Last Updated on October 24, 2022
Wondering why is it important to be kind to others?
Wonder no more.
In this post, let’s look at how kindness geared up a person for success. We’ll also explore the reasons you want to be kind to others.
The goal is to help you understand the power of kindness — its importance and the reasons you want to be kind to others. This way, when you’re showing kindness to others, you can confidently proclaim you’re doing something worthwhile.
A story on why is it important to be kind to others
Below is a story involving the man who made the world-famous Hershey’s chocolates, Milton Hershey. Despite failures, he blossomed.
And it was because of kindness.
Hopefully, his story can encourage you to stop asking: “Why is it important to be kind to others?”
Table of Contents
Life: Boring but okay
Born on the 13th of September in 1857, Milton Hershey lived a fine life. His days weren’t eventful. But they weren’t bad.
His father, Henry, wasn’t a reliable provider and sometimes didn’t remember his own family. So Milton walked through life with a limited education — no formal schooling after 4th grade.
He wasn’t expected to attend school. Something was expected from him, though. And that was to help with his family’s farm.
Gladly, Milton helped out. He also approached a local printer of a German-English newspaper, Sam Ernst, and became that man’s apprentice.
Failure after failure
Albeit an honorable employer, Sam Ernst had a hot temper.
One time, Milton dropped a hat into a machine by accident. And right then and there, Sam Ernst didn’t bat an eye and pronounced Milton’s action fireable. And so Milton was sent home.
From that fireable offense, Milton pursued other positions. Much to his dismay, though, he failed miserably — and did so twice. He may be hardworking. However, his dreams and the reality didn’t walk the same path.
Together with an entire town, he starts anew
Because he didn’t like to continue failing, Milton called it quits and stopped applying to jobs. And while most family members would express disappointment over a kin’s failures, Milton’s family played the cards differently.
Instead of looking down on him, his mother and aunt showed him kindness. The two women supported him and motivated him to embark on a path of his own.
So he did. With confidence, he didn’t bother working for others. Instead, he ventured into running a business on his own.
Together with the townspeople of Hershey, Pennsylvania, he established a business empire and earned a name as the first mass producer of chocolates. Because of his history of failures, he was aware he could run the empire into the ground.
However, because of the kind acts extended to him by his family and the people of Hershey, he didn’t worry too much. And through years of perseverance and trial and error, the Hershey Chocolate Company came to life!
8 reasons you want to be kind to others
See the positive effects of kindness on Milton Hershey?
If his family members weren’t kind to him, his fate would’ve been different — and no chocolate.
Here are more reasons to be kind to others:
1. Makes you healthy
A link between kindness and affiliative behavior (or relationship-building behavior) exists. And research shows, engaging in such behavior reduces the negative effects of stress¹ on a person’s emotional functioning.
The more a person helps others, the more functional they are emotionally. They’re empathetic and the epitome of emotional intelligence.
Next to stress-related benefits, here are more discussions on why kindness is good for your health:
- Kindness soothes anxiety – Being kind to others makes you less nervous around them.
- Kindness affects your heart’s chemical balance – Out goes the hormone, oxytocin, if you show kindness to others. And oxytocin is a cardioprotective hormone.
- Kindness (indirectly) reduces inflammation – Oxytocin also reduces inflammation. Cancer, diabetes, and obesity are but three diseases inflammation causes.
2. Increases happiness
One of those happy people? Want to become even happier? Then be kind to others.
According to a study, happy people become even happier through kindness².
That’s because they don’t engage in deep and brooding thoughts or think more than necessary. And they don’t rationalize whether someone deserves an act of kindness from them.
These happy people? They know better than to judge others.
Instead, they just go out there and shower kindness to every soul they see.
3. Makes you outstanding
You need to admit this harsh reality: A primary reason lots of people are kind and nice to others is that they want or need something from them. If they don’t want anything, they’re likely to treat others without a hint of kindness.
So refer to this harsh reality and use it as a simple way of standing out.
Don’t treat people with kindness only because of an ulterior motive. Instead, be kind because you truly mean it, which is a mark of true character.
