The act of giving has long been considered as a way to show people your care and thoughtfulness, and to many, it can be a source of joy for both the sender and receiver. Whether you’re sending one to a loved one during their birthday, preparing your holiday gifts, or sending someone a token of appreciation, there are tons of opportunities to give gifts. However, regardless of the situation, one thing is for sure: It is hard to find the perfect gift.
By now, you might be all too familiar with people telling you that they do not want or need anything this year, leaving you with no idea where to begin when shopping. While you can now search for gifts online to avoid the Christmas traffic and open up your options, it is still challenging to think of what to give, more so if you are not well-acquainted with the receiver.
With all that said, there are ways for you to come up with the perfect gift. Go through a few or all of these steps to generate viable ideas, and surely, you will be able to think of something to give!
Put Yourself in their Shoes
People will often say they do not need anything when you ask them, so the best way to approach this is to put yourself in their shoes. Think about what your sibling may need in school, or what a relative might need as a busy businessman. Try to broaden your perspective by thinking on a more general level, then narrow down your options after.
Think of Your Message
Gifts can help build your relationship with a person, so one way to go about it is to start by thinking of what you want to convey to your receiver. For example, do you want to show appreciation to a friend who sticks by your side? Or perhaps tell a loved one to practice self-care more often? What your gift communicates can have an impact on how the receiver takes it, so ask yourself what you want to tell this person, then move on to browse through gifts online to think about what can convey that message.
Give an Experience
Gifts do not necessarily have to be concrete objects, so why not give something more unique–that is, an experience? Prepare a pamper session, buy tickets to a concert or play, bring them on a road trip, let them try something new and daring. While experiences are more abstract and, therefore, cannot be kept tangibly, they can help create lasting and irreplaceable memories.
Add a Personal Touch
Whenever you are giving a gift, no matter what the occasion or who the receiver may be, it never hurts to add a personal touch. It can be as simple as writing a letter to the person or as personal as making the gift yourself. Doing this will show how much you appreciate the receiver as your effort will shine through. At the same time, it helps you communicate a bit of yourself to a person, allowing them to get to know you better, albeit indirectly.
Gift-giving can be one of the most exciting things to do for anyone, but to say that finding the perfect gift is difficult is an understatement. With virtually millions of things that you can possibly give, it can sometimes seem impossible to narrow it down to a single idea. However, nothing is impossible if you put your mind into it, so with some thinking and planning, you should be able to come up with the perfect idea.
