Tell Someone the Things You Admire About Them
My mentor called me one day and said, “You’re in trouble.”
I knew he was joking, but I was still a little nervous. What could this be about?
He said, “Diana, sometimes in life we don’t always get feedback on how we’re doing as a boss, as an employee, as a friend, as a spouse or as a parent.”
Telling someone that you admire them is one of the most thoughtful acts of kindness.
“Just in case I get hit by a bus tomorrow, I wanted to make sure the people whom I admire know how I feel about them.”
He went on to share very specific qualities of mine that he admired: educated, good attitude, plays well in the sandbox with others, good communicator, good mother and wife, good work/life balance, and head screwed on tight.
As he told me these things, I sat there in a positive state of shock, and I felt a tear collect in the corner of my eye.
Hearing someone tell me all of the things I was doing right gave me that same magical feeling of opening presents on Christmas morning, except this time each kind word my mentor spoke to me became its own present.