Quick Thought #15 – Do what you can, it’s good for you.

I want to share some research with you from this article:

Do good, feel good: Random acts of kindness improve wellbeing, physical health

The report in the journal Psychological Bulletin reviews 201 independent studies on prosocial behavior and its affect on well-being. After examining data on over 198,000 participants, Hui’s study reveals there is a modest link between good deeds and good health.

Although the effect is relatively minor, Hui contends that the number of people worldwide performing acts of kindness makes this an important discovery.

“More than a quarter of Americans volunteer, for example,” the University of Hong Kong assistant professor explains. “A modest effect size can still have a significant impact at a societal level when many people are participating in the behavior.”

As the research suggests, I don’t want to claim that doing good things will bring you never-ending happiness and health, but it does have an effect, and maybe more importantly, the more people who are willing to do small, “good” things, the greater the overall effect in society at large. Perhaps that’s the biggest takeaway. Considering what I wrote the other day about the excessive outrage over fake and inconsequential issues, maybe this is the antidote: all of us working to find small gestures and positive actions we can take.

What random act of kindness can you make today? Who around you needs some help? What causes can you contribute to? What good news can you share with your network?

It matters, and it beats the heck out of sharing fake outrage all day, every day.