WEBVTT - Create a praise file

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to create a praise file. This is

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<v Speaker 1>a list of testimonials about your good work that you

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<v Speaker 1>can look at whenever you're feeling down when it comes

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<v Speaker 1>to life. Sometimes you're on top of the world. Sometimes, unfortunately,

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<v Speaker 1>life can kick you in the teeth. Nothing is going

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<v Speaker 1>right at work or at home. Other people might be

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<v Speaker 1>disappointed in you. Even worse, you might be disappointed in yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>This is inevitable because we're all human. But the good

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<v Speaker 1>news is you can prepare yourself for such mental thunderstorms.

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<v Speaker 1>My favorite way to do this is to create what

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<v Speaker 1>I call a praise file. When someone sends you an

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<v Speaker 1>email that makes you smile, don't just thank the person,

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<v Speaker 1>copy the nice part of the note and pay stit

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<v Speaker 1>into a document that you can keep on your phone

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<v Speaker 1>or laptop. You can also print the note if you're

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<v Speaker 1>the sort of person who likes hard copies of things.

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<v Speaker 1>A colleague thanks you for covering when she was in

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<v Speaker 1>a jam that goes into the file. Your kids teacher

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<v Speaker 1>shares an example of how kind he is to other children,

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<v Speaker 1>that one definitely goes in there. Then when you start

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<v Speaker 1>to wonder what on earth you're doing with yourself and

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<v Speaker 1>whether you're having any impact at all, you can pull

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<v Speaker 1>out the file. You can read that, yes, your work,

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<v Speaker 1>your professional work, and your personal work has made the

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<v Speaker 1>world a better place. It's hard to keep feeling unhappy

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<v Speaker 1>after that. So that's pretty straightforward. But here's what I

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<v Speaker 1>really love about the idea of a praise file. Once

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<v Speaker 1>you start creating one for yourself, you can't help but

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<v Speaker 1>think about how you could contribute to other people's praise files,

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<v Speaker 1>and so that nudges you to send those emails that

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<v Speaker 1>thank other people for their contributions to the world. You

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<v Speaker 1>thank your kids teacher for convincing him he could try

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<v Speaker 1>out for the school play. You thank your colleague for

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<v Speaker 1>standing up for you in that difficult meeting. This practice

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<v Speaker 1>of gratitude can only come from a sense of abundance.

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<v Speaker 1>You feel the well enough that you might not even

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<v Speaker 1>need to look at the praise file quite so much. So,

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<v Speaker 1>my challenge for today create a praise file for yourself

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<v Speaker 1>that's ready to be filled up with examples of how

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<v Speaker 1>amazing you are, and then send notes to two people

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<v Speaker 1>that they could put in their own praise files if

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<v Speaker 1>they had them. They probably don't, but it doesn't matter

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<v Speaker 1>whether this idea catches on or not. Thanking people is

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<v Speaker 1>never a waste of time. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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<v Speaker 1>and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>pod that's b E the number four, then breakfast p

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<v Speaker 1>o D. You can also shoot me an email at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com that

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<v Speaker 1>so much, I look forward to staying in touch. Before

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