What’s your ideal gift?
For my last episode of this year I wanted to reflect a little on gifting. It’s gift-giving season and I know that my attitude towards what makes a great gift has certainly changed over the years, I’ll bet yours has as well. Whether it’s one you give or one you receive, what would make it stand out for you. It’s a gift to me that you’re tuning in to my podcast, so thank you. You’re what makes this worthwhile.
Listen to this new 8-minute episode for my musings on this topic. Sorry if it gets a little deep at times, but there are also a few laughs in there, too.
If you have any questions about anything in this, or any of my podcasts, or have a suggestion for a topic or guest, please reach out directly to me at [email protected] or visit my website Podcast.AlanBerg.com
Please be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave a review (thanks, it really does make a difference). If you want to get notifications of new episodes and upcoming workshops and webinars, you can sign up at www.ConnectWithAlanBerg.com
– What’s your ideal gift? Listen to this episode and find out.
Hi, it’s Alan Berg, welcome back to another episode of the “Wedding Business Solutions” podcast. This is my last podcast of 2023, and I like to do it the end of the year, just something kind of on a reflection. And I was thinking, well, it’s the holidays for those who celebrate. It’s the third day of Christmas that this is coming out. If you’re listening to it later, it’s later. And whatever holiday you do or don’t celebrate, it is that time of the year, and it’s a gift-giving time.
For me, my favorite thing is to give gifts, not necessarily to get, and it’s because I’m at a, maybe call it an enviable position, or an enviable age, I dunno if it’s an enviable age, a enviable position where I have everything I need. I have pretty much everything I want, if not everything I want. ‘Cause I don’t want any extravagant things anymore. I think as I got older, they got less and less extravagant because I get a little bit more, I don’t know, fiscally conservative maybe on that, just thinking about my money and I want it to last longer. Do I really need that other fill-in-the-blank?
So, you know, what is the ideal gift? And for me, the ideal gift is my health. If I can have my health, then I’m of use to my family and my clients, and my friends, and everybody else. If I don’t have that, I’m not. So for me, the best gift is to keep myself healthy because then I’m good for other people. That can get a little deep there for you. And those of you that have read my book, “Your Attitude For Success,” you know that I’ve had some health issues over the years, some of which have been online, some of which have not been online. I’m sure that really applies to a lot of us, that a lot of what we do, we don’t post online ’cause it’s more personal or it’s not relevant.
You know, my whole thing is we all carry a victim card, and I actually had those made, so they look kind of like a playing card, but they say victim on it, and we choose whether to put it away or whether to keep it. Keep it out and wear it on our forehead and let everybody say, hey, woe is me. We all know people that have all kinds of just bad stuff going on in their life, and that they still have a smile on their face, and they still have a hello for you.
So that’s a whole side discussion there. But let’s talk about gifts. The best thing with a gift is when it’s personal. When it’s something that you know the other person will value. When you know that, in the case of my wife and I, we’ve stopped celebrating the Hallmark holidays. So Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day and things like that. We want to celebrate any day. And what that means is not that we get give gifts every day, but it means if my wife buys me something on a Tuesday, and there’s no significance to that day, it means she was thinking about me at a time when no external source said that she should. And if I buy her something on a Thursday, it’s the same thing.
Or if I’m on a trip and I get her something, I actually was just in Ireland and the UK, and when I was walking around Dublin, I went into a store, and I saw something that I thought she would like, I saw a few things, not expensive. And that was the point is it wasn’t about how much but the reaction that I got from her was, oh my gosh, I love this. And it might’ve been six euros, or seven euros or something like that. It wasn’t a lot of money for it, but it was the fact that it was something that I knew she would like. And the fact that I was thinking about her at a time when I didn’t have to, it’s not about the price.
We recently traveled to Scotland and London. We didn’t get to go in 2020 because of COVID. We got to go. And when we are, if those of you who know Edinburgh, we were walking the Royal Mile, which is this road that goes from Holyrood Palace up to Edinburgh Castle. And I saw her looking at these Harris tweed purses, and she didn’t buy one. She went at many stores, she looked at different ones, didn’t buy it. And the next day I said, how come you didn’t buy one? She goes, oh, I don’t know. And I said, come on, we’re going back. And we drove over and I dropped her off and I circled around until she went and she bought one. It’s not about whether she’ll use it or how much, but when she sees it, it’s a memory of that trip. And that’s why a gift like that is more meaningful.
So I remember when I was working for a company and I would get bonuses. Anytime I got a bonus, my favorite thing to do was to buy something for my wife and each of my sons. And each of them were different. It wasn’t a generic gift. It was okay. Now what would she like? What would they like? So for my younger son, when I got him a guitar one time, and he just, wow, crazy. We have guitars. But there was something about that particular one that meant something to him. And the fact that I knew that he wanted that one in that color, right, and he didn’t think he was getting it, that was a better gift. So the personalization is what makes a difference. It shows people that you know them, you understand what they like.
And again, it isn’t about the money, it’s about the thought. I know they say it’s the thought that counts, but it really is. Give you another story. When my mom passed, my wife asked my dad if she could have this little paring knife that my mom always used. I wouldn’t even know how long she had it. Could barely read the brand anymore on it was so worn, worn away. And since my dad doesn’t cook, he reheats. He said, sure, you can have it. And my wife just wanted it in the kitchen. She just wanted it there, and to use it, and just think of my mom and, you know, them in the kitchen together, right? That that’s what you wanted to think of.
So I went, I wanted to see, well, do they still make those? Can I get more of that type? And yes, they do. And I found it on Amazon, of course, and I ordered her a set of three small paring knives from the same company. Well, since we all share the same Amazon account, I was thinking it was going to be a surprise; she saw that it was coming because she was looking to see when something else would be delivered. And the reaction was like, “Oh my gosh, you found me those knives, it was like $26 for these knives.” And you would’ve thought that I gave her diamonds, because she was like, “Oh my God, oh, I love these.” And then another quick funny story on that, she was telling our friends about these knives, and how much she loves these knives and how they never ever go dull.
And I looked at her and I said, you do know that I sharpened them, don’t you? And she didn’t, she never saw me sharpening them. She thought they never went dull. So even better gift, I shouldn’t have told her that I sharpened them. She thought these would the perpetually sharp knives. But that $26 gift meant more than if I had spent many times that on something else that I thought, would be a good gift. But that didn’t have that same meaning.
So at gifting time of the year, when you’re giving gifts to people, really the the thought means more. Etsy is a great place for getting personalized gifts and things like that. Local craftspeople, something that has meaning to the person really isn’t about how much you spent, but when they see the thought that went into it, that matters more. And that’s the same with me, with my health. The fact that I’m putting my health first is a gift that I’m giving to my family, my friends, and my clients. Because without my health, or as my friend Andy Eon, who passed a few years ago said, when you’re healthy, you have 100 problems.
And when you’re not, you only have one. So take care of that, then I can take care of everybody else. So sorry if this got a little deep. I know there’s some funny in there too. But at the end of the year, thank you so much for listening to the podcast. Please do make suggestions. Send me an email to [email protected]. Send me some suggestions. It’s your suggestions that make this more personal for you. And it’s a gift for me that you’re listening. Thanks so much.
I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is [email protected]. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.
Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:
- Apple Podcast:
- YouTube: www.WeddingBusinessSolutionsPodcast.tv
- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3sGsuB8
- Stitcher:
- Google Podcast:
- iHeart Radio: https://ihr.fm/31C9Mic
- Pandora:
©2023 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com
