1. Look at yourself in the mirror every morning before you go out the door and give yourself at least one compliment that you actually believe — even if it has nothing to do with your body. Even “Your sweater looks nice today!” will work.
2. Give friends real, squeezy hugs when you greet them and tell them that you’re happy to see them.
3. Make an effort to be especially polite and kind to people you talk to throughout the day for mundane, work-or-errand-oriented things. Try to make the interaction as pleasant as possible, even if the content is boring.
4. Speak clearly and articulately when you want to get a point across, making sure to illuminate your ideas well. If it seems like someone is not understanding what you’re saying, try and help them understand in a kind way, without making them feel like they’re stupid for not getting it.
5. If you don’t understand something, ask. Don’t let the conversation move forward without you being on board because you’re embarrassed to admit that you didn’t understand the first time around. Remember that there is nothing wrong with asking nicely to repeat something.
6. Give up your seat on the subway.
7. Allow the little acts of rudeness that people enact on you throughout the day to serve mostly as a reminder not to do them yourself. If someone lets a door slam in your face, for example, take a deep breath and hold the door with a smile for the next person.
8. Try to waste as little as possible when it comes to everyday activities. Use fewer paper towels, turn off lights, recycle.
9. If you’re going to hang out at someone’s house, pick something up on the way there that you know you can enjoy together — even if it’s just a little pack of cookies. Get used to not showing up empty-handed.
10. Offer to help someone if you know they have something like a move coming up and you’re available, so they don’t feel like they have to burden you by asking.
11. Keep secrets.
12. Take the extra moment to actually put something back on the shelf you got it from if you decide you no longer buy it. Get out of the habit of just leaving your unwanted items on a random shelf for someone else to deal with.
13. Always be clean and respectful when using a public restroom, instead of making a mess for both the custodian and the person who follows you.
14. Offer to help someone at work if they look like they’re having a really hard time doing their job of late — you never know what’s going on at home, and even just bringing them a cup of coffee in the morning when they don’t have time to get one themselves could be a huge help.
15. Treat someone when you’re going out once in a while instead of always splitting the check — people will end up reciprocating, sometimes right when you need it the most.
16. If you sense that someone in your group is having financial problems, offer to do things with them that are affordable instead of making them awkwardly decline every invite.
17. Hang out with a friend when they are feeling really down and ask them what they want to do. If they want to just chill out and watch a movie, let them put on their favorite one.
18. Donate to the homeless around you once in a while. Offer to buy them a meal, or give your spare change, or bring them a cup of coffee when it’s cold.
19. Make more of an effort to talk to and learn from your elders.
20. Call your parents.
21. In conversation, ask a more specific question than “how are you?” so that they are more inclined to give a real answer. Ask them what the coolest thing they’ve done lately is, or what’s new at work, or what movie they want to see and why.
22. Tell people when you like them, and remember that being rejected is not the end of the world.
23. Be kind when you reject people.
24. Go out of your way to do something nice at least once a day, in a way that may never prove beneficial to you in the long run. Even if you just let someone go ahead of you in line when they are pressed for time, it’s worth the tiny bit of effort it takes to do.