July 2026 Kindness Calendar
Ideas for practicing kindness daily
You might wonder what a “kindness calendar” is or how it’s remotely applicable to practicing leadership. Empathy and kindness are important qualities for a strong, effective leader: recognizing the humanity of those who look to you is essential, as is practicing kindness to yourself and to others.
A leader who doesn’t understand the strengths and limitations of their people is going to overwork them sometimes and bore them other times. Demonstrating that, following a time of overwork, they get the chance to recover—instead of being rewarded by an even bigger pile of work—builds trust. Providing challenges when the work is slow builds engagement and cohesion. Treating people empathetically when their aging parents are ill or their child needs help or they themselves are ailing: this demonstrates that you care about the needs of the individuals around you. And practicing kind, empathetic behavior is one of the best investments any leader can make.
July 27: Sit by water and listen to its rhythm. Match your breath to it.
As I put together the Kindness Calendar each month, I think of a few themes that guide the suggestions. Since this is the month of Canada Day (July 1) and U.S. Independence Day (July 4), my first theme is Celebration! From family picnics to community-wide fireworks shows, we love to celebrate this month. And the Kindness Calendar offers many smaller celebrations this month, even taking 5 minutes to just sit and feel proud of yourself… because you’re pretty amazing, you know!
July 3: Look for the light in someone’s face when they’re happy.
Our second theme is water: being on the water, in the water, beside the water. Water can cool us, quench our thirst, and wash us clean. Even if you aren’t near a lake or river, you can bring a bit of water’s refreshment through a shower or bath or even an ice cold glass of water. One of my favorite things in the world is to go to the pool and float on my back for five minutes or even longer. You don’t feel gravity any more; the water holds you and supports you, and you can feel your tensions seep out through your pores to be carried away.
The final theme for July is things that sparkle and twinkle and glimmer: fireworks and sparklers, of course, but also twinkling eyes, radiant expressions, or even the flame of one small candle.
July 15: Be the person who says the kind thing at the right time.