The Note was winner of a Gold Medal as the Best Gift Book in the 2011 Living Now Book Awards. The Living Now Book Awards celebrate the innovation and creativity of newly published books that help readers attain healthier, more fulfilling, and productive lives. The Note was recognized as the best book in the Gift/Specialty/Keepsake category. "It's a very special book," said Jim Barnes, Managing Editor & Awards Director at Independent Publisher, which sponsors the awards.

A Book About the Power of Appreciation

The Note is a book about the power of appreciation and how a simple note of appreciation can change a person's life. This is the book and the story that inspired the Note Project, a global movement to make the world a better place by encouraging people to write more notes of appreciation, and by supporting literacy projects around the world.

The first half of the book focuses on the story behind a note of appreciation that the author received from his youngest sister. Separated from his siblings due to their parents' divorce, the author never knew what his brothers and sisters thought of his annual visits and of his attempts to do something special on those visits -- until one day many years later when he received a note from his youngest sister thanking him for one of those visits and the special memories they gave her. The story behind the note will break your heart, but by the time you finish reading, your heart will be mended and filled with warmth.

The second half of the book explores the importance of appreciation, why people don't do it (and why they should!), and provides very practical step-by-step advice on how to write a heartfelt note of appreciation -- all based on the author's experience from teaching workshops on writing notes of appreciation. The book also includes helpful examples of short but meaningful notes of appreciation to help readers with their own notes, and to inspire people to make appreciation a part of their lives.

The powerful and ultimately uplifting message of The Note is that a simple note of appreciation can change a person's life. Equally important, writing a note of appreciation can change your life. The positive feelings you create by sharing appreciation will ripple outwards to your family and friends, and to their family and friends, and so on, like ever-expanding ripples across the global pond.