10 unique ways to thank someone

1. Buy them a gift certificate to their favorite place.

The best gift certificates: - Amazon- Netflix- Starbucks- whatever their favorite restaurant is

2. Write them a letter

Don't text or email. Write them a letter, put it in an envelope with a stamp, and mail it.

3. Make them breakfast

Even if you are living together, make them breakfast in bed. It's the thought that counts. And if you don't have kids, then this is your opportunity to practice so when you do have kids, you'll be good at it.

4. Do something they would like but would never ask for.

For instance, I like massages but would never ask for one. My wife knows this and she will give me one on occasion as a "gift". It's great!

5. Order takeout from their favorite restaurant and eat it together while watching their favorite TV show

This is not as easy as it sounds because we live in NYC and there's no such thing as "takeout" here since everything is delivered by bicycle messenger who has to wait outside in the rain for 30 minutes waiting for someone to open the door so he can hand over the food and get back on his bike before he gets hit by a cab. But find some way to order from their favorite restaurant (again, not easy) and watch their favorite TV show with them while eating dinner.

It's amazing how much people love this even though it seems like nothing special because everyone does it all the time. But...not everyone does it all the time! So when people do this for me I always appreciate it more than they realize (even though I'm writing about it right now so they probably realize).

I did this recently when my daughter was studying for her LSATs and wanted to watch "The Office" which she hadn't seen yet but had heard was good (it is). We ordered Dominos pizza (her favorite), watched The Office , ate dinner while watching, then went out later that night after she finished studying (which she passed). It was an amazing night!

I also ordered sushi takeout once when my son was studying for his MCATs (he passed) and watched "Deadpool", which he had been waiting forever to see but didn't want me to spend money on tickets since I had already spent money on tickets for him to see other superhero movies he was too tired to see after studying all day long for his exam. So we watched Deadpool together after eating sushi takeout . He loved me that night!

Anyway, just an example of doing something simple but thinking about what someone likes even if they wouldn't ask specifically for those things . Even if you don't order takeout from their favorite restaurant, just try to think about what things they might want or enjoy without having to ask specifically . Every adult child should treat every parent like a teenager once in awhile just because of basic fairness issues between generations but also because parents love being treated like teenagers sometimes even if they won't admit it..

AI James Altucher