Why THIS Letter Beats Any Gift | Emotional Connection

Today I'm going to share what I did for Valentine's Day. So it was recently Valentine's Day, and in general I struggle with Valentine's Day because on the one hand, I'm not a big fan of just buying into made-up holidays, and I like doing things just because. I would much rather do something just because I feel like it has more meaning than when you're forced to do something. And maybe just in general, I don't like being forced to do anything. Maybe that is at the core of everything as an entrepreneur. Don't put Evan in a box! I want to do my own thing! Yeah, maybe that's probably at the core of it. But on the other hand, I really like the idea of celebrating love. And so every year I try to figure out something special to do. And so in past years I've done cooking a meal for Nina, getting everything set up for her and surprising her at home. When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore. I've also surprised her at work and, you know, showed up in a tie that had hearts on it and balloons and flowers. And I've given her presents, I guess like we all do at different times, we give different presents. And I don't know, this year I felt like I wanted to do something a little more meaningful. I wanted to do something that had I wanted to do something that had more lasting impact. I feel like if you just go out to dinner at a restaurant, it's kind of a lazy way out. It's kind of the expected thing to do, and maybe, yeah, it's a great evening, but it fades. And I wanted to do something that had much more impact, that lasted a longer time. And so I was struggling. What do I do? What do I do that has that deep, meaningful impact? And my solution actually cost zero dollars. It cost a ton of time, but didn't cost me any money. What I ended up doing was writing her a letter as to the reasons why I love her. And I thought back to when we first started our relationship, we were just dating, and kind of worked our way through up into the present day, all the different things that I love about her and why. And I just wanted her to feel it. As I was writing it, I started getting emotional. I had to like take some breaks and then come back to it. And she opened it at work and she read the first paragraph and she started getting emotional, which is the goal, right? Like deep meaningful impact was the purpose that I wanted to have. And so she was reading it and had to put it away and come back to it later so she's not crying at her desk with coworkers kind of looking at what's going on. And it took me, as I said, a number of hours to put this thing together. And in all honesty, it took me more time to do that than to book a restaurant or to prepare a meal or to clean up or to show up with flowers. You know, any of the other stuff that I would have done, it didn't cost me anything in terms of dollars but cost me a lot in terms of time. And ended up having, you know, the result that I wanted. And I don't know what I'm going to do next year. We'll see. We'll see how I'm feeling and go with that vibe there. But I wanted to share it with you guys because I think a lot of times, one, we do things maybe for the wrong reasons. We do things because we're forced to do something, or we do things that are at a very superficial level. And then two, we feel like we have to do something just for somebody else's expectations. We need to go out and we need to buy that thing, and that, that's the thing that's going to make that person happy. I need to go out and buy them this expensive present for them to be happy, and you may not be able to afford that thing. And really, the results, the win you get from that present, that super expensive gift, doesn't last, you know, doesn't have a long-term impact. And so what really touches people's hearts is that deep expression of gratitude, and especially somebody, you know, that you're in a relationship with, why you love them. I'd encourage you to try that out yourself. And you know what? This is a good challenge, Believe Nation. Whether you're married or not, I want you to find somebody in your life today who you just wanna express some thanks to. And either pick up the phone and give them a call, or write them a nice letter, or send them an email. Just something really touching as to why they've impacted your life. And how. I want you to feel the emotion. I want you to get choked up in writing that email or making that phone call to express how deeply this person has impacted you. And again, it could be a friend, it could be a parent, it could be a sibling, it could be— doesn't have to be your spouse if you're not married. I want you to get choked up in writing that message, and if you do that, they're probably going to get choked up too. They're probably going to really appreciate you for writing that message. And even if they don't, worst case scenario, it's still a gift. You writing it, the intention is positive, it's still a gift. And so I'd love to challenge you today as we close the weekend to send somebody a nice message of how they've impacted you. And I guarantee you're going to feel good about it, and hopefully so will they. That's it. Hope you guys have a great weekend. I believe in you. Continue to believe in yourself and whatever Your one word is: much love. See you soon.