7 Holiday Gift Ideas That You Can’t Buy #PricelessGift

Published in

FloraMind

7 min readDec 24, 2018

The act of giving and receiving a gift is priceless. This is especially true when the interaction is with someone we care about and love. There are very few things that feel better than receiving a well thought out gift.

Today, it feels like we’re living in a highly materialistic society where we’re excessively focused on the branding, pricing, and exclusivity behind gifts. We might internally ask questions like, “How much was it? Were they being cheap? Did they get the deal on Black Friday?” But, why does any of this even matter? I believe focusing on material items is slowly pushing us away from what really matters; gifts that go beyond a price tag.

At FloraMind, we’re starting a campaign called #PricelessGift to encourage everyone to think about gifts for the holidays that you can’t find at Walmart or Amazon. We hope this inspires your outlook for the holidays and beyond.

Spend quality time with them

“The greatest gift you can give someone is your time because when you give your time, you are giving a portion of your life that you will never get back.” — Anonymous

Quality time is something so many of us crave — and usually goes a much longer way than anything you can ever buy. Most of us are aware of this, so we appreciate when others give us their time. You can go to a park together, a long walk, watch a movie, talk about your goals, ambitions. This is also a great opportunity to ask them about the challenges and troubles they might be facing in their lives. The most crucial part about spending quality time with them is being fully present. Just because you are present physically doesn’t mean you are mentally and emotionally there. Be there.

Be fully present by being in the moment

“The present moment is the only moment available to us and it is the door to all other moments.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

At this time of the year, we’re already in the same room with many of our loved ones. We get caught up in the awesome and fun holiday parties and celebrations, exchanging gifts and eating good food. But are we really there? I struggle with this sometimes as well. So I urge you to try really hard to be genuine and fully present wherever you are. Drop the phone and practice being mindful :). Turn off all of your notifications. Focus on the current moment. It will be so rewarding for you and for them. This is one of the gifts that many people wish for but don’t receive. Your loved ones will appreciate your full presence.

Be supportive of their dreams: their business, blog, podcast, art, etc.

It baffles me how many people will support big celebrities: buy their album, show up to their grand openings, share their products, etc…but we rarely support our close friends and family’s businesses! I saw a meme recently that said instead of baby showers, we should throw business showers to celebrate our friends starting a new journey, figuring out how to support them, connect them, empower them. I totally agree with this. After all, a startup or new business is similar to a baby in so many ways.

Here’s a few things you can do to support their dreams:

Actually understand what their doing, why they started it, and why it matters to them
Ask them directly how you can help them
Share it on your social media (if it’s shareable, like blogs/podcasts/videos, etc.) consistently
Follow their project’s social media, and like/comment on their posts
Attend their events when they have them
Connect them with people who may help or purchase their product!
Give them hope!!! They need this so much.

If one of your loved ones started working on a project, chasing their dreams, they are taking massive risk and their journey can get very dark and bumpy. They need your support. Tell them how much you appreciate their work, tell them how much you’re proud of them, and be there even when they don’t call on you. It would mean the world for them.

Give a genuine, warm hug

Some people are huggers, others are not. I totally get this. But hey, there’s actually science behind hugs! Based on MindBodyGreen, “Hugs can instantly boost oxytocin levels, which heal feelings of loneliness, isolation, and anger. Holding a hug for an extended time lifts one’s serotonin levels, elevating mood and creating happiness.”

Only when they are REAL hugs, that can be a little long (20 seconds recommended), and coming straight from your heart!

Create a piece of art (or anything original!)

Creating something original gives the message that you care a lot about someone and took the time to create something you thought they would totally love. If it’s a piece of art, it may not come out as nice as this one, perhaps a little ugly, or not so perfect, but they will appreciate your thoughtfulness and the time you took to do it. People can regift the blender you bought them, but they can never regift your painting of their favorite city.

Write a thoughtful note

Or 365 of them! Hand-written notes are slowly becoming less and less common, but are always greatly appreciated.

This beautiful example on the left I found in a mental health support group on Facebook where a mother shared what her son gave her for Christmas. I felt very warm seeing it. I thought for a few seconds about the last time I personally received a hand-written note, and I honestly can’t recall. It kind of sucks, actually. If you’re a friend reading this, now you know what to get me! :D Writing a thoughtful note(s) can truly go a long way —and remember to be creative with it!

Give the gift of feedback

Giving feedback is one of the greatest gifts you can give someone, especially if it’s constructive criticism — or what I like to call growth feedback. You can essentially give feedback to any relationship or situation you are in — whether it’s an intimate partner, a close friend, co-worker, mentee or mentor, etcetera. You can gift them feedback on interactions you’ve had together, their communication skills, projects they’re working on, personal goals they’ve set or accomplishments they’ve made.

Giving feedback, especially constructive criticism, can be hard only if we don’t remember the end-goal or have wrong intentions.

The end-goal should always be improvement and betterment. When we keep this in mind, it should be easier to deliver feedback to anyone. We need more positive feedback, but it’s also important to give the feedback that will help them grow. At FloraMind, we call this glow and grow. Glow is the positive feedback about what someone has done really well and deserves recognition. Grow is the constructive criticism that will help them improve and become better. And there’s always room for improvement! :)

Other gift ideas that you can spend $ on, but are a little less traditional :)

If you are thinking, “yeah, these are all really great ideas and I’ll implement a few, but I actually do want to buy something for my friends / fam…” then I got you! Here are some ideas for gifts that are a little creative:

Give them a monetary gift card to a platform like KIVA, a platform that lets you lend money to low-income entrepreneurs or students from across the world, or DonorChoose a platform that allows you to donate directly to public school classroom projects
Buy them access to meditation apps HeadSpace or Calm so they have all the meditation content they can dream of
Buy them tickets to a conference in something they may be interested in (from personal development to entrepreneurship, tech, religion, etc.)
Buy them a plane ticket to a destination of their choice (somewhere you can go together or somewhere they can go alone)
Buy them an audiobook or a print copy of a book like Becoming By Michelle Obama or Solve For Happy by Mo Gawdat
Buy them a gym/boxing membership for a month or two (this can be very encouraging, especially if they’ve been telling you they want to go)

Have more suggestions for #PricelessGift (s)? Please drop them below!

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Thank you for taking the time to read and share this with others. If you’re thinking, “how can I give this author a #PricelessGift?”…please just make it into action, share it, and pay it forward! And LEAVE SOME CLAPS!

Happy holidays, wishing you all a warm and joyful season.

Love and peace!

Mahmoud