The Power of Appreciation

A young girl named Liz was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery was a blood transfusion from her five-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness.

The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked him if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. The boy hesitated for a moment, before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes. I’ll do it if it will save her.”

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled as the colour returned to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked in a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away?”

Being so young, the little boy had misunderstood; he thought he had to give his sister all of his blood to save her.

Powerful impact

This is a powerful account of the appreciation felt by Liz for the sacrifice her little brother made for her and it brought a tear to my eye. He was willing to die to save his sister. Her appreciation for what he did would have been huge yet we don’t have to make such big sacrifices to impact others and make them feel appreciated.

Julie and I are staying at the Hilton Doubletree hotel in Dubai where we stay every time we are here because we feel so appreciated. It is quite overwhelming how many staff have come up to us to say how happy they are to see us again and they make us feel special. This doesn’t cost anything but has a huge impact on our experience we have when we stay at the hotel.

Great people

General manager Sherif, has an excellent staff working at the hotel and it will take something special for us to stay somewhere else. The smiles, the welcome every time we return to the hotel each day, and the warmth of their words are music to our ears. This is excellent customer service at its best and it works. When we are here we feel appreciated.

We are really enjoying our time here in Dubai and I had the honour and privilege to deliver my Mental Resilience Masterclass to the staff of the British University in Dubai. It was such a great day and the feedback was really good. Three years ago, I was dreaming about the possibility of working in Dubai and this dream has been realised. My special thanks go to Professor Abdullah for booking me to deliver this Masterclass.

Don’t give up

It is so important to work hard and never give up. Last year I came to Dubai on three occasions and little by little I established contacts and connections. There was one organisation who I met after they heard me speak on Dubai Eye radio, when I was live on the breakfast business show. We met and things looked to be going very well.

I came to Dubai a second time and things looked to be going well and then I found out that my main contact at the organisation was leaving and with him went my potential for business. He passed me onto someone else within the organisation and I met them on the third trip last November but nothing came of it. It is at times like these that you want to give up – but you mustn’t.

I kept coming back

Because I was coming back to Dubai for this original potential client, I spoke at a couple of events and this is where someone from the British University in Dubai heard me speak. If I hadn’t met the first organisation I wouldn’t have gone back out to Dubai so quickly and therefore I wouldn’t have spoken at the event where Dr Rachel Johnson from the University heard me.

There is always a positive to every negative, and the positive here is that by coming back to Dubai on three occasions last year I was led to the University. If I had given up after the first trip or the second, then I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of delivering the Masterclass to such a wonderful group of people.

Persistence is the key

Persistence is an important attribute and one which was prevalent in my early years as a basketball International and professional player, and more recently as a Mental Resilience expert. I am very excited about the future and have some more meetings lined up next week here in Dubai. Included is a Mental Resilience session for the staff of the Hard Rock Café.

Thoughts for the week:

1. What is your persistence level like?
2. Do you give up quickly or do you keep going?
3. If you give up too easily you may be missing massive opportunities.
4. I have studied high achievers and successful people and they all have the ability to keep going no matter what adversity they face. Eventually they break through and see the sunshine.
5. Just one more email, one more phone call, one more meeting – you can be one of these away from breakthrough!

Well that’s it from sunny Dubai and I hope that you have a really productive week ahead.

Warm regards and stay positive.

John

Off the Wall – How to Develop World Class Mental Resilience available here
https://www.jdmindcoach.com/product/off-the-wall-how-to-develop-world-class-mental-resilience/ (Special blog subscriber offer. Put in code 10POUND when prompted to receive a signed copy for £10 including postage and packing)