Several years ago, my son came home from his game and asked me, “Were you there for the first quarter of my game, Dad? I started!” I responded “I didn’t get back into town and to the game until the second quarter...but you did great!” I then added, “But you really need to start eating better.” My son was silent. The disappointed look on his face showed me that my criticism had completely crushed the compliment I had given him.  What did I learn from this experience? First, I learned that compliments should be strong and specific. Second, I learned that criticism should not be mixed with compliments. Here’s more on Why You Should Not Mix Compliments with Criticism.