Catch Me when I am Good !

The other day, I came across a video on YouTube by Dr. Ivan Joseph . In this 13 min he talked on self-confidence, one of the points that stayed in my head was — Catch Me When I am Good ! :D

Back in school I was one of those obedient and rule-abiding student. I was a store house of all fears that a convent could instill and I could absorb. But, on that ONE day (out of 365 days) when I forgot to bring a book, or do my homework — was the day I caught attention of my teacher. It used to be pretty disappointing for me, and I used to ask God — “Darn ! Why don’t they see me on the days I sincerely bring my books, or do my home work to the best of my abilities” ? Being an introvert and too concerned about other’s opinions, it was a big deal for me to be reminded by my teacher to stop talking or stay silent. In my head, I used to ask — ‘Why don’t you also notice me on the days when I am one of those in exception who were quiet while the whole classroom went berserk with noises ?’, ‘Why don’t you notice the other 364 when I was quiet, and point me out only on the 365th day that I was not ?’.

Now coming to professional life — I would like to believe that I am punctual. But, just on that 365th day I was late to office. That very day my boss wished to discuss something early morning, and I was not found anywhere around in office. As soon as I enter the floor, I want to pour out all the justification to prove that I was late only on this 365th day !. Do not tag me as late comer, today is an exception. Fortunately, none of my bosses in my decade of career ever questioned my timings.

But still, I am curious to know why we get caught specially at wrong times ?

Why not be noticed also when we were standing as exception, or at good times ?

I cannot question the world, but tried to implement ‘Catch others when they’re good’ in my life as much as I could. Therefore, when I became a boss myself, I ensured from my end that my reportees were -

• Acknowledged and appreciated for their work when it was good, and not brush that aside as — “it is normal…it is smooth…she is efficient so need not catch her….it is part of their job… etc.”.
• In case of mistakes, or poor performances tried one-on-one meetings where I started with acknowledging what is good about their work and then moving on to sharing my feedback on their poor performance.
• For once-in-while issues at work, I chose to ignore, or react less dramatically.

So, let’s also catch each other more when we’re good, and ignore the once-in-a-while scenarios. Having said that, obviously the repetitive ones need to be addressed. This, I believe can be a booster of self-confidence for people we interact with.

So, next time you catch someone, do remember to also catch them when they’re good :)

P.S. This does not apply for any criminal, law-breaking, compliance-breaching actions.