No, Seriously, THANK YOU!
Principle 2 might be my favorite: “Give honest and sincere appreciation. Appreciation is one of the most powerful tools in the world. People will rarely work at their maximum potential under criticism, but honest appreciation brings out their best. Appreciation, though, is not simple flattery, it must be sincere, meaningful and with love.”
This principle fits well with my personal favorite reading of How to Win Friends and Influence People’s message: If you treat people kindly, good things will happen!
But here’s the challenge… As specified, this principle isn’t JUST about thanking someone who did something nice for you. Sometimes Lauren picks me up from work to go to the gym, and I say “Thank you for picking me up!” That’s genuine appreciation, but it’s only the first step.
What this principle requires is finding things to sincerely appreciate about others. For example, perhaps there’s someone at work who does a lot for you but not a lot with you. Maybe it’s the person who runs your mailroom or processes travel receipts all day long. Maybe it’s the person who handles stocking office supplies so that when your favorite pen runs out of ink, you know you can go grab another one.
It’s harder to give honest and sincere appreciation for those people because a lot of their work is invisible. If the office supply person showed up at your door with a new pen right when yours ran out of ink, then, sure, it would be easy to appreciate them. But if they stay in their office, down the hall and two floors down from you, then you have to seek out those opportunities to give appreciation.
So how much extra effort is needed to really live this principle? Should I be extra appreciative (genuinely) when opportunity occurs? Or should I go seek out people to appreciate? And how much extra work would that be? I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.
In the meantime, what do you do to show appreciation? For example, do you keep a journal of things you are thankful for? I hope living this principle will have the same positive psychological effects that journaling provides.
