I recently read a book by Phil Keoghan entitled, “No Opportunity Wasted”. Phil is the guy who created The Amazing Race television series.

The book is about understanding, facing and ultimately, overcoming fear. This is a topic that is very close to my heart because I believe that fear is the biggest obstacle standing between most people and their dreams. If you know anything about Phil’s life, you’ll know that he is an authority on the subject.

I really enjoyed the book. It gave some practical advice and some inspirational real-life stories about normal people conquering their fears to reach their dreams. However, the part I enjoyed most was when SSSSH! was mentioned.

What is SSSSH?

It is the Secret Society of Serendipitous Service to Hal – an association dedicated to doing anonymous good deeds in the name of Hal Reichel. Hal was a notoriously happy guy who often did deeds for total strangers without allowing them to be aware of it. Hal died in the Gulf War in 1991.

As a tribute to Hal, his buddies decided to continue on with his tradition of helping others and they created SSSSH! Anyone can join the society and they even have business cards that can be printed out and given away (anonymously, of course) as members go about making the world a better place.

You can learn more about SSSSH! on their website at http://home.hiram.edu/hal/index.htm

I found this especially interesting because I had been doing something similar for about two years now. I had simple ‘Thank You’ cards printed to hand them out to people that have either helped me or somehow brightened my day.

Here is a copy of the cards I hand out. I’ve found these have not only made other people feel good but I also feel better by giving them to others.