Obviously it’s nice to get praised, it feels very good and motivates you to do better but I don’t think it is something you should rely on for gauging your performance.
If you’ve worked very hard in the background and don’t get the praise you feel you deserve then it can be quite disheartening.
Praise from others also relies on them being able to discern the complexity of the task.
For example someone watching rugby for the first time wouldn’t be able to appreciate how hard it is to score a drop goal.
Also you have to take into account that the star player gets the majority of the attention.
For example, for the 2003 Rugby world cup final, Wilkinson will get the majority of the credit and deservedly so, he showed great nerve to score that final drop goal but he doesn’t deserve all the credit. Jason Leonard came on and stabilised the scrum, Matt Dawson made a crucial break to bring England within drop goal range and Martin Johnson had the presence of mind to recycle the ball to allow Dawson to get back to his feet.
Wilkinson couldn’t have scored that drop goal without his teammates but people don’t seem to factor that into their praising.
A much more effective way to know if you’ve done a good job is to create your own barometer for gauging your performance. That way you hold yourself to your own standards and know deep down whether you did a good job or not, regardless of outside praise.
Thomas Duggan 