Let me tell you a little story about the greatest birthday present ever. I turned 30 last year, which apparently is a big milestone, but I just try not to let on that I am getting older so nobody realizes it.  Usually for my birthday, my wife Mary organizes a little get together, invites some friends out for drinks downtown, we have a nice meal, etc.  My parents also usually send a gift or some cheese cake.  Facebook kindly alerts people that it is my birthday and I get some nice notes from people there.  That is what I was expecting, and this year was no different – Except for one big thing.

Mary had spent the last several months preparing for my birthday by asking all my friends, including family friends, high school friends, college friends, Boulder friends, Bozeman friends, and pretty much all the aweseome people she could think of to write me a letter.  Not just an email, not just a facebook note, but a go-find-your-old-pen-and-buy-a-stamp-and-clear-your-calendar-and-sit-down-and-try-to-remember-how-to-write-a-handwritten-letter! WOW! The topic was “what makes you tick?” She asked them to share this with me because I have a new found love of learning about people and what make them tick.  She collected the letters in secret (luckily she was able to get the mail each day before I had a chance to spoil the surprise) and compiled them all into a huge book!

When she gave me the book, I cried.  That book was the most amazing present ever.  It suddenly brought the greatness of all the closest people in my life rushing back to me.  It really was almost too much love to handle all at once.  It took me almost a week to get through all of the letters.  And let me tell you, that was the best birthday present ever, not just because it was so meaningful, but because it went so far above and beyond expectations.  WOW! is the only way to describe it.

There is a lesson here.  In order to get that Wow experience, we have to go above and beyond what people are expecting.   If you go to a fancy restaurant and it simply lives up to your expectations, you may have a wonderful time, but you won’t get a wow experience. If you were a kid like me who never cleaned his room – cleaning it every once in a while was way more impressive because it was unexpected! So, if you want to create a memorable experience, think about the expectations of your target audience- and then exceed them.

Question: Where can you exceed expectations in your life and create a Wow experience?