My mom’s husband, Brian, works for a car dealership and has for many years.

Recently (at the time of this post), I learned that he made Salesman of the Month for December and Salesman of the Year for 2024.

He got a cash bonus for winning Salesman of the Month, so I expected that for Salesman of the Year, he’d get an even bigger cash bonus, or a party, or something really awesome.

But when I asked him about it, he said, “No one’s said anything to me.”

“What?” I replied, not if sure I was hearing him right. “Your bosses haven’t publicly acknowledged you or sent out a newsletter or hung up a banner or anything?”

“No,” he said.

What the heck?? I thought.

Winning Salesman of the Year means that Brian made the most sales, made the most commissions, and sold the most cars for the entire year of 2024. And he did it working only four days a week.

He worked his tail off, and in my opinion, he deserves more recognition than a casual mention at a team meeting.

So, I put on a nice outfit, bought him a big bouquet of flowers and some balloons in his favorite color, and drove out to his work to surprise him.

I love recognizing people for their hard work, like I do in the 10 Pound Takedown by offering prizes; or in the Transformation Contest, where I pay out a wad of cash to the top three transformations.

Picking just three prize winners is REALLY hard, because so many people transform in a jaw-dropping way, and I’m proud of each and every one of them.

If you’re someone who thinks hard work should be its own reward, yes, in an ideal world, we’d all work hard for the sake of working hard and not care about being recognized for it.

If you’re that enlightened, then I really am glad.

And I try to be, too.

At the same time, recognizing success has a TON of benefits.

So often we focus on all the ways we’re falling or not measuring up, and it’s pretty discouraging when that’s the only thing you ever recognize.

Recognizing your success, on the other hand, inspires you to keep going.

When it’s someone else’s success, it can be proof that what you’re trying to achieve is possible. (This happens a lot with the before and after photos I post. Seeing that Code Red has worked for so many people helps the people who are struggling to believe it can work for them.)

To be clear, I absolutely think it’s important to work on the areas where you’re not doing your best.

But it’s just as important to recognize how far you’ve come and all the things you have done (and are doing) right.