The Power of Positive Feedback

I received a note a couple of days ago telling me how one of my posts had positively affected a person’s life.  They mentioned a post I had written nine years ago.  Was I really writing blog posts nine years ago?  That surprised me.  My second response was that I didn’t remember that blog.  I had to go back and read it.

We were never allowed to be Victims.

That blog ends with a quote from Condoleezza Rice explaining how she made it from being a young girl of color in the South to being Secretary of State of the United States.  The headline above is her quote.  She was calm, confident and yet very humble.  She was an amazing person.

Easy to become Victims

In this pandemic that we’re all experiencing, it’s easy to feel like the victim.  It’s interesting to note that we’re already seeing the results of feeling like victims.  Our obesity levels and alcohol rates are already climbing.  We’re looking for an escape from feeling like victims.

As that blog noted from nearly ten years ago, the opposite of the victim is creativity.

Be Creative

Almost everyone I’ve talked with recently speaks to how lethargic they’re feeling.  They just can’t seem to get motivated.  I’ve experienced the same issues.  But as I mentioned in my last post, deep thought and creativity are the paths to feeling better under trying circumstances.  Just like exercise, which has tremendous benefits if you’ll just spend about 30-60 minutes at least three times per week, spending at least an hour in deep thought and reflection three times per week will increase your creativity.  You’ll feel so much better and think about your circumstances so differently, you’ll come out the other end being a much better and maybe totally different person.

This pandemic is very victimizing.  Don’t let it get you down.  Be creative.  Spend some time in deep thought and self-reflection every week.  View this as an opportunity that seldom happens more than once in anyone’s lifetime.

Positive Feedback

So what does this have to do with positive feedback?  Reading that comment about how my blog made a positive difference in one person’s life motivates me!  I was having difficulty keeping up with my blog.  I just couldn’t find the motivation.  And then that comment arrived.  I’ve been writing blogs almost every day since that feedback.

Positive feedback made a difference.  It only takes one.  In the nine years since I wrote that blog, I’ve written somewhere between 400 and 500 blog posts.  Did they all make a difference?  Probably not.  Did I hear some positive feedback on many of them?  No.  Did positive feedback on less than one percent of the bogs I’ve written make a difference?  Absolutely!

Pass on some positive feedback today.  It may be to that neighbor who just happened to wave “hi”.  It may be to someone at work where you’re trying to conduct virtual business.

Just give some positive feedback.  It makes a difference.