Whether you’ve just made a new friend or caught up with an old one, the timing could not be any more perfect. 

Right now, this is the best time (and no other) to take 2 minutes to send your gratitude to somebody else. 

When it comes to showing appreciation, there is no due date, perfect time, or a single method to doing it. 

Showing appreciation should come off as a genuine: thank you for being in my life. 

There’s no better time to show your appreciation than now.

Growing up, my parents did all the talking when it came to conversation with adults. 

This made me, the extremely shy and reserved child, unable to bring herself to talk with anybody significantly older than I was.

Now, when it comes to speaking with bosses, teachers, people who are much older and wiser, there comes a moment of distance. 

The difference between treating others as equals, versus treating others as if they already were holding a domineering arm above my shoulder is a chasm many struggle with. 

But I’d like to think any change would start with ourselves, and going out of our way to talk with those we tend to be uncomfortable around is the first step to crossing the chasm.

As quiet creatives, we tend to keep to ourselves. We tend to stay introspective, and to keep things fermenting in our own heads. 

We keep from voicing aloud our ideas because we’re afraid of what others might think; We’re worried others will shoot our darlings down, and judge our character for what we think. 

And, that is the single worst thing you could say to yourself. 

We’re uncomfortable with ourselves and our own ideas, and that is holding us back.

The truth is, we benefit our thinking by doing, and vice versa. 

We inform our thinking further, by doing. 

If you haven’t already, grab a friend and tell them your craziest ideas. 

Break your cycle of keeping to yourself. 

Grow outwards and inform your ideas by doing them.