My company was among the five finalists, but we lost the competition for a fifteen million dollar Navy contract. Two losing companies protested the award, but the protests were rejected. I sent a congratulations card to the President of the winning company. He called and scheduled a lunch to share mutual business opportunities. He said he'd never received a congratulations card from a anyone who had lost a competition.

What does it cost to celebrate the successes and achievements of friends, family, co-workers and even competitors? Nothing. And the potential payback is enormous. Applauding their accomplishments with an attitude of abundance brings pleasure into their lives and yours. When you display an attitude of abundance even in times of apparent loss, it’s easy to feel genuine happiness for the accomplishments of others.

From book: “Taming The Dragons of Change - 10 Tips For Achieving Happiness & Success When Everything Around You Is Changing” – see www.dragonsofchange.com

Celebrating the success of family, friends and co-workers builds an environment of success, and focuses attention on things that work. Focusing on failures and weaknesses, the "half-empty glass", creates a mental inventory of things that don’t work. And when new problems come up, we freeze in inaction because the only memories are dragons of past strategies that failed. On the other hand, when we celebrate success every day, we build a mental inventory of things that work. When problems arise, we reach into that inventory to find a way to solve today's problem.