Sometimes, the smallest things go farthest. Have you ever had someone do something small for you on a hard day? Hold a door open when you have your hands full. Offer to make you a cuppa just because they were making one. Someone giving you thanks for helping them. Nothing huge, yet it matters.
World Kindness Day, on 13 November, is a reminder to be kind to each other, yourself and the planet, and that we don’t have to do things on an enormous scale to be kind. Stay Kind encourages us to think about kindness as something we can intentionally practice and spread through our communities.
The interesting thing about kindness is that it rarely stops with the person who receives it. This stuff can travel! Imagine getting to work tired and distracted by what happened before you walked in. A colleague notices and brings you a cuppa. It’s a small gesture, but maybe you feel a little less alone. Later that morning, you are a little more patient with someone who is frustrated at reception. They then leave feeling heard rather than dismissed. On their way home, they are a little more patient with their child. Then that child is kinder to someone at school the next day. That colleague who made the coffee will probably never know how far their kindness travelled.
Research suggests that those small acts of kindness may matter more than we realise. The KIND Challenge was an international randomised controlled trial with more than 4,000 people from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States that explored whether intentionally performing acts of kindness (at least one a week for four weeks) could reduce loneliness and social isolation and improve mental health and connection within communities. Guess what? The research found that small acts of kindness can reduce loneliness, social isolation, and social anxiety, and promote neighbourhood relationships.¹
So, maybe kindness really does travel further and in more than one direction. Can you imagine how this would impact rural and remote communities? Those everyday acts of kindness can become part of what holds a workplace together when stress and emotions are high. It could be checking in on a nurse who had a difficult shift, sitting with admin who just dealt with a challenging phone call, asking the new staff member to lunch, or thanking the cleaner who quietly keeps the clinic running. Perhaps it’s sending a text to a colleague working hundreds of kilometres away who you know is having a tough time.
Kindness doesn’t require clinical qualifications. It doesn’t even need a wellbeing program, or a policy and procedures document. It doesn’t even need a lot of time. Sometimes, it’s just noticing another human being.
Kindness isn’t about ignoring poor behaviour, avoiding difficult conversations, or continually putting other people’s needs ahead of your own. Boundaries and kindness can, and should, exist together. We can be kind to others without forgetting ourselves.
Maybe one of the people deserving a little kindness this week is you. Notice how you speak to yourself after a mistake or the expectations you place on yourself when you are tired. Would you talk to someone you care about the same way?
This World Kindness Day, try one small experiment. Do one deliberately kind thing, without telling anyone else, without expecting anything in return, and then notice. Send a message to someone who you know is having a tough time. Make that cuppa. Give a compliment. Tell someone what they mean to you. Then, let it go.
You may never know what happens next. Because kindness doesn’t always need to be centre stage. Sometimes it just passes quietly from one person to another, travelling through workplaces, families, and communities.
One conversation.
One gesture.
One person at a time.
Kindness travels further than you think.
If you want some more ideas for putting kindness into action, have a look at Stay Kind.
Until next time, stay brave, curious and kind,
MC Mandile (she/her)
Senior Psychologist, Mental Health and Wellbeing
- Lim, M. H., Hennessey, A., Qualter, P., Smith, B. J., Thurston, L., Eres, R., & Holt-Lunstad, J. (2025). The KIND Challenge community intervention to reduce loneliness and social isolation, improve mental health, and neighbourhood relationships: An international randomised controlled trial. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 60, 931–942. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39158741/
