Challenge Myself: Day #58 Praise Good Behavior

Today is Day #58 of our Nar Anon Group Just For Today Challenge. I am also integrating the Live Happy into my Challenge. The Live Happy Challenge for today is about praising good behavior with praise.

The book says,

It is human nature to repeat behaviors that get a lot of attention. When it comes to your efforts to build a strong happy family, the key is to focus on the positive behaviors you want repeated and not the negative ones.

Try also to lavish praise consistently for that particular behavior.

What do you do when a behavior is bad? You ignore what you can. Refuse to give it any attention. And pick your fights carefully. Because attention is usually what the other individual or child is seeking.

Your attention is the payoff for him/her acting out or doing something praise worthy. So, praise what you like, and ignore, if you can, what you don't like.

I notice that this applies also to our son who is recovering. I notice that when I stay positive and say positive things this helps him. And the days when he struggles I try to remain positive and if he falls I still say positive things instead of bashing and putting him down because for a moment he lost his way.

Just For Today: I will praise the good things.

pic from: Parent Training Promotional
From the book: Live Happy