Support a local business—GoFundMe recently launched a Small Business Relief Initiative to make it easy to support those impacted by the COVID-19Help Main Street! — Buy gift cards to provide critical cash support during the COVID-19 crisis for businesses in your areaDonate to the Flexport Frontlines Responder Fund — getting supplies (masks, gowns, gloves and other critical supplies) to protect medical professionals in hospitals across the world. Donate to the World Health Organization COVID-19 Solidarity Response FundDonate blood—the American Red Cross and America’s Blood Centers announced recently that the US is facing a “severe blood shortage”. With their additional precautions in place, they are encouraging anyone who is healthy and eligible to give blood to make an appointment.If you had the virus and were cured, health officials are collecting plasma from people who have recovered to inject the antibody-rich fluid into patients still fighting the virus.You already donated $5 to Feeding America when you bought this challenge, but donate more if you can. Airbnb announced their global initiative to provide free or subsidized housing for healthcare professionals, relief workers, and first responders. Hosts can opt in to provide relief for workers on the front lines.And when the physical distancing recommendations are lifted:Anonymously cover the check of the young family dining near you at dinner.Fill a trash bag with clothes and give them to a homeless person, or bring them something to eat. Go to the local nursing and retirement home and spend a couple hours with the residentsTip a barista or waitress way more than your bill dictates.Visit parts of your community thrumming with people— the local community center, library, a farmer’s market, etc.—and start a conversation with a stranger at each place. A study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology by a team of behavioral psychologists confirmed their hypothesis that striking up a conversation with a stranger has positive effects on the mood and wellbeing of the initiator. What they didn’t expect to find was that the person with whom the conversation was initiated was equally positively impacted.Help the mom at the grocery store pushing a stroller with one hand and carrying a toddler with the other carry her groceries to her car. Gazzaley said it: “Let’s be creative in finding new ways to come together.” We are calling on you today. We are calling on you to serve. Step out of your own little world, and step into the one we all share. Today. Tomorrow. For as long as you are alive. Additional Resources:Meditations by Marcus Aurelius — 7.74, 8.34How to help others in the COVID-19 crisisStaying Safe and Helping Others During COVID-19Doing Good Better by Will MacAskillHow To Do The Most Good: An Interview With Will MacAskillDoing Good Is Simple: Making a Difference Right Where You Are by Chris MarlowThe Power of Serving Others: You Can Start Where You Are by Gary MorschLovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness by Sharon SalzbergGive and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam GrantHack Your Happiness: How doing favors for others can make you happier80,000 Hours: Find a fulfilling career that does good by Benjamin ToddGiving Is Living by Marnie Howard
Additional Resources:Amor Fati: Learning To Love And Accept Everything That HappensAccepting The Little Facts of LifeLet Us Argue With Reality No MoreThe No Complaining Rule by Jon GordonBe Grateful for Everything—Even the Tough StuffEvery Day Is A ThanksgivingA Complaint Free World by Will BowenA Stoic Response to ComplainingDon't Complain or BlameStop Your Complaining: From Grumbling to Gratitude by Ronnie MartinThe Science of Happiness: Why complaining is literally killing you by Steven PartonHow Complaining Rewires Your Brain for Negativity by Travis BradberryComplaining Is Terrible for You, According to Science by Jessica
Additional Resources:Letters From A Stoic, 91: On the Lessons To Be Drawn From the Burning of LyonsLetters From A Stoic, 98: On the Fickleness of FortuneHow to Cover an Emergency Even When You’re Scraping by Tim StobierskiGet Your Household Ready for CoronavirusCritical preparedness, readiness and response actions for COVID-19Remember: You Don’t Control What Happens, You Control How You Respond
Additional Resources:Trim - automated service to cut recurring expensesOn Freedom by Epictetus, Discourses, 4.1Digit - app that will “analyze your income and spending, and find money it can safely set aside for you”I've been using the personal-finance app Digit for nearly 3 years, and it's helped me save $20,000 by Jackie Lam from Business InsiderLetters From A Stoic, 17: On Philosophy and RichesLetters From A Stoic, 110: On True and False RichesIt’s About The Paring DownCutting Off Those Recurring Charges You Forgot About by Ron LieberCutting Out These 25 Expenses Will Save You $14,992.52 a Year by John Csiszar10 Expenses Destroying Your Budget by Susannah SniderEssentialism by Greg McKeownThe Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeownSimple Matters: Living with Less and Ending Up with More by Erin BoyleWealthy, Successful People Who Choose Less over More: 10 Real-Life Stories of Minimalists by Melissa Burns
Additional Resources:Letters From A Stoic, 9: On Philosophy and FriendshipThe Letters PageThe Lost Art of Letter Writing by Eavan BolandHow to Write Letters: A 19th-Century Guide to the Lost Art of Epistolary Etiquette by Maria PopovaEight Or Nine Wise Words About Letter-Writing by Lewis CarrollThe Forever Letter: Writing What We Believe For Those We Love by Elana ZaimanThe Art of the Personal Letter: A Guide to Connecting Through the Written Word by Margaret ShepherdTo the Letter: A Celebration of the Lost Art of Letter Writing by Simon GarfieldLetters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience by Shaun Usher
Additional Resources:13 Life-Changing Habits To Try And Do Every Single DayHave Better Days With Marcus Aurelius' Daily RoutineThe Most Important Thing You Can Do Each DayWhy The Stoics Believed in the Power of Routine28 Ways to Find the Stillness You Need to Thrive
