Fishers High School

THE VALUE OF APPRECIATION For those who work in the world of finance or real estate, appreciation is defined as “the increase in value of an asset over time.” When something appreciates, it grows. It gets more significant and more valuable. For the rest of us, the word appreciation is most often connected to an act of gratitude or thankfulness. What we appreciate, we recognize as a significant and valuable part of our life and our experience. Appreciation is an important winning quality that champions in any area of life have built into their character and identity. That’s because champions recognize that what you appreciate…appreciates. What you choose to celebrate and be grateful for increases in value over time. It becomes more significant and more valuable. Today I want to challenge and encourage you to recognize the value of appreciation, and the important role it plays in who you're working to become and the success you're chasing after. Here are three specific places that choosing appreciation can help you get better… 1) Appreciate your people. It can be easy for any of us to get caught up in our own challenges, our own circumstances, and our own individual pursuit. But the truth is, none of us can be our best alone. Wherever you’re working to win today - on a team, at work, or at home - I’m confident there are people who are playing an important role in supporting your success. When you choose to show those people some appreciation, it increases your connection with them. It fills them up and inspires them to keep supporting you. When you take people for granted or feel entitled to that support, you diminish that connection. But by expressing your gratitude - by writing a quick thank you note, shooting them an encouraging text, or speaking those words of affirmation - you validate their contribution and increase the odds they’ll keep going. 2) Appreciate the struggle. Nobody likes to struggle, and it can be easy in our moments of challenge and adversity to do what losers do - to play the victim, to give in to negativity, and to accept something less than our best. But champions recognize that struggle is often an essential element of success. Stop and think about the accomplishments you’re most proud of. I can guarantee you they haven’t come easy. In fact, the struggle is often what makes success so sweet! Additionally, champions recognize that challenge and adversity build in us the toughness and fortitude that becoming our best requires us to possess. It’s a lot easier to resent our struggles than it is to appreciate them, but if you can reframe what part they play in your pursuit - if you can appreciate that they are a necessary part of your success and appreciate that they are helping you become the person winning requires you to be, then you are increasing the value of that struggle. It provides a new level of meaning and purpose that helps you embrace and overcome whatever comes your way. 3) Appreciate today. If today looks a lot like every other day, it can be easy to show up, set the controls to autopilot, and mindlessly go through the motions. There are people everywhere making the easy but mediocre decision to settle today. But if you choose instead to show up with gratitude and thankfulness for the opportunity that today provides - for the chance you’ve been given to take another step toward the goals you have for yourself, to validate once again who you are and what you’re all about, and quite frankly, to simply have another day of life to live - then you are increasing this day’s importance. Appreciation encourages you to make today count, because it affirms for you that today matters. When you take today for granted, you more likely miss out on all it has to offer. Showing up with gratitude encourages you to make the most of what you’ve been given. It's true. What we appreciate...appreciates. But the opposite is true, too. What we depreciate - what we neglect, take for granted, or feel entitled to - has a way of diminishing in value, and eventually even dwindling away altogether. If you’re serious about becoming your best, then it’s important to see that your appreciation matters. It allows you to strengthen that connection with the people around you. It allows you to embrace the struggle and to recognize the valuable place it has in your pursuit. It allows you the opportunity to be better today than you were yesterday. And those are all things that are worth appreciating. SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHAMPIONS 101 NEWSLETTER HERE. Copyright Champions 101. All rights reserved.