Appreciative Practice

We are challenged to live contributive lives—to make progress in the face of the challenges before us.

Essential to success and fulfillment in life is appreciation and gratitude. The qualities of appreciation and gratitude are often dismissed. “I want results not appreciation,” the business owner told me.

For several years I’ve conducted informal and formal interviews with people who I see as living fulfilling and successful lives. A consistent theme that shows in these interviews is that appreciation is one of the most important qualities to their success.

It may be relatively easy to appreciate our life or another’s when life is going well. We generally like sharing our appreciation with a close friend who is always there for us. It is much more difficult to be appreciative or share an appreciation when faced with a difficult issue or person.
Being appreciative in the midst of the storm takes courage.

Appreciation is a skill. One in which you can practice at any time.
Here’s a three-step practice for developing the skill of appreciation:

VOLUNTARY ATTENTION (NOTICE)
Pay attention to your immediate environment. What do you notice? Your attentiveness skill will increase as you practice being attentive.

INTEREST
Express interest in what you notice. Again, this is a skill that when practiced will grow.
APPRECIATION
State it as so. Share your appreciation of what you notice. This is the action piece of the appreciative practice.

LOVE
The practice of appreciation builds affinity. As you practice, you will experience an increase in love.

IMPORTANT POINTS
• Attention must be genuine
• All power begins with focus of attention
• It’s the Act not the thought
• Don’t limit discomfort
• Average people are discomforted
• Risk embarrassment

So many people are not attended to. We need to attend to one another.

You don’t have to wait until there is something to appreciate to practice. In fact, you can start with what’s right in front of you. I’ve practiced this process while driving in my car and noticing the discarded tire tread on the side of the road. I then expressed interest and appreciation for the fact that the tire was on the side of the road—not on my windshield!

Your sense of affinity and connection with others will grow as you step out and practice appreciation.

Filed under A Full List of Postings, Appreciation on April 2nd, 2007. Use this URL to trackback.