Good morning everyone. I was recently at a training course and I learned some powerful things. The power of hand written thank you notes. We had a speaker called Roger Salam. Roger is originally from Bangladesh and he came to the US for higher education. When he first came to the university in the US, a local American couple invited all the new international students for dinner. Everyone had a good time and went home. But Roger wrote a thank you note to the hostess. Guess what, he was the only one invited to the Thanksgiving dinner. Another story Roger shared was  he was traveling to the UK to give a talk. He reached late and he was staying at a bed and breakfast. He went to his room and unpacked. He realized that he had forgotten his shaving kit. In a panic he went to the front desk and asked the young lady if they had any shaving cream and razor. She said they did not. Roger asked if there was a store open where he could buy it. Unfortunately, no store close by was open. But then the young lady told him that since he was tired, she should go back to his room. She told him there was a gas station further down from the bed and breakfast and she would go and buy it for him. She left the items outside his door. Roger used them the next morning and was able to go to his talk. He wrote a thank you note and wanted to drop it off, but her shift was over. So he gave the note to the manager. Next evening, when he came back to the bed and breakfast, the young lady was there. She told him that because of his note, the manager had decided to give her a raise. Roger shared many such stories with us.

So I want to close this post by saying thank you to all my family, friends and acquaintances who read my blog and who are in my life. I will never take your love or friendship for granted. I would like to encourage you to write a thank you note for someone who is in your life or someone who has helped you or provide a service. You will realize the power of a hand written thank you note.