Before Criticizing, Find Two Things to Genuinely Appreciate

This isn't about sandwiching bad news between fake compliments. It's about training yourself to see the full picture before opening your mouth. When you look for what's going right first, your criticism becomes more precise and less devastating. The person on the receiving end hears I see you, not just your mistakes. Criticism without context feels like an attack; criticism within context feels like guidance. The difference is whether you took ten seconds to notice what's already working.