Acknowledgement could make the world go round smoother

Many times though what we do goes unnoticed and sometimes the acknowledgement comes in a form that is meaningless to us. For instance, if all you are looking for is a kind word a gift can appear totally out of place and if you are into giving and receiving gifts merely being told «good job» will hardly improve your day.

In fact we all have particular ways we like to acknowledge other peoples actions and - surprise surprise - the way we acknowledge others tends to be the way we like to be acknowledged ourselves.

In his great book on relationships «The Five Love Languages» Gary Chapman demonstrates that many relationships degrade and founder over time simply because of different styles of acknowledgement. He also offers a free handy test on his website, that allows you to discover your «Love Language» which is how you like to be acknowledged.

That said, simply observation should enable you over time to detect what kind of acknowledgement to use with the various people you interact with, and from personal experience I can say that the more you give acknowledgement, the better and more powerful your own life becomes.

There is one other thorny side to acknowledgement, which is the question of what specifically to acknowledge. You see, if you simply tell someone they are a good person, they may feel momentarily good and at the same time have no idea what it is about what they do or who they are that you actually appreciate.

So if you see someone help someone who needs help and you want to have them do that again, acknowledge them for the help they gave and be specific . If you run a charity and you want good volunteers to be productive, then acknowledge their productivity. If you have children, acknowledge the behaviours, you want them to display and if you manage people professionally, then be very specific about what you acknowledge.

So please take a moment to reflect on some great stuff that you have not yet acknowledged and then pick up the phone, or get out your credit card, or get in the car and go and make that acknowledgement happen and let me know on Twitter @liaonet.

(by Bill Liao/news.ch)