5 Lies We Tell Ourselves When It Comes To Writing Notes & The Hidden Benefits of Completing The Task

Those of you know me, know that I write a ton of notes, daily, weekly, monthly, they add up rather quickly. As it stands, I write about 2,000 notes per year give or take a couple hundred. That's batting an average of five to six hand written notes per day. In retrospect, I spend about $1,100 in postage every year and I will be honest, I become very excited when the United States Post Office releases new stamps. There is no special secret to writing notes, but I will say, "don't take yourself too seriously." And... yes before you ask, I do fall off the wagon so to speak. Some days I will write 3-4 notes, other times I will be on a kick and I'll write several dozen. There are periods where I won't write any and occasionally I will write one or two to people I deem most deserving of a note. I will say, it's not easy consistently writing notes and those who I know that write notes regularly will call me out on writing some of the longest notes I can squeeze into a single card. As I said before, there's no secret to being consistent with writing notes, except that you should START NOW! So let's go over some of the most common lies we tell ourselves when it comes to writing notes:

1) "It takes too long..." Seriously, I think the reason why people use this excuse is because they honestly don't know what to write about. It's not difficult. Write about the last time you saw them, things you agreed on, etc. Write about how awesome they are. Write about how they make you feel. Write about what you admire most about them. It's not difficult. Just a few lines and bam you're done! On to the next note.

2) "My handwriting is unreadable." I believe that nearly everyone I know is critical of their own handwriting. These are the same people who hate the sound of their own voice (even though they hear it every day), and are uptight about how they look on camera. Get over it! You're writing a note to make someone feel better or to express gratitude. Solution: Take your insecurities out of the equation and just write the damn card. In fact, if people can't read your handwriting, it will make for an interesting puzzle.

FUN FACT: Did you know the US Post Office has an entire department for deciphering chicken scratch (poor penmanship)? Their automated equipment will snap a photo of the writer address and send it to the REC (Remote Encoding Center), where employees will decode your fine writing and transmit the correct address in the form of a barcode so that the parcel can arrive at it's proper destination.

3) "When I make a mistake, I throw away the old card and write a new one. This takes forever." What the hell are you doing?!? No you don't start over, you cross it out and keep writing. That mistake is Gold! It proves that you are indeed human, processing what you're thinking, and transcribing it to paper. You are being your authentic self. Mistakes are a blessing.

4) "They're probably going to throw it away anyway." WRONG! People do not throw away well written notes. They save them, treasure them, for they shine a little light on the person you are, appreciated and all. If all you write is your name, then at least for a while, they will be pinned up to the fridge or something, but if you write something from the heart, something that expresses tremendous gratitude and it's several sentences long, odds are it may be with that person for years.

5) "What's the point?!?" Here's the point. This is your one true opportunity to make an impact in that person's life. At a bare minimum you can make their day, possibly their week, maybe more. It all depends on how powerful of a message you send. When I write a note, I think about what can I put in words that will make the greatest impact on the person who's reading it. When I finish, place it in the envelope, and mail it off, I feel ecstatic... and there's a scientific reason why.

Beyond helping someone feel full of joy when they read your note, there are other benefits as well. There's what we call the big 3. These are the Big 3 "feel good" chemicals your body produces to make you happy. The first one is Dopamine. When your body naturally produces Dopamine, it's the reward for achieving a specific task. That means that if you set your self the task of completing just one note and you complete it, your body will produce Dopamine to reward you. The greater the task completed, the greater the Dopamine produced.

The second happy drug is called Oxytocin. Your body often produces Oxytocin after you've been in contact with someone you trust, love, or appreciate. When you're thinking about the person you're writing about, your body produces trace amounts of Oxytocin. The more meaningful the relationship and the greater impact you plan to make on the individual, the more Oxytocin your body will produce. Of course, a card is no substitute for real contact, but you'll get a hit of it when they call or send you a text sharing their appreciation.

Finally, you'll receive a dose of Serotonin. Serotonin can often be felt when you are on the receiving end of recognition or gratitude from others. The more powerful of a note you write, the greater the likelihood the person receiving it will call to thank you, which will release more Serotonin into your bloodstream. If you truly feel like you could significantly improve the thoughts and feeling of the person you're writing a note to upon them reading it, you might be the one with the most to gain biologically speaking that is. What better incentive is there to write a few notes to the amazing people in your orbit?

Writing notes in my opinion are not difficult. What's difficult is getting out of your own head when it comes to writing them. Just remember, the voice in your head will sabotage you at every opportunity, because the voice in your head comes from comfort. Anyway, sorry to cut this article short, I think I have a few more notes to write.

Written By Sean Sassoon

What are your reasons for not writing notes? (Please Share)