Lesson 5- The Importance of Reward and Recognition (11-26-25)

This is the last in the series of lessons that kept repeating for me throughout the year. Lesson 5 is that reward and recognition are more important now than ever before.

I’ve noticed a pattern over the past few months. When I’ve shown appreciation for people this year, their reaction has been stronger than in years past. Don’t get me wrong. People have always been thankful. They have always appreciated being seen and recognized for their work. It just seems like rather than words of recognition and appreciation being a small boost, they are now filling a deep hole. Have you noticed this?

Why is this happening? I’m not sure what it is. I don’t know if it’s because we are running faster and harder than ever before. I don’t know if it’s because life feels less stable than it ever has. Maybe it’s because collectively we’ve lost touches of our humanity as we have become connected with devices and less connected to each other. Maybe it’s because our unspoken question is, “Do I matter?” as we exist in large corporate machines. Whatever it is, I feel that there is less acknowledgement of others and their worth than there has been in years past. It’s a massive tangible difference that I can feel with individuals AND more broadly with groups. What do you think?

While I don’t have any idea what is causing this, it is making me more aware of how much power each of us has, and how easily we can use that power as a force for good. Taking a few moments to say a kind word. Spending a few minutes writing an email shouting out someone for their effort. These things don’t just create ripples; they create powerful waves now.

The challenge: We have more power to lift others up than we will ever realize. Will you use this power to recognize someone and fill them up today?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Hammers and Feeling Valued (10-13-21)

Last week was about struggling with feeling like you aren’t enough and realizing you are. We will build on that this week by reflecting on hammers and feeling valued.

Months ago, I used a hammer to hang some pictures in my house. More recently, when I had to pictures in my house I decided to use command strips, because they better fit my needs at the time. I wonder… did the hammer ever feel abandoned in the toolbox? Did it look out and wonder if it was useful, if I was able to use something else to hang pictures? Did it ever wonder if it was a bad hammer, since I wasn’t using it more often? Did it wonder if its skillset was even valuable anymore?

Where is this going? Throughout this year there are times when I’ve attempted something and failed. There have been times I’ve faced rejection. It was hard for me to not take the failure and the rejection personally. Similar to the hammer in my analogy, I often wondered, “I’m a good hammer, right? I’m a valuable hammer, right? I think I’m a hammer who can be useful. Is that true?” Have you ever felt like this when you’ve failed or faced rejection?

I had to learn over time that I can be a good hammer AND still fall short. I can be a good hammer AND still encounter rejection. I can be a good hammer AND not always be the person someone needs. Just because I failed or was rejected in that instance doesn’t mean I am a lesser hammer. It just means the circumstances weren’t in my favor in that particular situation. Over time, I had to realize that my value isn’t necessarily determined by others. I know who I am and what I am. I better understand the value I bring. Sometimes what I offer is needed and sometimes it’s not. When I’m not needed, it’s just because the right situation hasn’t arrived yet.

Challenge 1: Are you letting other people decide your value or are you defining your value?

Challenge 2: Look at yourself in the mirror and say 3 things you value about yourself.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Screen Time, Value, and Prioritization (3-17-21)

Last week was about identifying your cultural pillars. This week is about parenting, screen time, value, and prioritization.

One of our rules is that the girls get limited screen time each day. During this time they have the option to do different things. They can watch cartoons, play video games, or do something on the ipad. Whatever they choose to do, they still get the same amount of time. The other day the girls had their normal amount of screen time. They chose to watch a cartoon on the main TV. At the end of the episode, I told them it was time to turn everything off. They asked for more screen time. I told them no. They got upset, because they said they didn’t want to watch cartoons, and they had really wanted to play video games. I reminded them that they knew they had limited amounts of screen time and that they chose to watch cartoons. I also explained In the future they would need to be more thoughtful about how to spend that screen time if they were disappointed.

What does this have to do with anything? The girls don’t realize it yet, but we are essentially teaching them a sneaky lesson in prioritization and understanding what you value and want. They have a set amount of screen time, and they have a few different ways they could spend that time. How should they spend it? It all depends. Out of their options, which one(s) would give them the most value? In a similar way, we all have a limited number of hours each week to fit in everything we need to do as it relates to our holistic health, our relationships, and work. How often have you looked back at the day or week and said to yourself, “Whoa, I don’t think I did any of the things I really wanted to do. I wish I could have done X, Y, and Z instead.” I know this happens to me sometimes. There’s no way to go back in time, but I can do a better job of ensuring I know what I value and then making sure I focus my efforts on those things. Sometimes, this means making sure I’m prioritizing and staying focused on important work. Sometimes, this means that I step away from that important work and spend time connecting with others and myself to ensure I’m meeting my other needs. It all depends on what I value and need.

The challenge: What do you value? Are you CHOOSING to prioritize your time to reflect what you value?

Bonus thoughts: When it comes to prioritizing work I tend look at 3 variables: impact to the business, quality of the deliverable, and amount of effort. I try to focus on the things that have the most impact. From there, I’m constantly balancing quality and effort. If the work needs to be A quality, then it requires a lot of effort. This means, I can only do a limited amount of A quality things at a time. However, if the quality required is only a B or C, then that requires less effort and I can produce more work. My opinion is that most stuff really just needs to be a B, because it’s not going to be perfect before it hits the market anyway. Being honest about the quality helps me make sure I put the right amount of effort towards the right things. There is no point putting maximum effort toward something that needs to be a B.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry