By Marc C. Shaffer

Promptings is a book by Kody Bateman, the founder of a company called SendOutCards. The book’s main premise is to act on impulses as a way to avoid regrets and to create opportunities. So many people have promptings but seldom follow up on them. Some examples of these promptings may be: telling someone you love them, visiting a relative that is sick in the hospital, sending a personal note of gratitude, taking a break, slowing down enough to be thankful. The author founded SendOutCards as a way for many to act on their promptings by making it easy to send greetings cards and gifts to family and friends, building relationships and forging bonds.

I started using SendOutCards in 2020, after I was introduced to the idea by Brenda Perkins, an affiliate with the company. Brenda did more than introduce me to how to use the service as a way to stay close to friends, family and those in my network, she also introduced me to books that could help me personally and professionally. Promptings was one of the initial books she gave me as a gift and I loved it.

The author uses stories to illustrate the significance of acting on your feels – the inner promptings, the inner voice that describes your uniqueness and significance, and the outer promptings, the impulse to reach out in kindness to help those around you.

Some of my favorite takeaways include:

Journal Your Way to Success

The simple act of writing things down will take you better than halfway toward your goal. I do this through my life coaching as well, but reminders are always welcome.

Kody suggests this list of categories for journaling and I’ve adopted them:

Purpose
“I am” statements (present-tense goals and the “whys” behind those goals)
Thoughts/Quotes (see quotes taken from book below)
Ideas
Articles and inspiration and lists of books to read
Lessons/speeches (outlines of speeches, training sessions, and lessons)
Gratitude
Journal entries (collections of stories)

Conceive It, Believe It, Achieve It

The first personal development book I read was “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. It teaches a mindset of abundance vs. a mindset of scarcity. I’ve been surprised over the years to find that others’ successes and failures are often tied to their mindset. One of Napoleon Hill’s famous quotes is that “what the mind of a man can conceive and believe it can achieve.” The author challenges the reader to believe in greatness and to write down your positive beliefs as a way to reinforce those beliefs.

What You Send Out is What You Get Back

The book suggests you be selfless and celebrate the lives of everyone around you and in return, your life will be celebrated. It reminds me of the famous quote by the late Zig Zigler: “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Surprisingly, it is typically in direct proportion to what you give!

I truly enjoy when people reach out to me, for big and little things, and I love celebrating their highlights as well. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to find inspiration to stay better connected to those close to them or those they’d like to get closer to. It reminds you not to just think it but to take action.

I’ve subscribed to SendOutCards long enough to evaluate and know I value the service. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is considering the service. It provides great advice and ideas on how to act on promptings as well as provides several short success stories on how it has worked to benefit others.

The book has several great quotes throughout. I will leave you with some of my favorites:

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Whatever you think today becomes what you are tomorrow. -Napoleon Hill
The secret of achievement is to hold a picture of a successful outcome in mind. -Henry David Thoreau
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. -Herm Albright
There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. -Shakespeare
I must lose myself in action lest I wither in despair. -Arthur Hallam
We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give. -Winston Churchill
I now perceive one immense omission in my psychology. The deepest principal of human nature is the craving to be appreciated. -William James
Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. -John Wesley
In nature, there are neither rewards nor punishments. There are consequences. -Robert Greene Ingersoll
I have found that if you love life, life will love you back. -Arthur Rubinstein
It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues. -Abraham Lincoln
Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones. -Benjamin Franklin
The secret to success is making your vocation your vacation. -Mark Twain
A ship in the harbor is safe but that is not what ships are for. -John A. Shedd
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. -Henry David Thoreau

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Published for the blog on March 2, 2021 by Searcy Financial Services, your Overland Park, Kansas Fee-Only Financial Planner and Investment Manager.