Paying it Forward: How One Cup of Coffee Could Change the World

by Sandi Mann

One woman's experiment to understand how the power of giving without reward can change lives.

Random acts of kindness campaigns are increasingly popular as we look to kindness to strangers as a means to create a kinder and more caring society. For 14 days, Dr Sandi Mann, from the University of Central Lancashire, carried out her own 'paying itforward' challenge, handing out free chocolate, coffee, umbrellas and more in the hope that her generosity would inspire others to carry forward more random acts of kindness. The results surprised her.

89 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 10, 2015

Reviews

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and found it very hard to put down.

I love the idea of ‘paying it forward’, and have done it quite a few times throughout my life. However, I would love to do it more, which is why this book interested me.

Paying it Forward: How One Cup of Coffee Could Change the World explains what paying it forward is and its origins, reasons why paying it forward is good for you, others and society as a whole, the author’s positive and negative experiences of attempting to pay it forward, as well as ideas for the reader to try and pay it forward more in their lives.

This book has an overall positive and hopeful feel to it, and I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in paying it forward.

We can all make our world a better place by performing acts of kindness.

I would like to thank the publisher, HarperCollins UK, Nonfiction, HarperTrue, for allowing me a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Isabella May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating!

Slight this book may be, but it's BIG on ideas. Packed with case studies and theories on and behind random acts of kindness, it's impossible to read this and not be inspired to go out there and plant seeds for good. A book I'll definitely recommend and return to for reference.

[Donna Maguire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the concept of this book and how 'paying it forward' originated having been the recipient of a gift but for me, other than this the books was lacking. I read it and there were a few good tips on how you could join in at the end but other than that the book just really wasn't for me.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is good food for thought and has great history of PIF (pay it forward) was started and resources and organizations to look at. I bought it after reading an article about PIF from the author in the BBC news and this book is just an extension of the article.

[Karen Halex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring