Donna Thistlethwaite is a Brisbane-based speaker and trainer specialising in mental health and resilience. She is an accredited Mental Health First Aid Instructor and Resilience at Work Facilitator with a passion for suicide prevention and for helping individuals, teams and organisations to THRIVE. You can find out about her next Mental Health First Aid courses here.

1. How To Create A Positive
Ripple Effect At Work

2. Our family has visited the Woodford Folk Festival every
second year for close to a decade and a half. It’s one of
the highlights of my life because of the incredible
musicians it attracts, the street art which is always a
feast for the eyes, and the spiritual element associated
with the program and the connection to land.

3. Every time we visit I find myself wishing that Woodford
could be expanded beyond the property’s boundaries …
that the energy and attitude of the place and the patrons
could exist in the non-Woodford world. There is always an
air of kindness at Woodford, whether it’s the smiles
people exchange as they move through the site, the
friendly chats in the occasional line or the neighbouring
campers offering to pick up ice for you when they get
theirs.

4. Last Woodford I had an experience that I think
encapsulates its essence. Late on New Years Eve a cool
breeze blew in and rather than go back to our tent for
an outfit change, I visited one of the stalls to look for
a garment that would keep me warm and serve as a
Woodford keepsake. I found the perfect piece for $45,
only to find that the stall holder didn’t take card,
which was all I had with me.

5. Rather than sending me on my way, the woman looked at
me with kindness in her eyes and said “It’s okay, just take
it, you can come back tomorrow and pay me”. This simple
act of kindness brought me so much joy and reinforced my
desire to live in a world where kindness is the norm rather
than the exception.

6. This Friday, 13 November 2020, is World Kindness Day. Like
many, you may not have known that there was such a day
and I wonder if there’s other things that many may not
know about kindness, for example:
Kindness is not only good for the person on the receiving
end of our efforts, it has amazing health and wellbeing
benefits for you, the giver? Research has proven a
phenomenon called ‘Helpers High’, a chemical reaction
that happens in our brain when we do something for
someone else. Our brain releases happy hormones such as
dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin which also counter the
effects of cortisol, the stress hormone.

7. Emory University found that the same parts of our brain
have been shown to activate when we think of doing
something for someone else as when we think about
experiencing rewards and pleasure.

8. Kindness has been shown to increase work and life
satisfaction for the giver of the kindness and the receiver
is almost three times more likely to pay it forward. This
was demonstrated in a Spanish study, involving workers
with a large corporate doing five acts of kindness for
coworkers they selected over a period of four weeks. The
givers experienced benefits including higher levels of
happiness and less depressive symptoms.

9. They also found that kindness (referred to as prosocial
behaviour) was “contagious” with those who received the
acts of kindness showing 278% more prosocial behaviours
than those in a control group. The researchers observed
that the receivers paid the kind deeds forward to someone
other than the giver and concluded that this was “due to a
sense of elevation and desire to participate in an
organisation that was treating them in an ideal way.”
Imagine the ripple effect you could create in your
workplace by introducing some intentional kindness.

10. COMPANY NAME - Donna Thistlethwaite
CONTACT PERSON NAME - Donna Thistlethwaite
POSTAL ADDRESS - Everton Park QLD 4053, Australia
EMAIL ID - Donna@DonnaSpeaks.com.au
PHONE NO. - 0419 120 601
https://donnathistlethwaite.com.au/