OG Tuesday Issue #174

Start your morning with this affirmation:

Today’s checklist: Boost your confidence with self compliments, say “no” without guilt, master that job application, and honor International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Tomorrow (Wednesday, January 24) is National Compliment Day. While complimenting others is always nice, we encourage you to spend the day, or any day in the near future, complimenting yourself.

We’re not talking about empty compliments either. “You’re wonderful!” or “You look glorious today!” make fine warm-ups, but we want you to go a little bit deeper. The more specific you get, the more your confidence will grow.

Compliment who you are.
What do you admire about your core personality?
What are your best qualities?
What are your strongest talents? 
Take it further: When, where, and how did who you are last shine?

Example: I admire my compassionate nature. I’m especially proud of how I talked a co-worker through a difficult time last week, when I was in the middle of that draining project.

Compliment what you do.
What accomplishments make you feel the most pride?
What skills make you uniquely good at your job?
What experiences have influenced you? 
Take it further: When, where, and how did what you do best last shine?

Example: I’m good at creating eye-catching designs. I’m especially proud of how I combined two different color palettes into one cohesive advertisement for that big campaign two months ago.

Compliment what you know.
What is your particular area of expertise?
What knowledge have you worked hard to acquire?
Take it further: When, where, and how did what you know last shine?  

Example: I think it’s wonderful how I’ve learned so much about human resource laws in California. I feel proud that my boss even asked me to explain something to her yesterday.

Compliment what you value.
What is important to you?
What drives you to be your best?
What kind of person do you strive to be?
Take it further: When, where, and how did what you value last shine?

Example: My commitment to supporting others is truly admirable. I think I really impacted my friend’s life by babysitting for a week.

Do you organize the baby shower and birthday gifts at the office?

Maybe you’re the Room Parent and organize teacher gifts from the whole class?

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Saying “no,” seems so negative, so final, and so disagreeable. You’re a team player after all. Saying “no” might destroy your reputation forever.

Or it could actually preserve your sanity.

Many consider the idea of saying “no” through a purely emotional lens. We worry too much about how people might react and don’t think enough about why we want to say “no.”

Here are a few logical ways to justify your decision. (Not that you really need to, of course.)

Opportunity Cost
Saying “yes” to the request at hand means implicitly saying “no” to, or pushing aside, other things that are important to you. You have too much on your plate at the moment. Taking on more would negatively impact the progress, quality, and viability of your other work.

Importance
Rate the importance of the new task on a scale of 1-10. (Sure, it’s still your opinion but it gives you a nice clean number to use in your evaluation.) If it doesn’t match or exceed the importance of other things you’re working on, then you’ve made your decision.

Urgency
Does this thing really need to happen before other things in your queue? A list of your current deadlines is adequate justification for saying “no” to something.

What if I can’t think of a logical explanation?
“No” is a complete sentence,” writes author Sharon E. Rainey, The Best Part of My Day Healing Journal. “It does not require an explanation to follow. You can truly answer someone’s request with a simple “no.”

What if I can’t bring myself to say “no?”
Say “let me get back to you” instead. This buys you some time to think more deeply about why you’re struggling to say “no.”

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How to figure out, and also communicate, why you’ll be amazing at any job you apply to:

Step 1: Copy the job description into your word processing tool of choice.

Step 2: Under each listed requirement, write how you meet it, being as specific as possible.

Step 3: Under each chuck, write “what this means for the company/organization.” (This will help you connect the listed requirements to the big-picture—a great talking point for interviews.)

Step 4: Under the most important requirements, add a narrative detailing your success or expertise in this area. Follow this simple trigger-action-outcome formula for backing up your assertion with evidence:

Trigger:
I realized there was a need to _______ when _______.

Action:
Describe what you did and how you accomplished it.
So I did _______ by _______.

Outcome:
Describe the results of your action, even if you simply reframe the need you identified in the form of a solution.
As a result, _______.

This commemoration, designated by the United Nations General Assembly, falls on the anniversary of the Auschwitz concentration camp liberation and was created to honor the memory of at least six million Jewish Holocaust victims.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) put out a statement on why remembrance is even more important right now, during this time of conflict.

“The Holocaust profoundly affected countries in which Nazi crimes were perpetrated, with universal implications and consequences in many other parts of the world. Member States share a collective responsibility for addressing the residual trauma, maintaining effective remembrance policies, caring for historic sites, and promoting education, documentation and research, more than seven decades after the genocide. This responsibility entails educating about the causes, consequences and dynamics of such crimes so as to strengthen the resilience of young people against ideologies of hatred. As genocide and atrocity crimes keep occurring across several regions, and as we are witnessing a global rise of antisemitism and hate speech, this has never been so relevant.”

Find resources for honoring International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Website >

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