Most of us at some time in our lives earn certificates and awards. They’re given for all sorts of reasons: for being especially brave, doing a good job, achieving excellence or attaining a level of skill.
And for other reasons too: like helping others, creating something special and being best in the show. Even just participating in some cases is enough to get a certificate of appreciation!
Essentially it’s all about recognition.
But whether you choose to display them, now there’s where people do differ. For while some people put them in a drawer, others want them framed and on display.
Recently, a client in Caloundra who was inordinately proud of her achievements engaged us to help hang up her awards.
It was a delight to sort, catalogue and then decide just where the 30-odd were to go. To credit her with some modesty, she didn’t intend to display them in the lounge. No, now retired to a great spot on the Sunshine Coast, she wanted them in her home office.
To her, they represented her working life and it was one full of adventure and excitement – in a career she relished, doing a job she loved. Don’t get me wrong – there were a smattering of tongue-in-cheek awards amongst the serious stuff. But overall these certificates were evidence of fun times and overcoming difficulties in her career progression, along with hard work and study and responsibility rightly earned.
They represented places she’d worked overseas, the people she’d worked with and the friendships she’d forged. And all encapsulated in these framed pieces of paper.
So be proud and show the world – or at least your visitors. Did you finish 152nd in your first fun run or did you get to compete as an elite athlete? You know how much effort went into that – so show off the result.
Did your pooch win an obedience trial or finally learn to sit and heel? Dog training can be hard work requiring time, patience, understanding and a firm hand. So display his certificate of merit.
Did your Chamber of Commerce bestow a service award on your small business or has the local school given thanks for a donation? These are so special in a world where people are quick to complain – demonstrate to your customers that you’re different.
In fact, if you do have any awards or certificates stuck in a cupboard think about what it took to earn them, what they represent, and then get them out and display them to all. If nothing else it’s a great talking point.
Of course, using Right Hook picture hanging means you get an expert’s view – very helpful in sorting through and displaying those certificates to achieve maximum effect.