"Do you praise or criticize?"

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Someone did an experiment with two groups of golfers. Each group had a round of golf videotaped.

The video of the rounds was edited. The first group was shown video of their best shots—their longest drives, their most accurate iron shots and chips, their one-putts. The instructor conducting the experiment praised the golfers and told them to, "Go out there and play like this again." And the golfers did. In fact, they went out and actually improved their scores.

The second group was shown video of their worst shots—their drives that were topped, their shots that were hooked and chips that went over the greens, their missed short putts. The instructor conducting the experiment told these golfers, "People, is this any way to play golf? Now go out there and fix those shots." And the golfers immediately went out and played worse than before.

Praise someone and you encourage him to do his best. Criticize her and expect her to fix it on her own and you discourage her from improving.

Listen to life and make a life by praising those around you.

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