Moments of Pride: 7. Recognize Others

• Here we have several stories from education and business of how giving fresh starts and recognizing people made a big difference in their lives. A few moments can change a life and such moments require thoughtful teachers to make them happen. This should be included in new teacher training. Study after study shows that appreciation of work done is a top motivator. Unfortunately, this type of recognition is not a universal practice. Call it the recognition gap and it’s a big reason people leave their jobs. Recognition should be personal, not programmatic and should take place weekly or daily not monthly or yearly. Expressing gratitude can also elevate the spirits of the grateful person.

8. Multiply Milestones

• The levels in a computer game can serve as examples of milestones. What stops some people from accomplishing a goal is the lack of intermediate milestones or levels. Some people will make up a series of intermediate milestones to help them focus on their main goal. The value of these levels is that they can hold you accountable for your progress. Chip and Dan provide some examples. In some cases like Boy Scout merit badges and martial arts levels, hitting intermediate goals comes with a souvenir. The milestones you make up may be completely arbitrary, but they will help you push forward. Accomplished people have an obsession with such goals.

9. Practice Courage

• Moments of courage are harder to create as they usually arrive unexpectedly. Here the authors discuss exposure therapy where people lose phobias thanks to gradual exposure. This can work for moments in your life that require courage. Since you often don’t have time to deliberate in these situations, it’s good to preload reactions to situations you might anticipate. There is a case for schools implementing ethics education based on how to get the right thing done. Courage is contagious as is the willingness to go along with the crowd even when you know the crowd is wrong.

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