4. Leads to gratifying personal relationships
If you don’t show kindness, people can say you’re heartless, cold, horrible, mean-spirited — you get it.
And while this may not be true for most people who don’t show kindness to others, you may want to let go of your ground. Or else, you’re more likely to end up in the middle of a heated argument if you insist on what for you is the truth.
Sometimes, isn’t it better to be kind than being right?
Here are points on why kindness leads to gratifying personal relationships:
- Unique points-of-view – Each person understands and perceives things differently. Just because they don’t share your points-of-view doesn’t mean you need to remove them from your life.
- People are valuable – Compared to statements that may be true, people matter more. You may always retract statements, but you may not always salvage the damage done in personal relationships.
- Unique experiences – Each person responds to things differently because of experiences. Accept that they may not respond to situations the way you do because their life experiences are different.
5. Radiates physical and mental beauty
Kindness makes you more beautiful.
As a study notes, beauty and kindness can influence a person’s points in attractiveness³. The kinder you are, the likelier other people find you attractive.
That’s not all. Here’s Thrive Global on kindness: Kindness Improves Mental Health⁴
The more other people observe you’re more beautiful because of kindness, the more they want to be like you — and do things like you.
The result? Everyone you encounter wants to be as beautiful and kind as you are to other people.
6. Lets you become a trailblazer in business
Kind and nice people finish first in business, did you know? That’s because the professional relationships you have are pivotal in making or breaking your business.
Case in point: The real estate industry. It’s a relationship-dependent business⁵.
Let’s say you’re a realtor. The more you cultivate your relationship with clients, the better they trust and regard you. And the better they regard you, the stronger your authority in the industry is.
If these clients are looking to invest in a $2,000,000, they’ll turn to you — a realtor they have a great relationship with and someone with a strong authority.
7. Makes you successful
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation⁶ features Bill Gates taking part in an organization that works with public and private sectors to foster awareness of global issues.
The reason he takes part in the cause and shows kindness? Like the many causes he’s involved with, he’s confident his time investment in organizations that pledge to do good will add to his success.
Being kind to others gives him a well-balanced life. By being there for others, he’s able to give back the good shown to him. He can also use his presence to make a louder noise and bring more attention to causes that matter.
Beyond Bill Gates, many successful and fortunate people are in line with this thinking. There are also plenty of organizations, clubs, and private groups that push for this.
The Rotary Club of Killeen Heights⁷, for one, encourages people to be kind to everyone. The group even assembled quotes about kindness.
8. Shows capability of making choices
Some people go through life thinking kindness is a show of weakness.
According to these people, kindness makes you a weak person because you’re allowing people to walk all over you.
You’re seen as weak because you forgive.
You’re seen as weak because you don’t hold people accountable.
You’re seen as weak because you listen to the lamest excuses. And so on.
The deal?
Basically, it’s your prerogative. If you want to forgive, not hold people accountable, and listen to the lamest excuses, it’s up to you.
It’s not a show of weakness. It’s just a matter of choice.
Final thoughts on why is it important to be kind to others
Sure, you may sweep other people off their feet with grand gestures. Or you may do a spur-of-the-moment and simple action that’ll brighten their day. How you show kindness to others is up to you — and it doesn’t matter.
What matters is you’re showing kindness because of your own volition. Nobody coerced you into it or you’re simply doing it for show.
So these are the discussions (and the reasons) kindness is important. The next time the question “Why is it important to be kind to others?” comes up, you shouldn’t have a hard time figuring out the answer.
Links:
¹ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2167702615611073
² https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1820947/
³ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21166328/
⁴ https://thriveglobal.com/stories/how-act-of-kindness-improve-mental-health/
⁵ https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2020/02/25/kindness-is-contagious-and-good-for-business/?sh=708ec873515d
⁶ https://www.gatesfoundation.org/
⁷ https://portal.clubrunner.ca/3634/stories/acts-of-kindness
She freelances as a web content writer from home. And she lives with the prettiest dog in the world.
