Words of Encouragement

Hi, guys. My name is Donny Rowson and you are listening to the podcast One Life. Words of Encouragement. Who are you proud of and when is the last time you told that person that you were proud of them? Sometimes we get so fixated on the end result that we fail to stop and just recognize the journey we've already taken. So something beautiful happens when we acknowledge and praise someone else for their journey. The first thing is that we literally press that pause button. We give them the space to say, wow, look how far you've come. They look back and they're like, wow. I didn't realize it because I never took the time. Secondly, whatever we give, it comes back to us. Think of the praise. When somebody gives you praise, how does that make you feel inside? What do you usually want to give back to them? And then lastly, it gives that person the courage to keep on going forward. Earlier today, I was at my brother's house and he had asked me if he could have a bottle of my cold Roman espresso. He wanted to share it with some of his co workers. But to give you a little bit of a backstory on this, I'd been doing Rouse coffee and cold Roman espresso for the last decade and over the life of my coffee company, not once had my brother ever made the request or asked me to share some of my product with his friends or co workers. So when he made the request, it kind of just went right over my head. I said, yeah, sure, just stop by the house, pick up a bottle. It's all good. I ended up going to the beach after his house. I was just sitting on the rock, the waves were coming in, and I was just being very present. And on my way back towards the car, that's when it hit me. The thought came into my mind. I was like, I think my brother is proud of me because in the last decade, he never, not once ever asked to share my product with somebody. And I was like, wow. And I just kind of sat with that feeling for a while and it literally made me feel like I was on top of the world. I don't know if it's the same for you, but for me, my brother was always someone I looked up to. He was always somebody that I wanted to be like. And so to get that acknowledgement, even if it was non verbal, meant the world to me. Later on that evening, I sent him a text and said, hey, Phil, do you realize this was the first time you've ever asked to share my coffee with a friend or colleague? I want to let you know that it means a lot to me. And thank you. I don't know what he felt by reading that text, but how would you feel if you gave acknowledgement to somebody and you received that text? Someone giving their sincere gratitude to you make you feel pretty good inside, wouldn't it? Today, again, I was speaking with my friend Jen to give you the backstory on Jen and I. Jen and I have been friends for probably almost like 20 years, and she's one of those people where she knows that no matter what happens, I have her back and vice versa. I know whenever I need her, she is also there. But it had been really challenging kind of connecting over the last I don't even know how many months, especially in the summer. During the summer, I'm extremely busy because I'm producing my coffee, doing stores, doing farmers markets. Now, on top of that, add the podcast, One Life workshops, and all this other stuff that I'm doing. So my free time was a little bit more scarce. I don't like using the word scarce, but I had less time because I was taking on more. So as a result of having less time, I'm more protective of. Of that time because I know that I have to give it to myself first, otherwise there's not going to be anything else to give. So she expressed some frustrations. Hey, you know what? I've been calling back. I've been calling you, trying to text you and hang out, and you've been very elusive, and I haven't been able to get in touch. It just kept coming on, and I sent her frustration. But in my heart, I knew that it's not about her. It's about preserving the time for me. And her responding this way at first was really like kind of pulling me back and making me feel a little bit more distant. Towards the end of the day, she called me back and she says, hey, you know what? I want to apologize. I know you probably are going to say that I don't need to apologize and it's not a big deal, but I'm doing this for me as well. I want you to know that I know that you're doing so much stuff and that in order for you to give, you've also got to take the time so you can recharge your own batteries. Now I see what you're doing with the podcast. You truly want to make a difference. I wanted to let you know that I'm proud of you. How do you think that felt? How do you think that landed on me? I went from initially Feeling a little bit more distant to now actually feeling more close because she acknowledged me. She prays. She helped me recognize some things that I wasn't recognizing for myself. Looking back on my journey. Then all of a sudden I was like, wow, you know what? I've right when I recall when she gave me that phone call, I was actually working on, quote, templates for One Life. So there's been a lot of energy being poured into it, but I wasn't taking the time to really acknowledge and appreciate that, but I did as a result of that conversation. So I said, you know what, Jen, thank you so much. I was like, I really felt that and I appreciate you as well. And then that's when I reiterated. I said, listen, you know that whenever you need anything, I'm always there for you. And I know that you're always there for me as well. And she apologized again. We ended up hanging up the phone. And then maybe like an hour later, I said, hey, what are you doing Thursday? Let's grab pizza. What happened was initially there's a saying that says, whatever you chase runs away. So it's kind of like that exchange of energy. But when she gave praise and gratitude, acknowledgement, all of a sudden now it pulled me in. All of a sudden now I wanted to spend, make the time to spend with that person who saw a bigger picture for me. Again, put yourself in my shoes. And this is really to build a framework around the people that are in your life, because maybe there's some people that, you know, you want to spend more time with, but you just haven't been allowing yourself the time to spend with them. Or maybe you have all the time and they're super busy and you're a little bit frustrated, maybe you could take this podcast episode and just say, you know what, I'm going to try switching my approach. And remember that whenever we praise somebody, what we do is we're giving a gift to them. We're allowing them to soak in everything they've done to thus far. And that by giving that praise, it comes back to us, and we're also giving them the courage to endure even further. Who is it that you're proud of? And if, as every episode, I always give you an assignment, something that you can do, some action that you could take, so this way you can start to build this into your everyday. And if you do that, I know that it's going to happen. Enormous impact. Who is one person that you're proud of and I want you to commit now to do it. If you're listening to this in the morning, to do it today. If you're at night, then to do it the following morning. I want you to call this person, or at the very least text or email and just tell them all the reasons why you're proud of them and how you see the journey they're on, that you're here to support them and just see how that lands with them. I promise you that it will land right into their heart. And as a result, if it's someone that you hadn't connected with or seen in a while, I promise you that it's likely going to make that connection grow. And all of a sudden you might find yourself getting pizza with them. But everything we do, it's all about we want to be around people who make us feel good, who lift us up, and if we want to influence people and we want to be of influence, it's about giving, not about receiving. So, guys, I hope you enjoyed this podcast episode. It's literally about like 11 o' clock at night. I don't make any kind of episode this late, but because of what happened, I was inspired to do so because I thought that you would benefit from it. So I hope you enjoyed this. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends, your family. But more than anything, take action. If there's someone in your life that you're proud of, tell them now, because every moment counts. Every moment counts and they need to hear it. And trust me again that it'll always come back to you again. God bless, guys. I hope you have a beautiful week. Thank you for tuning in and I will speak to you soon.