Create a praise file

This simple strategy can help turn even the worst day around.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to create a praise file. This is
a list of testimonials about your good work that you
can look at whenever you're feeling down when it comes

(00:23):
to life. Sometimes you're on top of the world. Sometimes, unfortunately,
life can kick you in the teeth. Nothing is going
right at work or at home. Other people might be
disappointed in you. Even worse, you might be disappointed in yourself.
This is inevitable because we're all human. But the good

(00:43):
news is you can prepare yourself for such mental thunderstorms.
My favorite way to do this is to create what
I call a praise file. When someone sends you an
email that makes you smile, don't just thank the person,
copy the nice part of the note and pay stit
into a document that you can keep on your phone
or laptop. You can also print the note if you're

(01:05):
the sort of person who likes hard copies of things.
A colleague thanks you for covering when she was in
a jam that goes into the file. Your kids teacher
shares an example of how kind he is to other children,
that one definitely goes in there. Then when you start
to wonder what on earth you're doing with yourself and
whether you're having any impact at all, you can pull

(01:25):
out the file. You can read that, yes, your work,
your professional work, and your personal work has made the
world a better place. It's hard to keep feeling unhappy
after that. So that's pretty straightforward. But here's what I
really love about the idea of a praise file. Once
you start creating one for yourself, you can't help but

(01:45):
think about how you could contribute to other people's praise files,
and so that nudges you to send those emails that
thank other people for their contributions to the world. You
thank your kids teacher for convincing him he could try
out for the school play. You thank your colleague for
standing up for you in that difficult meeting. This practice
of gratitude can only come from a sense of abundance.

(02:08):
You feel the well enough that you might not even
need to look at the praise file quite so much. So,
my challenge for today create a praise file for yourself
that's ready to be filled up with examples of how
amazing you are, and then send notes to two people
that they could put in their own praise files if
they had them. They probably don't, but it doesn't matter

(02:30):
whether this idea catches on or not. Thanking people is
never a waste of time. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

(02:52):
your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast to
pod that's b E the number four, then breakfast p
o D. You can also shoot me an email at
Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com that
Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks

(03:15):
so much, I look forward to staying in touch. Before
Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For more
podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,
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