Coming Together to Make the World a Million Times Better

When Mike was a teenager, his brothers and sisters were placed in an orphanage. He moved away to live with his father, but he visited his siblings whenever he could. While Mike always tried to do something special during the time they spent together, he never really knew what his brothers and sisters thought of him or his visits with them.

But many years later, Mike received a letter in the mail. He opened it to find a hand-written note from his youngest sister. In that note, she told Mike how much she appreciated his kindness during one of his visits, when he took her out to choose a Christmas tree. She said it was the first time anyone had ever taken her to pick out a tree, and how after all this time she had never forgotten how wonderful she had felt that day.

That note healed years of self-doubt Mike had carried with him since he was a youth. He was so moved by his sister’s note he could not help but reread it many, many times.

But then one day, Mike realized there was tremendous power in this simple note, and he decided it would be a good idea to share the story of his sister’s note with other people. First he told the story in a newspaper article. Later, he wrote a book called The Note. Mike was encouraged by the response he received from the public.

But one day, Mike woke up and thought, “If one simple hand-written note can change my life so profoundly, what if I could inspire one million people to write a note of appreciation? It could make the world a million times better.”

And that, in a nutshell, is the essence of Mike’s latest creation:

The Note Project

The Note Project is a global movement to make the world a million times better by inspiring 1 million people to write a note of appreciation to someone who made a difference in their lives. It is free to join AND because Mike is so passionate about writing notes of appreciation, a portion of all proceeds from the sale of his book The Note on The Note Project website goes to charities that support literacy projects around the world.

Mike’s vision for how The Note Project will change the world is pretty inspiring. He says, “Everyone has the power to make the world a million times better. And it’s so simple. Just think of all the people who have made a difference in your life, whether friends, family members, neighbors, teachers, employers, co-workers, old classmates. Think of the good times you had together or the nice things they did for you…Maybe they cheered you up when you were sad or made you feel special when you were questioning your self-worth…Whatever it was, a simple note of appreciation from you could make their day, their week, and maybe even their whole year!”