The other day, we were out at lunch and were being taken care of by an especially cheerful, genuine, and kind waitress. My oldest daughter was the first to noticed and commented on what great energy the waitress had. I encouraged her to tell the waitress at the end of our meal and so she did.

What I expected would be a simple “thank you” on the waitress’s end, was actually a moment in which she was stopped in her tracks, teared up, and thanked my daughter profusely for what she had said. It made me cry just watching it! The waitress told us that has day has been made, and she was so grateful to hear those words.

That made me think more about recognition and how often we might not get it in our day-to-day. I remember in my first couple of design jobs out of school, I wanted so badly for my boss to recognize the work I had done or even give me some sort of indication on whether s/he thought I was doing a good job. Sometimes I had no idea. How great do we all feel when someone recognizes that we have gone out of our way to do something for them or that we have been consistently showing up for them?

When my kids simply thank me for making them dinner (something I would have to do everyday anyway), it always feels nice to be recognized and acknowledged.

So, I challenge you to take a look at those who surround you (both those you know and those you don’t) and see how you can take the extra step to recognize a job well done and to tell that person so! It will change their day and yours, I promise!

P.S. Please join me over at my Substack where I dive even deeper into things like this!