A Quick and Easy Way to Feel Better

Today

Babu Appat

You know what feels good?

Giving positive feedback

We know that feedback is crucial for people to improve at anything from

driving to being a therapist, and many of the times we’re driven to give

feedback is when we’re angry, or we’ve been wronged

And even though we’re trained to believe that intelligence is best

expressed by finding fault, I’ve found that it takes just as much mental

energy to find things to praise as it does to criticize

(and in some cases, a lot more).

Since I started blogging, I’ve come to appreciate how

impactful a few kind words can be and I’ve been inspired to

pay it forward. 

And we know that compassion increases happiness.

What a rush

Sending a thank you note or a brag or for an employee

On a recent metro ride, a driver, who I’d heard before, used a lovely mix of

humor, sarcasm and practicality to keep his passengers in line.

I can only assume that the outcomes used to evaluate employees don’t

include rider entertainment, so how would his boss know how great he is?

So I sent feedback, including the line and the time we arrived

at a particular station

I don’t know what will happen with that feedback,

but I know that I feel good

Send a fan letter

I’m not talking about artists who’ve gone platinum or authors who hang

out on the bestseller list

While those folks are obviously deserving of praise, they’re already

getting a lot of affirmation in the form of sales and probably other fan letters

I’m talking about lesser known folks. I read an article with such a

clever turn of phrase that I immediately purchased and

devoured a book by Ben Dolnick

The book was so enjoyable that I wrote a fan letter

What was really fun, was that I got a note back thanking me for my

thoughts and telling me how exited they were.

So I got feedback on my feedback!

Write a thank you note

The coffee shop crew near my home are amazing. They’re

relentlessly friendly, even early in the morning, they’re fast and the

drinks are consistently perfect

It’s become an important pick-me-up before some work days, and I realized that I’d come to rely on

the interaction and treating myself to paying for a beverage—

it wasn’t that I couldn’t make it at home, but doing something for

myself helped me feel better

So I wrote a note addressed to the crew letting them know that their

quality of work didn’t go unnoticed and that it meant a lot to me

It’s not something I could get feedback on, since I just left it on the counter without contact info,

but I’d like to think it made someone’s day

Giving positive feedback compassion increases happiness

Sending a thank you note Send a fan letter

Thank you

babuappat@gmail.com