Teamwork: The Cheerleader

See my earlier Teamwork post here.

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Another person I'm determined to have on my team is this one:

The Cheerleader

What team doesn't need a cheerleader or two?  The cheerleader doesn't wear a uniform, but he or she has a way of smiling that lets you know you're number 1.  In everyday life, this person's job is less about chanting and leaping into the air in a cool pose and more about providing encouragement at just the right time, which is just as tricky and requires just as much coordination.  The cheerleader is the first one to point out that something has gone well, the friend who knows just when you need a reminder of your awesomeness to serve as an extra push forward and who recognizes your successes even when you don't think they're very important.  My cheerleaders often surprise me; just last night one of them turned to me and said, pretty much out of the blue, "so-and-so thinks you're really smart."  Such a small comment, but talk about an instant confidence boost!  

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I am a cheerleader for others when I can genuinely participate in and celebrate their happiness over an achievement or piece of luck without letting jealousy or competition come into the picture.  For whatever reason, academia has competition built into the system (which makes no sense, because it's not as though the professors hand out a limited number of good grades!), and students spend a lot of time worrying about whether they're measuring up against one another.  Instead we should be acting as one another's cheerleaders.  We can recognize the hard work that others are doing and let them know we see their effort and their success.
The challenge on my side is mainly in remembering to say those nice things I'm thinking out loud instead of keeping them in my head, remembering that everyone likes to have their talents noticed and receive compliments, even if they have a lot of self-confidence.

Sometimes I'm my own best cheerleader.  I still put good papers and important exams that I've passed up on the refrigerator, and lately I've been rewarding myself with knitting breaks when I finish a chapter or section of the book I'm reading at the library as a way of tracking my progress.  3x5 cards with inspiring quotations are taped up in random places throughout my apartment where I see them every day, and a calendar in my kitchen devoted strictly to tracking my workouts in bright colored marker lets me see that I'm meeting fitness goals.  In small ways, I celebrate what I'm doing well.

How do you cheer for others or for yourself?