Compliment: a polite expression of praise or admiration.

You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar is an English proverb which means that you will be more successful in life if you are nice to people as opposed to being mean. There is a lot to be said for this and indeed, those who believe in karma would concur that good deeds and actions will result in good karma and future happiness.

At netlogx we value the importance of feedback, praise and recognizing our team members and as such routinely incorporate recognition and praise into our daily practices. Some of our core Operating Principles are Communication, Honesty, Respect, Integrity and Recognition. We make a point of celebrating Random Acts of Kindness of our team members and recognize achievements every month via our SPOT awards. Lastly, we encourage team members to share via our Gratitude Journal what they are thankful for and to compliment each other regularly.

Each of us have those days where we are under the weather, feeling blah or just plain grumpy. Try this the next time you find yourself needing to get out of a bad mood – look around and pay a compliment to the first person you see. It sounds a lot easier than it is amid trying to outrun a gloomy cloud.

Here are great reasons to pay a compliment to someone every day:

  • It takes the focus off you.
    Any time you can shift your attention from all the things going wrong in your day and place the focus on helping make someone else’s day become sunnier, it is a positive benefit for you.
  • Smiling burns calories.
    Smiling often leads to laughing, and laughing burns even more calories.
  • Compliments spark creativity.
    Finding something positive to say to someone at least once a day has to the power to remove a person’s mental block around a big project they’ve been struggling with and clear the pathways for them to arrive at the much-needed solution.
  • Karma: What goes around comes around.
    When you give a compliment, you’re more than likely going to receive one in return. This moment could be enough to carry you the rest of the day and keep you happy and productive. You’ll be happier, your colleagues will be happier and soon your entire workplace is happy.
  • And what I think is the best reason to pay a compliment to someone every day —
    Compliments are F.R.E.E.!

On January 24, National Compliment Day is celebrated annually.  The purpose of this holiday is to say something nice to your friends, family, colleagues and strangers. Why not use this date to spread some “honey rather than vinegar” and make somebody’s day?