The Gift Of...Guilt

I work with a lot of people that suffer from "gift guilt". This is the sad disease that prevents the recipient from letting go of a bad gift because they are afraid that the gift giver will want to "See" this macramé pot holder the next time they breeze through town in five years. This can take me into another area about letting go, but we’ll save that for another time. If you have a hard time with the gifts you’ve received and HATE, let’s stop this vicious circle and make some changes.

1- Lead by example – give practical gifts to your friends and family. Do they drive a lot? Give them a gift certificate of gas! They will appreciate this on the next commute. Drink a lot of coffee? Give them a gift certificate from Starbucks. Not only will they use these things, they may start reciprocating in turn.

2- Find out what they want! I recommend that clients use the wish list on Amazon where they can find things they truly want and keep on ongoing list. It's sort of like a wedding gift registry. Plus this is something they keep adding to all year round. Your friends and family can use this for every occasion.

3- Stop the madness. Do they even want gifts? Maybe they have everything they could possibly want and don't need another pair of gloves or whatever. But maybe they have a favorite charity or cause that they support. You could give money to their charity or volunteer with them at their next event. Give the gift of "You" and your undivided attention.