Rebuilding Series: Are You Becoming Great? DING! You Are Correct! By Marshall Lestz
Rebuilding Series: Are You Becoming Great? DING! You Are Correct!. By Marshall Lestz
Good Morning Everybody,
One of the things that many game shows have in common is a question/answer format. And when contestants answer questions correctly… what happens?
“DING!” There’s often that familiar little “dinging” sound effect. And an incorrect answer gets the famous: “EEEEEERRRRRNT!” …The dreaded buzzer.
Now, when we’re working on overcoming a negative character trait, or trying to develop a positive character trait, which of those two sounds do we hear more often? I’d venture to say the buzzer, but NOT necessarily because we have more failures than successes. But rather because we don’t even own a “Dinger!” We never “Ding!”
Think about it– when we experience a little victory in an area we’re trying to upgrade–like when we’re able to maintain our patience when we’re starting to get uptight, or we’re able to get out of bed on time when we really don’t feel like it, or we don’t retaliate or bear a grudge when we we’ve been offended… do we give ourselves a DING? Do we acknowledge our victory? OR, as strange as it sounds, do we maybe even give ourselves a little BUZZER? You know what I mean… that sarcastic negative voice kicks in and says: “Well you managed to finally get it right THIS time.” Or: “Don’t be so proud of yourself, you only did what you’re supposed to be doing.” (Ow!)
Acknowledging our successes, no matter how small, builds momentum, self-respect and energizes us! It puts us in a positive state of mind. (AKA: a good mood!) But ignoring, downplaying or belittling our small victories undermines everything we’re trying to achieve. Can you imagine a game show where every time the contestant got an answer right he still got a buzzer sound effect? How demoralizing would that be?!
So let’s advocate for ourselves. Let’s be our own best friend. Let’s lay off the buzzer!
So here’s a thought– You’re gonna have lots of “ding-worthy” moments today– so see if you can pause and give yourself at least 10 dings. Acknowledge those victories! And for extra fun, you can even say the “DING” out loud. You’ll probably make yourself smile or laugh which will only reinforce your positive behavior.
Friends, we always try to see the good in others. Let’s make sure we also try to see the good in ourselves.
Have a magnificent day everybody,
Marshall
Keep on Building! (And dinging!)
