Cincinnati. For seven years, Sister Bonnie cut hair for ten thousand homeless people in that tiny bathroom, until a group of amazing individuals eventually built a wonderful salon for her and her clientele.How does all that add up to me choosing Sister Bonnie as a nice-mentor? Well, homelessness can frighten and confuse people—I know that it does me. I used to have a difficult time seeing beyond the dirty exterior of the homeless, and I could easily jump into judgment about how they ended up in the position they’re in. Is that the person I want to be? No, hence my need for a nice-mentor like Sister Bonnie. After I spent time with her, talked about her in my seminars, and helped raise money for her organization, her lovely mentoring finally started to seep in. One day, I arrived at one of my schools and found a homeless man hanging out in front of the building. Normally, I would have ignored him. Or worse, I would have called the police to have him removed. But because of Sister Bonnie’s influence, I decided to step outside my egotistical, fear-driven self and began talking to him. After a ten-minute conversation about who knows what, I invited him into the school for a service. Two hours later, after being shampooed, conditioned, groomed, and cared for, the homeless man left the school. I won’t attempt to exaggerate or embellish the story by talking about how the experience changed the homeless man’s life, because I honestly don’t know how it affected him. His experience is not the point. The person who changed was me. Because of Sister Bonnie’s simple mentoring, I made a little, tiny shift in my thinking and perception. I let go of a fear and a belief system that didn’t serve me and had held me back from feeling good about myself. Finding ways to give back sometimes requires tiny shifts in thought and action, which eventually add up to monumental strides of growth. Nice-mentors can nudge you along that path. Do Something! GIVE BACK TO YOUR COMMUNITY One of the most important and meaningful ways to give back is to embrace people who are less fortunate. Why? Because it’s a nice thing to do, it’s the right thing to do, and it sets up a wonderful opportunity to bring out the niceness in everyone involved. Over the past twenty years, my company and its wonderful staff have chosen to get involved in all sorts of different causes and charities, including AIDS, breast cancer research, mental health, homelessness, firefighters, battered women, abused children, the elderly, the 9/11 tragedy, leukemia, and more. Some of these were causes that I personally am passionate about, so I rallied my team to help me make a difference. But the majority of our philanthropic pursuits were the causes and charities that individual staff members were passionate about. How do you find out which causes are important to your family, friends, staff, and co-workers? You ask them. When you ask people what they care about, and then you join their cause and help them make a difference, you’ll cultivate better relationships and sustain a healthier work culture than you’ve ever seen before. If you’re ready to give back but don’t know where to start, Volunteer Match is a nonprofit organization that can help you get yourself active and involved. This online service helps volunteers connect with community service organizations across the United States, offering over 30,000 ways to serve. Check it out and chart your path for service at www.VolunteerMatch.com. Click here to download a Word Document for contact information on a variety of other worthwhile charities and organizations. Quote of the Month “Service is the rent you pay for room on this earth.” — Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress
Winn Claybaugh’s Be Nice (Or Else!) The Newsletter! |
