How to recieve praise

Yaaaaay!I’ve been getting a lot of amazingly nice praise recently, which has .given me a chance to practice receiving praise gracefully.

I use a method that helps me avoid some common mistakes in receiving praise:

  • Don’t explain the praise away – as in “Aaww, it was nothing special”
  • Don’t reject the praise – as in “You don’t need to thank me, I was just doing my job”
  • Don’t ignore the praise – as in “How about them Dodgers!”

Remember when people take time out to praise you or something you’ve done, it’s nice to accept the praise in the spirit it’s given.

I recommend this 2-step process for receiving praise:

  1. Shut up
  2. Say “Thank you!”

Step 3, jumping up and down, pumping your fist in the air while yelling “I’m the MAN!” is optional and should probably be avoided in many situations.

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Comments

5 responses to “How to recieve praise”

  1. Karen Avatar
    Karen

    I TOTALLY agree. Some, mostly women, tend to excuse themselves when someone praises them. I have often heard replyes like: “Oh you say I look good/did a great job/etc. It must be some kind of mistake – it wasn’t on purpose!”

    That’s really a funny reaction!

  2. […] “Chief Happiness Officer” Alexander Kjerulf does write on keeping the morale and motivation in an office environment high, but some of his insights apply to contract workers as well, such as: […]

  3. Lexica Avatar

    Funny, this is exactly the same advice I got from my metalworking teacher, only his steps were 1. Say “thank you.” 2. Shut up!

    He expanded on it by saying that most people have a tendency to point out the flaws in their work when complimented (“Oh, it could have been better here, and I wanted to do this part differently but…” ). “Nobody will know it’s wrong UNLESS YOU TELL THEM,” he said. And he’s right – I’ve never had anyone say “This is nice – except for this flaw here.”

  4. Alexander Avatar

    Lexica: Tell your metalworking teacher he’s a smart guy :o) I agree completely – we shouldn’t try to explain away our accomplishments. We should shut up and enjoy the praise!

  5. […] Some people are so out of practice with positive feedback that they even find it hard to receive praise. Here’s our best tip on how to receive praise. […]

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