Encouragement and Judgment
We've not spent very much time in the yellow quadrant of the creator’s wheel. This is the “grateful” hallmark and is how a
creator interacts with others. Whereas
the entitled consumer is selfish, judgmental, and hoarding, you are the grateful creator and are compassionate,
encouraging, and generous. Specifically
for this post, I’d like to focus on the creator’s encouraging trait and the
consumer’s judgmental trait. We’ll start with a scenario so you can weigh where
you are on the continuum.
A neighbor of
yours who lives in a big new house down the street always has the nicest cars, the
most elaborate vacations, boats, motorcycles, and other toys. You know that they make about the same amount
as you do because they are in the same career field that you are in. One day you see a For Sale sign up in their yard. Another neighbor notices you staring in that
direction and runs over to tell you that the bank is foreclosing on the house
and the couple is now separated. You see
the mom walk out of the large house, avoiding eye contact, getting into her luxury
SUV, and driving away.
What’s your first reaction? Did a tiny
part of you cheer for justice? Did you respond to the nosy neighbor by saying “I
always wondered how they kept that lifestyle up on his salary” and spend the
next hour covertly reveling in your neighbor’s circumstance? There’s a certain adrenaline rush you get from
indulging in a good gossip session, even when it’s cloaked with “genuine
concern”. As a creator, you must run
from the drug of gossip. Jesus once taught
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no
attention to the plank in your own eye?”. So what’s the creator’s weapon in this
scenario? Instead of judging, the
creator is encouraging.
We’ve spent a lot of time on this
blog talking about creators existing to build and create value. What about building people and creating value
in them? This is perhaps your greatest mission.
Instead of spending that hour dishing with your chatty neighbor, what if you spent it writing an anonymous
encouraging letter to your neighbor in
need? How about inviting them over for
dessert?
Like all traits of the consumer,
being encouraging can’t just be reserved for epic life events. It must be practiced daily, until it becomes
natural, until it becomes a part of your personality. Think about the most impactful and
influential people throughout your life.
Were they stuck-up and judgmental? No! Chances are they were the teachers, parents, and friends that spoke encouragement
into your life.
So here’s your challenge. Focus on encouraging one person a day for the
next week. I’m not talking about forcing
yourself to tell Tom you like his godawful tie.
I’m talking about being sensitive to when you are truly inspired by
something someone does and genuinely letting them know about it. It may feel different at first, but you are a
creator and you were made to be different!
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