How to Find the Perfect Gift for Someone: Become the Best Gift Giver
Gary Chapman, an author and radio host, is a name you might not recognize immediately but when we tell you he is the originator of The Five Love Languages then you may become a little more familiar. The Five Love Languages are five “broad-ranging” ways people receive and express their love. There’s:
Words of Affirmation: Both spoken and written compliments, reassurances, praise, and recognition towards the other person.
Quality Time: Listening and acknowledging how they like to spend their time and doing that with them; or just spending the day together in each other’s company no matter what it is.
Physical Touch: Showing your love through touch; i.e. giving hugs, kisses, cuddling, and handholding.
Acts of Service: Doing things for the other, that may be helping them out with daily tasks and chores or doing something for them that makes them happy.
And finally…
Receiving Gifts/Gift Giving: This language, funnily enough since it’s the topic of our discussion today, is one that can flip either one of two ways. The official language itself is “receiving gifts” which is when someone loves to get gifts for special occasions and more frequently, on a random day when they aren’t expecting it. However, there is the flip side of that which has become more popular and that is the act of giving gifts itself.
It’s something you hear from your parents when you’re a kid growing up ripping open the wrapping paper off your gifts: “just you wait till you’re older, you’ll love to give gifts more than you will getting them.” At the time of course you don’t believe it because how could anyone think giving is better than receiving a brand new Razor A Kick Scooter:
As long as you didn’t hit your shins on the deck, this thing was always a 10/10 time! Image courtesy of: Razor.
But as you grow older you begin to slowly realize that your parents and elders were right. The act of giving does outweigh those fuzzy feelings you get from opening a gift. Of course not everyone feels this way, for some they may like receiving gifts just as much as giving, or they never got bit by the gift-giving bug as many of us do. But if you’re someone that loves to give gifts but finds themselves a lot of the time at a loss of what to get then you’ve come to the right place because we’re here to give you a guide on how to find the perfect gift for someone.
Obviously there is no universal gift that every single person in the world will love. People are unique, that’s what makes them special. You can have one person love getting a new set of bedding for the bed they’ve been eyeing but haven’t been buying since bedding is so expensive, while another person likes getting a new set of oil paints to let their creative flag fly.
So no, there is not just one gift that will work for everyone. But there are ways to make it so every gift you give in the future is the perfect one and we’ve outlined ways to make that happen for you each and every time which we will go over in detail:
Begin With What You Know: Write About Them
Listen To Them Talk and Write It Down
Don’t Stress About The Price
When in Doubt: Make Something
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Begin With What You Know: Write About Them
If you’re racking your brain trying to come up with a gift for someone you’re close to then you might feel a little silly doing this but trust us on this one.
Get a piece of paper or bring out your phone/computer and open up a notes app; then begin to write about the recipient. Write about what they do for work, what they do in their free time, their likes and dislikes- anything you can think of, write it down. Think of it as you’re writing their bio on their dating profile or on their imagined video game “About Me” character sheet.
Even if you know all of this information in your head, writing it all down can be beneficial because inspiration can strike when you’re talking about their favorite things.
Maybe you note they enjoy a specific TV or movie series, that can then lead you to looking for merchandise online of said media. Or maybe you write that they enjoy a specific hobby like hiking or baking; you can then look into getting them a new windbreaker or stand mixer.
By writing down what you know your brain will subconsciously begin to think of gifts or ideas that relate to who they are and what they love.
But what if the gift is for someone you don’t know that well?
The “write them a bio” method obviously doesn’t work that well if you are looking to give, say, a coworker a gift. And if that’s who you’re looking to buy for then our biggest piece of advice is to not overthink.
Finding a gift for someone you don’t know super well doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact the gift itself in this scenario is secondary to the actual act of giving itself. Think how you would feel if someone you sort-of know around the office gave you a gift at Christmas. You’d probably be pleasantly surprised that they even thought to give you something; and that’s exactly what they are going to feel should you give them a gift. You can go generic by giving them a gift card or voucher and they will still appreciate it just as much as anything else because in this case it’s the thought that counts.
Inspiration on how to find the perfect gift for someone can come in many forms so be sure to write down any rogue ideas that might pop up!
Listen To Them Talk and Write It Down
This is personally our favorite method of finding the perfect gift for someone, and it’s pretty easy because all you have to do is listen to them talk! Our biggest piece of advice when it comes to transforming yourself to an “alright” gift-giver to the best is changing your mindset on gift giving itself. Most of the time everyday people will only really begin to think of gift ideas close to a special occasion like a birthday or holiday. You need to scrap that ideal and instead make the act of gift-giving a year-round thought process.
You talk to your loved ones all the time and there will be many times they mention something they thought was cool offhandedly that you can write down in your notes app on your phone to keep for later. Then when their birthday comes up or the holiday season approaches you can go back to your notes and purchase said thing. It’s great because they won’t be expecting it since they mentioned it in passing so long ago but you were paying attention; and by showing that you pay attention means the gift is even sweeter. It’s a simple but effective method to buying the perfect gift.
Don’t Stress About The Price
A lot of the times when it comes to giving a gift people will assume that,
The Pricer the Gift = The Better the Gift is
But that is simply not true. Spending more money on a gift doesn’t equate to the value of said gift. It’s the thought and care put into the gift that matters the most. This means that if you have budget-constraints and worry that you won’t be able to make as big of an impact as another person, elevate it with your words. Add a homemade card and write out how much you appreciate the recipient. Don’t go on about how “you wish you could afford more,” the person you’re getting the gift for doesn’t need to hear about the money aspect- all they care about is the thought of it all.
And if you’re wanting to go big but still don’t want to spend top dollar, wait for the sales to kick in. There’s:
Holiday Sales: There are many major holidays throughout the year that bring savings. Memorial Day weekend, Fourth of July week, Labour Day weekend, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Travel Tuesday, and the Winter-Holiday madness.
Save Coupons: Save coupons and advertisements you get through email subscriptions to make future purchases hurt the bank a little less.
Watch Trends: There are many websites you can use to see how low the online price of the product has been in recent weeks so you can wait for the optimal time to buy.
