Make It Sticky

Just finished an excellent book entitled "Make it Stick" by Chip Heath & Dan Heath. The books is so full of great ideas that you will want to read it a second time.

The ideas really apply to writing a letter to your grandchildren.

They suggest using the acronym - "SUCCESs" to make ideas stick.

S - Simple

U - Unexpected

C - Concrete

C - Credible

E - Emotional

S - Stories

By simple they mean that if you want your idea to stick, you need to simplify your message. In writing a letter to your grandchildren, see if you can find one singular message that you want to make. A kind of, "If you remember anything - remember this" message.

By unexpected, they suggest writing about something unusual that happened. People are delighted by surprises - if they happen to someone else.

Be concrete in your writing. Don't tell them your first car was good. Tel them that your 1967 Triumph Spitfire that cost you $300 didn't have second gear or a top.

Credibility comes easily to a grandparents. It comes natural. Use it.

Fill your letter with emotion. Emotion fuses stories into other people's memories. Emotions touch souls.

And finally, tell stories. Here is a quote from the book about stories.

"Because the moral is implicit in the story, but the story is not implicit in the moral."

If you just try to help your grandchildren by pontificating about higher moral standards, they will feel that they are being lectured to. But if you tell a story about your life where you made a big mistake, but learned something valuable about it - they will learn.

So make your letter sticky. Use the SUCCESs formula.