What's in Your Praise Pile

I’m sure there’s a Medium article titled “7 Mistakes to Avoid with Your Newsletter” and on that list is the following: Do not start your newsletter by referencing another newsletter.

Since I haven’t seen that Medium article, I’m going to start with a reference to one of my favorite newsletters. It’s from author, storyteller, and teacher Matthew Dicks. Matthew writes beautiful things like this:

“We need as much good for the soul as we can get.”


Preach, brother Matthew!

Matthew goes on to write, “The good news is that we're offered words of kindness all the time. Compliments. Expressions of gratitude. Messages of encouragement. Unfortunately, the human brain – for purposes of self-preservation – is designed to remember the negative far more often than the positive. In fact, we require at least 6 positive statements in order to counteract one negative statement.”

Please re-read that last statement: the amazing computer that sits atop your body requires SIX positive statements to counteract just one negative statement!

Enter the praise pile.

The praise pile is the place where you tuck away positive feedback you receive: the thank you email from a colleague, the love bomb text from a friend, the shout-out in a meeting that’s so good you want to write it down, and more.

Your praise pile can be any storage medium that works for you: a Word doc, a note taking app like Evernote, a Google sheet, etc. Just pick one, and the next time you receive a praise-pile worthy gem add the following to it:

  • The item of praise

  • Who said it

  • The date and venue

Here’s an example from my praise pile:

“That was the most productive 30 minutes of my life.”
Carlos Azucena
October 14, 2021 jam session

If you don’t have a praise pile, you can download one from my website. And while you’re there, be sure to check out the new 90 second video my team just put together, along with a list of recent podcast appearances.

 
 

Be sure to regularly review your praise pile – especially on the days when your Insane Thought Generator is active – and make sure you’re adding to someone else’s pile too!

To Carlos – and everyone who’s contributed to my pile – thank you! Nothing powers my positive more than your feedback.

Ben Kiker