Giving praise is something sought by nearly everyone these days. Looking for outside affirmation is the reason or excuse we use to do things and expect something in return.
I have been on both sides;
I have given praise to someone, and I have received many from my recent managers.
When I was giving out praises to those, I have been working with I was doing it with all my kindness and respect for the other person’s work. It felt good for me that I did that, and I guess it felt even better for the person I gave the praise to and probably made his day.
I was like this myself.
I was naturally doing good in nearly everything I got my hands on or worked on. I suppose my determination and intelligence played a huge role in this and when I was getting praise for the work, I felt good, sometimes great, and proud.
But here is the trick, when you value the outside affirmation more than the value you provide through your work to you or somebody else, you are emotionally vulnerable especially when you receive negative feedback.
That I learned the hard way because I was obsessed with the outside affirmation, and for that reason, the one setback I had, overwrote every good thing I did and pushed me to the ground.
Then I learned how to get past this, I give the same amount of attention to both the praises and the criticism which is none at all.
I value more the outcome of my work and if it had a positive impact on others and to me, educationally wise that is if I learned something more regardless of if I got praised or not.
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