Habits begin as offhanded remarks, ideas and images. And then, layer upon layer, through practice, they grow from cobwebs into cables that shackle or strengthen our lives. Denis Waitley

Motivated by pleasure, habits are repeated behaviour that eventually require practically zero attention or effort. Because of this nature, “Habit is either the best of servants, or the worst of masters,” says Emmons. This is what Waitley in the opening quote meant: bad habits become our chains while good habits strengthen our lives.

Most people will agree that kindness and happiness are good habits to develop. Daily Challenge is a great tool to help do exactly this!

One of our community members, Dan Hocking, recognized the potential of Daily Challenge as a kindness tool and wanted to know how he could work Daily Challenge into his already very busy life. Here are a few tips:

1. Log on every day. When creating a habit, it’s more important to just do it. Habits are created by repetition, so don’t worry about quality right now. You don’t have to accept or complete challenges, comment, make friends, etc. If you want to make Daily Challenge a habit, just log on every day. Which leads us to the next tip…
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Who doesn’t love to hear celebrities doing good? They exemplify success, the holy grail of western society, and inevitably become idolized by many people (especially kids). They have an enormous power of influence and can benefit humanity greatly, if they choose. So we love to hear when celebrities do good because when they lead by example, they become positive role models for us all!

Here are our picks for the 6 Most Socially-Conscious Celebrities and why:

Barack Obama, President of the United States of America and all-around great guy. Mr. Obama is #1 on this list for a reason: for walking his talk and passing a huge stimulus plan that promises job creation and focuses on health-care, energy and education.

Sting, music entertainer & activist. We don’t have to tell you why he made this list, but we love him even more for headlining on May 21st, One Night Live in Toronto, the benefit concert for the Women & Babies program at Sunnybrook Hospital. Continue Reading

Daily Challenge Do Gooders aren’t the only ones spreading cheer and kindness around the world. Improv in Toronto is a group of individuals who aim to make people feel good through laughter. Being crazy is their forte!

February 21st marks their 2nd annual Subway Dance Party and everyone is invited. Do you have a little crazy in you? Here is a 6 minute clip of last year’s Subway Dance Party to see if it’s something that you might like to try:

Only 2 more days until Twestival! If you still need a little persuasion to come party at this amazing charity event for a good cause, maybe Jennifer Connelly can convince you?

Check out this 1 minute video for charity: water:

Jennifer Connelly in charity: water Public Service Announcement from charity: water on Vimeo.

Last Thursday, we announced that a few good people on Twitter decided to leverage the power of their social network to create social change. The end result is Twestival, a major fund-raising event being held in over 175 cities across the globe to help bring clean water to people in developing countries.

Here is a 1:30 minute video of Scott Harrison, founder of charity: water, thanking Twestival for their support:

Scott Harrison, Founder of charity: water - Thanks the Twestival from Phil Thomas Di Giulio on Vimeo.

Using social media for social change has become a trend we hope never ends! Twestival is the latest fund-raising event leveraging the power of social networking as a means to Do Good. On Thursday, February 12th, people in over 175 cities who use the popular micro-blogging site, Twitter, will gather to raise money for charity: water.

“We’re thrilled that the Twitter community around the world is coming together to bring clean, safe drinking water to those in need by raising funds and awareness with an event on the scale of Twestival,”  says charity:water. “This is an amazing opportunity to bring the cause and its message to a global community.”

Organized by and for Twitter users, Twestival is an off-line charity event that looks to “Tweet. Meet. Give”. Major cities, including London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Beijing, Sydney, Melbourne and Lima are signed up and ready to go. At the time of this writing, Toronto Twestival 2009 is just one city out of more than 175 cities participating.

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For many of us, high school was hell. Between out-of-control hormones, trying to fit in while developing a unique personality, family issues, bullies, dating, getting good grades… well, life certainly isn’t simple when you’re a teenager. But Challenge Day is a program designed to make it easier on kids by giving them a lifeline. Incredibly, it helps transform enemies into allies!

Check out this highly emotional 15 minute clip from the Emmy Award winning documentary, “Teen Files: Surviving High School” highlighting a typical Challenge Day Program:

Teen Files 15 Minute Preview from Rodrigo Torres on Vimeo.

Tell us your thoughts about the video and the Challenge Day Program in the comment section below.

A couple of weeks ago, a Breakfast Television (BTV) viewer wrote into the show claiming “Toronto The Good” was dead, and has been ever since Toronto and its surrounding cities amalgamated into the Greater Toronto Area. BTV’s host, Kevin Frankish, then challenged viewers to go find proof that the friendliness of Toronto still lives.

Who better to take that challenge on and prove Toronto’s kindness than Daily Challenge Do Gooders? So on one of the coldest days of the year, seven Do Gooders set up shop at Queen and John streets in downtown Toronto to, “Give away a warm drink to a stranger who looks like they could use it.”

This challenge was presented by Toronto Do Gooder member, Suzy Cruz, and the treats were generously donated by her family’s cafe, Novita. Darius Bashar, President and Co-Founder of Daily Challenge, lead the troops in this good-will expedition and said,

You’d think free hot chocolate and cookies would be an easy sell but we were quickly reminded that most city-dwellers tend to be cautious when anyone offers them something for free. At first, people were reluctant. With a little persistence, though, good attitudes and the help of our youngest Do Gooder [age 9], Jordan, we were finally able to convince one woman to stop. Once she did, then other people flocked to the table to see what was going on!

In about 45 minutes, this small group of Do Gooders warmed the bellies (and hearts) of over 50 cold Torontonians! So, is this proof enough for you that `Toronto The Good’ is still living? If you think so, email this blog post to bt@citytv.com with the subject line: Toronto The Good is Still Alive!

Stay tuned for an upcoming video blog post covering this Warm Drink extreme challenge.

`Going green’ is usually associated with `being expensive’. Not any longer. Our fellow Do Gooders & friends at Broadplay Inc. have developed an ingenious, environmentally-friendly and über convenient business product: the mobile business card.

No more paper waste or costly printing, easily updated and available anytime or anywhere, BusinessCardByText (www.businesscardbytext.com) is the easiest way a company can improve their corporate social responsibility (CSR). And if you’ve ever had a business, you’ll understand instantly what an opportunity this offers:

• Text is becoming even more popular than talking on the phone!
• Who wants to clutter their desk with a Rolodex or piles of card holders?
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Holiday goodness was given, stories were created and shared, votes were cast, and now the results are in! While all of the story submissions tugged at the ol’ heart strings, you, the community, decided on the best holiday story.

Here’s a big shout out to The Goodest Story Ever Contest winners:

The Goodest Story Ever (1st place): Denise Lambert won a flight for 2 ($1,800 value) with 49 votes for her holiday story, “One Single Mom to Another”.

Instead of Cancun, Denise will be using her prize a little differently. She says,

I plan to take my 5 year-old daughter Gwendolyn to Paris, France for a couple of weeks in the summer. We are french, and I’m going to rent an apartment and spend my days playing in the parks with her, seeing the sites, and cooking with awesome french ingredients. (ok, ok, two weeks of pain o chocolate). [note: pain au chocolate means chocolate croissant in English]

I might also take her on the train to Vienna…

And of course, do my own good daily in FRANCE! Continue Reading