20 Things You Can Do Today to Make The World a Better Place

Tell people when they do something great. (Photo: The CW/Warner Bros)

Tell Someone (or Their Manager) When They Do a Good Job

People love to complain about things. And we do. All the time. And sometimes it’s deserved. Like when your Uber driver takes ten minutes to NOT find your house and then cancels your ride on you anyway. Or your cable company raises your bill with no warning, again. Or maybe your waiter at a restaurant forgets to bring your food out until it’s cold. There are plenty of valid reasons to tell someone when they’ve done a bad job. And social media has made this process easier than ever. Everyone’s a couple of clicks away from their favorite and most frequently used brands. As consumers, we have a direct line to thousands of costumer service departments, and we tell them all about themselves, on the regular. And let’s face it, most of what we have to say is pretty negative.

But what about when someone does a good job? Are you just as quick to let a retail store manager know that a staff member helped you find a perfect sweater? Do you tell their supervisor when your waitress goes above and beyond to make your dinner special?

If you’re not, make a point to start doing this immediately. We’re all quick to point out when things go wrong or to criticize mistakes. But most of us very rarely take the time to speak up when someone does something right.  And we should. It’s an activity that’s just as important. Bonus: It’ll help you learn to pay more attention to the things around you that are going right. At the very least, it will probably make someone’s day a whole light brighter, just because so few people remember to do it. And who knows, you might help them get a raise or a promotion too!