This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 158, a life-changing challenge.

Add one compliment by Joshua Becker of becoming a minimalist.com.

Welcome to Optimal Living Daily. I'm Justin Mollick, the kid who had a gas bubble the size of a watermelon. According to doctors, too much information? Sorry.

Today's a sort of extension of Minimalist Monday, but not really.

And what I mean by that is that we have a minimalist author, but this post isn't about minimalism.

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And with that, let's start optimizing your life.

A life changing challenge had one compliment by Joshua Becker of becoming minimalist.com.

Quote, Blessed is he who has learned to admire, but not envy, to follow, but not imitate, to praise, but not flatter, and to lead, but not manipulate.

William Arthur Ward.

For the past several weeks, I've been trying a little experiment. It has been quite life transforming, and I recommend it to you. The experiment goes like this.

Include one compliment in every conversation. It's that simple, and it's that difficult.

The challenge did not start out for me as an intentional experiment. A few weeks ago, I was spending time with a good friend, someone I look up to in many ways.

During a break in the conversation, I mentioned some things I admire about him. I didn't think much of it. In fact, it was actually long overdue.

His response surprised me. It was even more emotional than my original compliment. He lifted his head, looked me in the eye, and replied,

Thank you, Joshua. I really needed to hear that today.

I was reminded that many people are fighting difficult battles. We put on smiling faces, but deep down, we heard.

Sometimes a kind word is the only source of hope we find in our day.

I decided from that moment forward, I would try to be more intentional with my compliments and encouragement. In fact, I would try to work one into every conversation.

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