Many years ago, when I first shared my dream of being a songwriter with one of my best friends, she knitted her brows and said, "Huh?"

I can't say I was deflated by all of the warnings that followed. After all, I had always been surrounded by this kind of "practical thinking." In fact, I probably shared my dream with her just so she'd talk me out of it.

During this fumbling stumbling time in my life, I met a man who became an unlikely best friend and mentor. He was a brilliant jazz musician, and he could do pretty much anything on the computer. 

One night, after he performed at a local jazz club, we were walking towards my car. I told him my dream of being a songwriter. Without even blinking, he said, "Honey (he always called me Honey), you'd be a fabulous songwriter. That's perfect!" And he meant it.

At that moment, I felt like I was falling into a soft clean bed. I had never experienced such direct and truthful encouragement without a single "practical" warning attached to it. This friend set me free by offering one simple thing:

Encouragement.

Fast forward many years and successes and failures later. I'm surrounded by encouragers.   I'm sure there are doubters around.   But they don't register anymore. 

Also, I have become an extreme encourager myself.

I've observed extreme encouragers. I've also recognized some traits that they all have in common. Here they are:

• An extreme encourager lives by example
The best encouragers are the ones who live it. Whether they're just getting started, or they're veteran risk-taking creativity-living wild-women - the encouragers are the ones who want a bigger life for themselves and are willing to "go there."   This is why my jazz musician friend could simply offer encouragement when my other friend could not.

• An extreme encourager actively listens
Encouragers know that encouragement doesn't mean you just tell people to "buck up" or "get over it." They know how to listen. This means looking at the speaker, listening to her, setting agendas and judgments aside, and honoring the speaker as a wise soul.

• An extreme encourager avoids clichés
Avoiding clichés is actually a result of actively listening to someone. Being an extreme encourager doesn't mean that you blindly tell people "You can do it!" or "Let go of fear!" It's deeper than that. It's seeing the truth of the other person, especially when they cannot.

• An extreme encourager acknowledges the hooglie-booglies, but doesn't focus on them
We all have the hooglie-booglies. These are the voices that tell us we can't, or we shouldn't, or we'll fail, or we'll look stupid. An encourager doesn't focus on those voices because she knows they they're trying to hook her. An encourager simply acknowledges that the voices are there and that you can't make them go away by arguing with them. An encourager knows that those voices aren't the truth. They only SEEM like the truth.

• An extreme encourager remembers that no one knows what's best for anyone else
An encourager knows that we are all wise and that sometimes we make choices that might not seem so wise. An extreme encourager calls out our deepest desires and then helps us see the thoughts and fears that hold us back.

• An extreme encourager accepts miracles, grace and mystery as the deeper truth.
Extreme encouragers are often mystics of sorts. They know that the so-called "woo-woo" stuff is more real than the so-called "logical" stuff. They celebrate the divine as a simple fact of everyday existence and don't get caught up in the "prove it" mindset.

• An extreme encourager knows that you can develop the needed character traits as you go
In other words, she knows you're ready now, even if you're not perfect yet! I shudder when I read advice that discourages people from trying something because of character traits "required" in advance. "You shouldn't blog if you're not disciplined." "If you don't have focus, you can't be a writer." Most of the successful people I know developed these traits as they went. I certainly did. Encouragers understand the huge potential for growth in each human, especially when someone begins to follow her heart. 

I'm grateful to the encouragers! And I'm grateful to be able to pass it on to others - either my friends, or to women in my retreats or my coaching clients! 

Who has given you the encouragement you needed in your life? And do you pass it on now?