Remembering people's birthdays

Isn't it a nice feeling when a friend or acquaintance (or even relative) remembers when it's your birthday and wishes you well? It's a simple act that can make someone's day. Even if someone hates birthday because they have an insecurity about growing older, it's nice to receive individual attention.

Some people are impressed that I remember their birthdays. But it's my "second brain" that remembers it. Even before I took the BASB course, I would record friends' birthdays in Google Calendar. But I would miss them if I wasn't regularly checking my calendar. After starting Notion, I would set reminders in my CRM database to remind me. But Notion doesn't support recurring reminders.

Now, I use Google Contacts for reminders. I can put someone's birthday with the year as optional. Then I use GoogleContactsEventsNotifier to email me the day before someone's birthday. (This only works because I stay on top of email.) Birthdays set in Google Contacts also show up on my Google Calendar. On my Android phone, I have the Business Calendar app, which also gives me a notification reminder when it's someone's birthday (and shows me the age if the year is set.)

So I've got a birthday reminder system down. But the most important part is the birthday message. In the past, I would send a sticker image or text expansion with emoji saying "Happy Birthday." But after taking Minimum Viable Video, I've begun recording 1-minute personal videos for some people wishing them a happy birthday. This has been well-received.