Daily Dose of Recognition

Throughout my entire life I’ve been driven by progress and recognition. It’s like a drug for me. I’m always searching for the next fix.

Recently, I’ve shifted my mindset. Instead of focusing on receiving recognition. what if I focused on giving recognition?

It’s a fact that people are not recognized enough. At home and at work people are often taken for granted. Things are expected of us but hardly recognized.

I love the quote “trade your expectations for appreciation.” But it’s going one step further that really matters. It’s the recognition people need and that’s lacking today.

I’ve been giving speeches regularly now at a wide range of events. From large business conferences to small rotary groups, I’ve addressed a wide range of people. But last night’s speech was different. I was the keynote at one city’s annual awards banquet where they were honoring citizens of the year and the business of the year.  

It was here that I decided to invite one of our employees and change my presentation.

I understood that the event was about the people being honored, so I wanted to honor someone as well.

For the first time in one of my speeches, I didn’t just talk about our amazing employees. This time I wanted to recognize them in a way they could feel it. As I began my speech talking about Jake and the impact he’s had on our fans, I felt even more energized than I ever have on stage. I felt so proud of him but even more fortunate that I had a platform to recognize him. When I finished sharing about his impact, I asked everyone to recognize him and they joined in with a tremendous round of applause.

Of all my moments speaking and on stage, this was one of my proudest moments. And it came just because of recognition.

Every day we are in need of recognition. It lifts us up, motivates us and makes us thrive. It gives us fulfillment and even purpose in our business and in our life.

But what if we all changed our approach? Instead of working daily and hoping for recognition, what if we worked daily to give recognition?

What if we supplied a daily dose of recognition to others? What if we looked daily for opportunities to acknowledge our spouse, our kids, our coworkers, our friends and our family. 

This is the daily dose of recognition we need. You’d be amazed but the more you give it, the more you receive it.

Don’t hold back on recognition. Find your platform and just do it. It’s up to you to make it happen. Stop looking to be recognized and start looking to recognize.

Who have you recognized today?