In my first job I had a teammate who worked at a summer camp for a number of years. He is the type of person who is not talkative, but when he speaks it carries weight. One day he taught us a framework that he learned as a camp counselor called DLP: describe, label, praise.

Let’s imagine you have a camper who just shared some of their snacks with a fellow camper. You could reinforce that saying by “good job”. Or you can use DLP and say, “That was really nice of you to share your snacks with Jimmy, that shows you care for your friends, great job.” This type of praise shows that you really care and notice what they did.

I’m book clubbing The 5 Languages of Appreciation In The Workplace with some colleagues right now which reminded me of this technique. This book reminded me that the best way to build good habits is to catch someone doing something well and call attention to the specific task, behavior, or character trait that was exhibited. An example from the book: ‘”Thanks for showing up early and making sure we were ready to go when the guests arrived,” is far more effective than “Thanks, you did a good job today.”‘

I need to build a habit of doing this much more than I do. I challenge you to do the same as we move into 2022. The word will be a slightly better place each time we do.

Subscribe 📧👇🏻

Drop your email in below to receive an update when I post my weekly writing. Typically musings on philosophy, fitness, or personal finance. You can also follow on Twitter for daily workouts and other musings.