The Importance of Encouragement
- 1. The Importance Of Encouragement
- 2. If You Look At Most Successful People… Somewhere in their background there is someone cheering for them and believing in what they can accomplish. It could be a significant other, a friend, or family member. When people are encouraged by others, it leads to an increase in their confidence and efficiency, and they perform better.
- 3. When I Was In High School, An English Teacher Took Great Interest In Me Academically He told me that I had all sorts of special gifts, and that I could do this or that. At the time I had no reason for really believing him, but the harder I worked the more I proved that he was right. His confidence in me enabled me to do well in my classes, and he encouraged me to set my sights on achievements I could only have imagined before I had met him.
- 4. These people helped mold me into who I am today, and for this I am thankful. When people take the time to encourage and believe in us, they are giving us one of the greatest gifts we can receive. There are exceptions, of course, but very few people will ever achieve everything they are capable of achieving, unless some person or some group of people has believed in them throughout their career and life. I am sure that if you think back on your own life and ponder your own achievements, you will realize just how important it is to have people believe in you. It makes an incredible difference. My Life Has Changed Because Of, And I Have Greatly Benefited From, The People Who Have Believed In Me Along The Way.
- 5. One Of My Greatest Goals In Life Is Leaving People Better Off Than They Were Before They Met Me This means that when people come into contact with me (or one of my companies) they should exit the experience being better than they were, in some way, before the experience. If they are job seekers, looking to me to help them track down jobs, I want to give them all the advice, encouragement and resources I can.
- 6. Several Years Ago… I stopped into an open house on a property I could not afford at the time, and I looked around. The house was near CalTech, and right on the property it had an observatory for looking at the sun, which had been built by a famous astrologer in the early 1920s. The realtor who was selling the house was one of the best real estate agents in Los Angeles–not an easy accomplishment, considering there were probably tens of thousands of other realtors in LA County.
- 7. It was one of the most interesting open houses I had ever attended. It was quite enjoyable, and there were hundreds of people stopping by throughout the afternoon. The realtor had brought in numerous other assistants, and they were all wearing white lab coats. The day after the open house, despite the fact that the real estate market was not that good at the time, the realtor told me he had gotten five offers on the home, and all of them were for much more than the asking price.
- 8. The Realtor Had Asked Me Numerous Questions At The Open House, And Had Gotten To Know Me A Bit I had told him that the observatory would make an excellent office and that I liked it a great deal. He asked me about the schools I had attended and told me that the builder of the observatory had been a professor at the University of Chicago, where I attended college. Although we had chatted for quite a while, I had been pretty up-front with the agent: “This is more money than I can afford,” I had told him.
- 9. After the open house, as the agent started to receive offers the next day, he started to call and email me, making statements like the following: Because of his encouragement and belief in me, I ended up putting together an offer on the house. While I did not end up ultimately purchasing the house, I thought about the real estate agent later and realized that it was incredibly skillful, how he had gotten me to throw my hat into the bidding ring. He was encouraging and hopeful, and he made me believe in what I could do. “ You have done so much; you are capable of getting this house if you really want to.” “ I know that you belong here and I have faith that you can put together an offer that will allow you to afford this.” “ You have done so much in your life already and this is a small blip on the radar of what you are capable of.”
- 10. This, I Believe, Was Also Why The Agent Was Considered So Extraordinary At His Job He had the ability to believe in, and encourage people. Good salesmen and good people in any profession have the ability to push those around them to greater heights, and show them what is possible. I personally believe that this is what separates the normal salesman, parent, doctor, politician, friend, lawyer, coach, manager, and so forth, from those who are truly extraordinary.
- 11. In The Recruiting Realm, Nothing Is More Important Than Believing In People When I used to recruit full time, I made a habit of always believing in my candidates and looking for the absolute best in them. I did everything within my power to point out their strengths and what they were capable of. Consequently, even years after having worked with them, I still receive emails from time to time wherein they tell me various things they have achieved, things that are in line with what I always told them they could do.
- 12. When We Believe In People And What They Are Capable Of Accomplishing, It Can Change Their Lives We become a voice in the background, whispering words of encouragement into their ears. Consequently, these people rise to a higher level achievement than they might have experienced without our involvement.
- 13. Most People Out There Are Most Concerned With How They Can Improve Their Own Lives However, instead of being concerned with just your own life, I would encourage you to be more concerned with how you can help others do better. What can you do to encourage others? What can you do to show others what they are capable of? As embarrassing as it sounds, I spend a lot of my free time watching various true-life-detective sorts of shows like Forensic Files and so forth. In these shows there is typically a murder at the onset. The rest of the show goes into detail about the mystery of the crime, and presents the viewer with various viewpoints and clues that are eventually resolved at the end of the show. Each of these episodes generally shows the funeral of the slain person. Some of the funerals end up being very large–even for people who are relatively unknown.
- 14. One of the constants I have noticed in these shows is that whenever hundreds of people show up for a person’s funeral, those in attendance make comments about the person such as: “ She made the people around her feel so good.” “ Whenever you were around him, he made you feel like you could do anything.” In seeing this example over and over again on these shows, it has made me realize that the number of people we touch, build up and encourage in our lives is, in many ways, the measurement of our impact in the world. Our accumulations of material wealth, the number of times we were right, and so forth pale in comparison to the legacy we can leave by encouraging those around us.
- 15. Instead of tearing them down. People who are high achievers all are able to help the people around them rise. When you consider the life you have led, the chances are very good that you will find one or more people who have encouraged you and helped you move forward in your life. Whether it was a boss who promoted you, a teacher who told you that you had talent, a coach who told you that you could win, or a parent who encouraged you, there are people who have believed in you. The Most Popular And Overall Successful People All Seem To Be Focused On Building Those Around Them Up…
- 16. If You Look At The World And Find People Who Are Unhappy, Down, Unsuccessful, And Not Reaching Their Full Potential You will usually find people who simply have not received the sort of encouragement they could benefit from. Many people also can appear far too arrogant, meaning they do not allow others to get close to them, so they may miss opportunities to be encouraged and supported. You need to have people around you who believe in you. You need to be in a supportive environment and one that is constantly nurturing you. You need to be with people who will constantly push you forward. Having people around you who support you can be a great motivator and key to your success.
- 17. In Order To Have The Career You Are Capable Of, And To Live The Most Productive Life Possible… You need to surround yourself with people who will challenge you and build you up, but never tear you down. You need to be around people who notice what you are doing right, not what you are doing wrong all the time. Allow others to be exposed to the constant critic–you can only reach your full potential when you are around those who recognize and encourage your strengths.
- 18. The final part of all of this is your immediate impact on the world and the legacy you leave. Do you want to be remembered as a critic and a cynic, or do you want people to remember you as one who encouraged them to reach their full potential? Make others better off in the world by virtue of having met you, and having related to you. Your goal should be to make the world a better place, and it all starts with making sure you build up and encourage others.