A few words of encouragement

If you ask my wife Sue, most of the time she needs to clonk me over the head with a big stick to make me to do something, but from time to time, I need a few words of encouragement.

In my experience, people in need of encouragement do not always tell me. I have to make an intuitive judgement call as to whether the carrot or the stick is the best call. Those needing encouragement often seem fine on the outside. Confident and brave even. However, on the inside, they are struggling to cope and may really need to hear our words of encouragement. They could be at a crossroads their life, about to quit or desperately looking for external confirmation that they can turn things around.

Become a catalyst of encouragement.

For somebody who grew up with an excruciatingly bad stutter and so spent along time listening I am acutely aware of how important our words are, to others. Just think for a moment, how even a smile from a stranger can lift our spirits, let alone some words of encouragement from someone we know. I often tell my clients that how I help is mostly to do what I tell them. Sometimes this can be seen as negative in nature when I tell them to avoid a particular food, but encouragement is a huge factor as well in how they feel both mentally and physically.

So how can you encourage people around you.

If you have faith in a person’s ability, tell them.
If you value their input, tell them.
If you think they look great, tell them.
If they have impressed or inspired you lately, tell them.

Sometimes, just a few words of encouragement can make a world of difference, to someone who needs to hear them. Why not make them your words, but just as important ask if you need to hear them.

Finally

I hope you found these ideas useful. More importantly, I hope you do something with them.