One-Minute Mentor - 07-15-2015 :
The Gift of a Compliment

By: Karen A. Michaelson, ABOC

Just like our cars, we set our cruise control daily and simply motor on. We go about our usual routine to ensure our days go as seamlessly as possible. Do you have days where there is not one extra moment to do one extra thing? I challenged myself to that recently and was surprised. I promise if you do this, you will enrich your life and gain some moments that you may not even know what to do with.

1. Grab a piece of paper, a pen, a beverage of choice and sit somewhere serene and relaxing.

2. Think about your day's routine from the time you wake until the time you go to sleep and break it down into hour segments. I mean including all the usual stuff, like these couple of examples from my usual day:

   5:30 am - 6:30 am — Morning lemon water, feed cats, work out
   6:30 am - 7:30 am — Shower, hair and makeup ritual, head to home office or hit the road

Where am I going with this? When I looked closely at these two hours there were 15 minutes of time that I could do something with. Instead of doing more "for me" things, I have chosen some "pay it forward" moves. Here are several examples:

• Prepare a couple of text messages to send after 8 am that will brighten someone's day
• Write a letter or send a card
• Check off one of those "I'll get around to it tasks" from my list, like cleaning out one cupboard shelf.

Giving strangers random compliments is another thrill for me each day. It drives my husband crazy and maybe that's why I continue to do it! Try this: watch for people who are having a tough moment, or are on edge, or someone that looks like they need something nice to be said . . . and just do it! I will leave you with a little story from a recent interaction.

I was at the grocery store and had picked up a dozen roses. The teenage cashier picked them up and stopped to smell the flowers as though they were her own. When she handed them back to me, I pulled one out and gave it to her and told her to enjoy her day. She had tears in her eyes and said "these were my mom's favorite kind of rose and I just lost her to breast cancer two months ago. I am so sorry to cry, but it is so hard as she was my best friend". At that point, we were both crying and shared a quick chat as she finished my sale. When I go to the store now, I only go through her lane and we chat like friends. She thanked me for taking the time that day and told me she had pressed the rose into her mom's favorite book. Now what if I had been on cruise control that day and missed having that experience?

Karen A. Michaelson is Business and Education Consultant at i Kare Optical and Clinic Services and Pech Optical, and is a member of the OWA Mentoring Committee. You can reach her at [email protected].

Inspirational Quote

"We are prepared for insults, but compliments leave us baffled."