Imagine that you’re a business owner. You work long hours and put almost all of your time and energy into making your business the best that it can be. Consider the following two scenarios for your business:

It’s wildly successful with thousands of customers who all say that the business is great. But, when pressed further as to why they think that, they never seem to know why. (Praise) It’s mildly successful with a few hundred customers who regularly tell you how much they love your business for the way in which it has positively impacted their lives. (Encouragement)

When we are proud of something that we’ve done, we want to be acknowledged for it. While things like “Good job!” and “That’s awesome!” might be nice to hear, they lack depth and fail to meaningfully validate the things which we are doing.

Last week, I released a wellbeing app. While most everyone has liked it, it’s those people who have taken the time to go into depth as to why they like it and how it has changed their lives (thus far) who keep me motivated and knowing what I’m doing is meaningful.

That is to say, if you want to show someone that you truly care, don’t just offer them praise, offer them encouragement.