Praise: An art to make own soul good

The word 'praise' itself is positive. It boosts confidence, and self-esteem, and motivates us to change our behavior for others.

Praise is "the act or an instance of expressing commendation for oneself." Praise is indeed a potent and restorative tool using which we can encourage good behavior.

We are possessed with our thoughts and logically we prove ourselves always correct in any direction. We like to be praised and admired. No doubt this brings a drastic change in our personality. To be maintained in that frame seldom we were forced to be nice or well behaved and this way we became habitual for the same. That directly impacts our nature then we realize the true side of good behaviour. How does it feel when someone praises our accomplishments? Do we suddenly feel surprised? We become ready to take on new challenges. Mark Twain famously said, "I can live for two months on a good compliment."

Everyone, including spouses, family, colleagues, customers, neighbors, loved ones, even bosses, and strangers love to get sincere recognition and praise for a job. When we get compliments 'dopamine' is released in our brains. That is associated with joy, pride, satisfaction, and well-being. When we praise someone sincerely, it leads to a physiological desire to recreate that feeling. In the simplest terms, that is why raising someone cements good behavior and work habits. The main point is that when we learn to enjoy praising others, we experience that same chemical reward. By doing something good for someone else, we also feel good. To praise others we tend to see only the positive side of anything. We learn to observe those around us and actively look for praiseworthy things.

Being in the habit of giving compliments helps us notice and appreciate what is good and what we like in those around us.

Benefits of giving compliments: It increases our happiness, makes us grateful - it is a practice of gratitude exercise, strengthens our interpersonal relationships, increases our stress resilience and physical health, creates a ripple of positivity and improves the mood of the compliment giver.

The researcher also found that compliment givers were in a better mood after delivering a compliment and reported they would be more likely to give a compliment to a stranger in the future. In this way and others, it's not just the receiver who feels good. Compliments benefit the giver, too. Being in the habit of giving compliments helps us notice and appreciate what's good.

"So being complimentary helps us create an optimistic, happier outlook," Berger says. Compliments make other people feel good and make others want to be around you. Giving compliments is a form of leadership and influence, because people love to be around positive people, and will be more likely to follow your example and listen to your ideas. Expressing praise and gratitude are particularly important for keeping up morale. Gratitude makes people feel valued and worthy of existing.

(The author is currently working as a merchandiser at Pearl Global Industries Limited at Gurugram)