The Gift of Encouragement …
Live life from the heart
You have the power to change the world …
You have the ability to …
- Give friends and family the courage to do things they fear.
- Lift a person's spirit and give them energy to move forward in their life.
- Do something that makes you feel like you matter in this world.
You can make a difference!
And it is all through simple words and actions you already know. All you need is to use those words and actions in a more focused way, with simple small changes you can easily pick up.
Imagine your life as a positive, motivating force with the power to help and heal those around you. Imagine developing the knowledge and skills to build closer, deeper relationships with family, friends, and work colleagues.
All these things can be done through your words of encouragement. This can be your gift to give those around you.
It is a powerful gift that you can develop beginning today … that will build a lifetime of value for you and for those you give your gift to.
What prevents us from accepting encouragement?
Suspicions consume us whenever someone walks up to give us a compliment. "What do they want?" "What are they trying to sell me?" Because of these suspicions, we filter out what we hear. But there is a simple way of breaking down those suspicions … and that is to ask permission.
Why does this work? Because we aren't offering something they don't expect. We aren't coming to them out of the blue.
It breaks down those filters we all have set up.
Perhaps we don't think we are good looking. If so, and someone walks up to tell us how good we look today, then we don't hear what they say. And if we do acknowledge their complement, then we laugh it off. Why? Because we can't believe it. We don't believe it.
But in asking permission, we open up those filters with expectation. Our hearts and minds are prepared to receive.
And that preparation makes all the difference.
We are no longer suspicious. We are no longer closed.
And after the complement is given, we can internalize it … because we paid attention and didn't ignore it.
What prevents us from freely giving encouragement?
Fear still consumes us when it comes time for us to give a word of encouragement … such as a compliment or acknowledgement of somebody. We fear rejection, embarrassment, or a multitude of other worries that we have experienced in the past.
That fear is real …
But you can overcome it through practice of the three-step method I'm going to give you below.
Always remember …
We all fear rejection. We all worry about being embarrassed by something the person we are giving to might say … even if it is something positive and loving.
The only way past this is to build up a storehouse of positive experiences to know that even if your encouragement, praise, or blessing is rejected, there will be plenty of other good experiences later if we keep on giving.
Encouragement is not a limited resource to be handed out carefully and greedily.
Encouragement is unlimited and free. The more you give, the more you can receive and accept.
Read how you can learn to give and receive encouragement in all areas of your life … family, friends, coworkers … and yourself!
You can build deeper intimacy with the people you care about in your life.
This is all based on my simple three-step model of encouragement …å
- Ask permission
- Give a conditional praise
- Go deeper and give an unconditional praise
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