The gifting season is upon us and can significantly increase our mental load. Finding the right gift for everyone can turn into a full-time job. It can push our minds into overdrive which can quickly become overwhelming. Gift for the Mind provides a thoughtful, impactful and easy alternative to the traditional materialistic gifting ideas that we may consider. The Gift for the Mind experience allows us to support the people we care about with a life-changing experience that will enhance their well-being and happiness in the long term.
Most of us are quick to take care of our physical health but often let our mental well-being reach a critical stage before we take steps to improve it. And even then, we often indulge in ‘quick fix’ activities: a weekend at the spa, our favourite takeaway food, an evening bingeing on Netflix, etc. Despite being momentarily satisfying, none of these activities will have a positive long-term effect on our well-being and happiness.
What will investing in our personal development do for us? This is a fundamental step to getting to know ourselves better and steering away from living life on autopilot. It is all the more critical for those who live a busy, fast-paced life, distracted from the important things that can truly contribute to their happiness.
Dr. Mark Williamson, who wrote ‘The autopilot Britain whitepaper’, explains, “People recognise that the choices they are making don’t add up to the life they want to live. We can all do better at living more purposefully.”
Personal Development gives us an opportunity to pause and reflect on our emotions, triggers, behaviours and social interactions. Those reflective pauses can sometimes feel uncomfortable if they are guilt-driven or if we lack self-compassion hence that is why being supported by an expert in the field can help make the process more rewarding. These experts can provide an external sounding board, a non-judgmental space to be vulnerable, deep questioning techniques that allow us to learn from our life experiences and calibrate our ideas to attain our goals. This way, we become empowered to take conscious steps towards a life that is aligned with our personality and values.
At the core of the personal development, effort is raising our awareness about our thoughts and objectively confronting them with reality. According to the organisational psychologist Tasha Eurich, while 95% of people believe that they’re self-aware, in reality, just 10% to 15% actually are. Working with a personal development expert allows us to rapidly become more conscious about how we live our lives and aware of how we sometimes get in our way when it comes to fulfilling our desires.
Democratising access to personal and professional development services will increase our collective self-awareness and improve our overall well-being and happiness. This is what Mathilde Boyer sets out to do with the launch of the Gift for the Mind initiative.
Gift for the Mind provides gift certificates to support our loved ones or employees with their personal and professional development. The concept enables individuals and organisations to gift a transformational experience that the recipients will benefit from in the long term. It also provides an opportunity for organisations to show employees that they care about them beyond their work performance which will increase talent retention. It is worth noting that 65% of UK employees consider a lack of personal development opportunities a reason to look for a new employer according to research conducted by GoodHabitz in cooperation with Markteffect. Gift for the mind is designed to address this and transform the gifting industry by offering unique experiences that individuals can take advantage of to improve the chosen area of their life. The best thing about this innovative service is that it can benefit everyone: the mums, the dads, the leaders and business owners, the stressed and anxious, those who want to change roles or careers, those who want to improve their well-being, relationships, health and nutrition, those who want to overcome a loss, those who want to strengthen their mindset, those who have sleeping troubles and more.
Gifting a personal or professional development experience also reduces the risk of disappointment. According to the ICF Global Coaching Client Study, 99% of individuals and companies who hire a coach are “satisfied or very satisfied” and 96% say they would repeat the process. One of the key benefits of investing in a Gift for the Mind certificate is that the recipient is empowered to pick which expert they would like to work with, including their area of expertise and the timing. The experts include life coaches, parent and relationship coaches, career coaches, well-being specialists (who help with anxiety, eating disorders, health, sobriety, etc.), business and mindset mentors.
Companies can purchase these gift certificates for staff recognition or employee reward programs as well as individuals who simply want to support the personal and professional development of their loved ones while letting them choose the expert that they want to work with. The Gift for the Mind concept was born in London but the experts are from all over the world. The gift certificates are digital and can therefore be sent to recipients anywhere around the globe.
Additionally, in a world where consumer habits drive climate change, especially during the gifting season (in the UK alone, according to the GWP group, an extra 30% of rubbish is produced and discarded at that time of the year, compared with the rest of the year!), choosing a non-materialistic gift is an eco-friendly alternative and a commitment to a cleaner planet.
Now is the time to step away from the consumption habits society has created and shift our approach to gifting by supporting the people we care about more meaningfully. Investing in their personal and professional growth journey is a unique experience that gives them invaluable insights to enhance their well-being and happiness.
Featured Photo by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash
