How Small Gestures Make a BIG Impact on Your Relationship

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it’s amazing how small gestures make a BIG impact on your relationship,ย especially with your spouse. like i mention in my e-book (it’s yours for $free.99 ya know), our spouses aren’t mind readers so we need to be vocal about our needs and wants.

How Small Gestures Make a BIG Impact on

at the beginning of the week, we started getting christmas cards (yay!) and we didn’t really have anywhere to put them. we only have a few magnets on our refrigerator that are holding up very important things like my sister’s wedding invitation from june and coupons for tampons. priorities.

i casually said, “oh how i wish we had one of those little card holders we could put on the table to display them. i guess we can rotate them on the fridge with the coupon holder magnet.”

when i came out of our office yesterday, my husband had proudly displayed this with the few cards we’ve received! not only that, but he made it (and don’t ask where the tape measurer is because it may be holding all of this together somehow). hmm how did that ‘coach’ postcard get in there?

small gestures in relationships

the panama post card is from my mom and step dad, where they spent thanksgiving with my grandparents. did you have any idea that is what panama looks like?! i did not.

anyways…this gesture made me feel validated that he does indeed listen to what i say, it showed me he still likes making me smile and as demonstrated from our intense christmas door, he’s really creative.


i wrote most of the above yesterday afternoon and then ran out to get some more boxes to send out our products (more on that in a minute). what i returned home to was a small gesture that had a big impact on me.

if we are buddies on the instagram or facebook…then you already saw this glorious sight but i walked into a clean home with a little christmas card making station all set up!

small gestures table

my jaw literally dropped and i squealed with excitement because i had been saying i couldn’t wait to just relax and spend time on sending out our christmas cards. he again listened to this and instead of just encouraging me to do so, he set this up (with ‘gilmore girls’ queued up) to make me feel extra special.

i asked him how long it took to set all that up and he said about 3-5 minutes. that’s it. 3-5 minutes to make me feel extra special, show he cares and that he was listening. it’s the small gestures that make a big impact on our relationships. we already had everything, so all it cost was 3-5 minutes of his time.

i am still smiling this morning about it and get warm fuzzies that i have such a thoughtful husband. and so you don’t think this is all one sided here folks, while i was out getting more shipping supplies, i bought my husband new dry-erase board markers with a fancy little eraser! fine. his wins but mine still counts!

the point in sharing this is that i was also thinking about him while i was out and about. if you know my husband, you know he loves writing on whiteboards (he even has a video on youtube about how to set yours up). my small gesture of getting him brand-spanking-new markers was a little something that made him feel special and showed him i was thinking of him too.

what can you spend 3-5 minutes doing today to show your partner/spouse/sweetie pie/child/parent/etc. you are thinking of them while making them feel special? consider doing this and see the reaction because it’s worth it.

questions:
1) what thing are thinking about doing for someone you care about today?
2) do you send out holiday cards?
3) are you signed up for my newsletter because those people that are get a special something from me in the mail (yes even those in australia, canada, china, etc) ๐Ÿ™‚


 

ps. interested in public speaking? it’s the last day to get our holiday special which includes my hubs best-selling book, aย DVD and then OUR CD about how i coached him to win the world championship of public speaking! yes, we went into a recording studio together and i totally pretended i was a pop-star.

$5 of your purchase goes to a grant we created to pay for 18-25 year olds to join toastmasters for a year who can’t afford it and we will also cover shipping in the US of A! happy friday!

16 Comments

  1. Melissa Camacho

    December 5, 2014 at 12:11 pm

    It’s SO the little things that have the biggest impact… both good and bad really. but it’s so great that your husband is doing GOOD little things. SO sweet! I’m so happy for you! We send Christmas cards too, and Josh loves it as much as I do! He loves knowing that our little cards make our families happy. ๐Ÿ™‚ Happy Friday!!
    Melissa Camacho recently posted…T’is the Season to Spread the Love

    • chelsea

      December 5, 2014 at 3:21 pm

      that is also a good point on the good and bad little things certain make an impact, melissa! love that josh enjoys sending christmas cards out too! hope they came out great and happy friday to you too!

  2. Vivien

    December 5, 2014 at 1:58 pm

    Ryan always sets the bar high for all the other guys out there.
    Too bad he has no brothers ๐Ÿ™

    • chelsea

      December 5, 2014 at 3:26 pm

      hah yes he does, vivien! just goes to show that kind and generous guys do exist! his sister is single though ๐Ÿ˜›

  3. Jennifer Haston

    December 5, 2014 at 3:51 pm

    Chelsea! You are so inspiring! It truly is the little things and the big things.. but it does rely on your perspective, eh? For example, my husband does the grocery shopping and I LOATHE it. He likes it but doesn’t love it so its a wonderful thing he does that I think I sometimes take for granted. His love language is acts of service so last week though I didn’t really want to, I changed the light bulbs, did the dishes and the laundry and he was EXTREMELY appreciative, so much so that I felt guilty about not wanting to….
    questions:
    1) what thing are thinking about doing for someone you care about today?
    I am thinking about what to do for Jeremy tonight—
    2) do you send out holiday cards? this year will be the first year-
    3) are you signed up for my newsletter because those people that are get a special something from me in the mail (yes even those in australia, canada, china, etc) :)I think so! ๐Ÿ™‚
    Jennifer Haston recently posted…Make Thanksgiving perpetual

    • chelsea

      December 6, 2014 at 10:41 am

      you are also right that you have to have a certain perspective, jennifer! if you aren’t looking out in both doing and receiving small gestures that make an impact then it won’t be as helpful!

      loved your examples of the various things you did to help your husband last week (those damn dishes never end!) and yay for him taking care of grocery shopping since you loathe it!

      hope your holiday cards turn out marvelous!
      chelsea recently posted…How Small Gestures Make a BIG Impact on Your Relationship

  4. Ashley @ Saving Money in your Twenties

    December 5, 2014 at 3:54 pm

    You guys are too precious! And you’ve now given me a craving for brand new whiteboard markers…
    Ashley @ Saving Money in your Twenties recently posted…Last Night’s Christmas Walk {and a fun survey!}

  5. Amanda Wood

    December 6, 2014 at 7:34 am

    This is great! I love seeing posts like these! I like to pick up Hubs his favorite candy bar if I’m out at the store, or make sure his protein shake cup is washed and ready for his breakfast in the mornings. I also leave him little notes on our message board in the kitchen letting him know how much I really appreciate the things he does for me and our little family.
    Amanda Wood recently posted…Spreading Some Blogger Love

    • chelsea

      December 6, 2014 at 10:42 am

      yay i’m glad you like posts like these amanda! that’s sweet you pick up your hubs favorite candy bars when you’re out and those little things that prepping his protein shake set up is great! i love hearing it!

  6. Ashley Servis

    December 6, 2014 at 1:40 pm

    Hey! I love your card holder. Small gesture are huge in meaning. I love your holiday card station. I just ordered mine. Now I just need to create my holiday letter. I love seeing your posts each week. I’m glad your on my side bar this month!
    Ashley Servis recently posted…Announcement

    • chelsea

      December 7, 2014 at 9:27 am

      yay so excited you just ordered your christmas cards! good luck with the holiday letter. this was the first year we did a longer one and it was hard to fit it all in! love seeing your posts too and thanks again for putting together that giveaway ashley! ๐Ÿ™‚

  7. Emma Lincoln

    December 6, 2014 at 11:55 pm

    Ah, such a good reminder Chelsea! Every single night after work, I walk into our bedroom and the bed is made, and it always makes me feel so happy, because even though we work opposite shifts (GAH!), he still knows that I come home exhausted and I want my bed ready for me ๐Ÿ™‚
    Emma Lincoln recently posted…I’m in The Holidaze

    • chelsea

      December 7, 2014 at 9:28 am

      that is SO sweet about your bed always being made, emma! there is something really nice about crawling into a neat and made bed and i love that he does that for you! hopefully your work schedules will change sooner than later because that sounds tough!

  8. Rebecca Chapman

    December 8, 2014 at 3:26 pm

    Your husband is so creative. And talk about thoughtful with that little card making station. It really is true that sometimes the smallest gestures make the biggest impact.
    Rebecca Chapman recently posted…True Confession: Iโ€™m A Kindle Book Hoarder

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