Sunday Sermon [Praise]

Hola mi gente,

Here I was thinking the weekend would be a wash. It’s really nice outside right now. Enjoy it while you can!

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The 15-second Rule

Psychological experiments have shown that it takes, on average, 15 seconds of continuous praise for it to be heard. On the other hand, criticism is received immediately.

Think about it: we are so uncomfortable with receiving praise that our initial impulse is to reject it. Perhaps our thought process when it comes to praise resembles an internal dialog such as:

What is it that she wants?
Is he drunk or just plain crazy?
Okay, what’s this person’s hidden motivation?

Consider also that many of us are also much more comfortable offering “constructive” criticism than we are giving praise. 

Taking this into consideration, perhaps it would be wise to use the following suggestion: If you want to tell a loved one what a wonderful person they are, or tell your friend how much you admire her, then you should look at the time and keep going. Remember that only after fifteen seconds will they begin to hear it and take it seriously.

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization…