Do You Appreciate Everyone Around You?

Nothing has a greater effect on building relationships tha
Appreciation

Appreciating others is one of the principles of success, which too many business professionals, neglect on their journey towards sustainable business success. This is often at their own peril as research shows that up to 88% of employees who leave their jobs, do so because they feel unacknowledged and unappreciated. Consider the impact of a lack of appreciation on personal relationships! “Whether you are an entrepreneur, business leader, teacher, parent, coach, or simply a friend, if you want to be successful with other people, you must master the art of appreciation”

Appreciation Builds Influence

If you want to build influence with other people, to create deeper, trusting, mutually beneficial relationships, you must show appreciation. Consider when you’ve been on the receiving end of uncommon appreciation—when someone has made you feel appreciated and special. What was the impact of that act of appreciation on the relationship? How did you feel about that person? How do you feel now about the impact that person has had on your life?

Appreciation Inspires Those Around you

There is a major mismatch in how much employees value appreciation and how much their employers recognize it as important. Studies have shown that employees consistently place “appreciation” as the number one thing that influences their level of motivation. Yet their employers place it as number eight, below wages, job security, opportunities for promotion, and even discipline.

Think about the people who could support you the most, as you travel the path towards the business success you desire. These are the individuals, who will support you to achieve your goals and help you create your ideal life. How do you appreciate them? What kind of impact could an increase in appreciation have on their desire to be a member of your support team?

Individualize your appreciation for the most impact

In order to have the most impact when you practice appreciation, consider the way in which each individual likes to be appreciated. Each person has a dominant way in which their brain takes in information and processes it—auditory, visual, and kinaesthetic. If you are attempting to show appreciation to someone by telling them thank you, yet they are dominantly a visual person and need to see it, your “thank you” won’t have the impact that it could.

Appreciation Activates the Law of Intention

One of the reasons for calling appreciation a “secret” of success, is that it sometimes pays dividends in indirect, yet very real, ways. According to the Law of Intention, we attract more of what we focus our attention on. If we’re constantly focused on the things we don’t like about our lives, we’ll tend to attract more of what we don’t like. Yet if we are in the mode of appreciation and gratitude, focusing on the things we like and appreciate and are grateful for, we’ll attract more of the same into our experience. When we are grateful we also become more “attractive” to others—they want to be around us far more!

Be Generous when showing your Appreciation

Increase your awareness of what others are doing around you. Even if another’s actions don’t directly benefit you, be aware of things others do that you can appreciate. Has someone created a thing of beauty? Did you overhear a mother speaking kindly and patiently to her whining child? Is the clerk in the checkout line dealing with rushed customers with grace? What are the ways that you can be in the mode of appreciation throughout your day? How can you appreciate others around you?

Appreciation Starts with You First

To really enjoy the benefits of showing appreciation, you must learn to show appreciation to yourself first. In addition to appreciating what’s happening around you, be sure to especially acknowledge and appreciate yourself. Even if you’re showing a lot of gratitude and appreciation for others, when you’re constantly berating yourself or beating yourself up internally, you’re not creating true abundance.