Deepak Chopra shares a beautiful part of his life with readers in his book “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.”  In his book, he encourages you to “bring a gift” every time you meet with someone.  At first, I thought this concept was a little extreme.  He was asking me to come up with a gift each and every time I met with someone.  The wonderful part about his request, is that your gift didn’t need to cost anything, and you didn’t have to tell the person you were meeting with that you were even giving them a gift.  His gifts consisted of anything from a prayer, good thoughts, or even a small token – a flower picked from a garden on the way to the meeting.

In bringing your said “gift” with you, you are also embarking on a quest to put yourself into a “no judgement zone.”  How often to we encounter a person or situation and automatically place judgement on it?  If someone doesn’t look like us, dress like us, parent like us, work like us, believe like us – are they less valuable to us?

When a young Bill Gates was growing up in Washington State, his parents encouraged friendships with other families that were different from theirs.  In creating an environment where differences were embraced, Bill and his sisters had the opportunity to experience healthy relationships that weren’t necessarily like the household they lived in everyday.  The Gates family “no judgement zone” paved the way for their family to create an environment of creativity, philanthropy and prosperity – and I’m not just talking about monetary value.

Put yourself into a “no judgement zone” today.  See how you think, react and feel.  Do you hear more, see more and learn more?  Do others respond to you in a different way?