How to handle praise

[canis582]

I was watching college football last weekend and they had an interview with JoePa where he said that two things that determine how successful you become are how you handle criticism and how you handle praise. I have been in the 'real world' for almost a year an a half and I do poorly when I am praised.

Every time I get a bad review, I get real scared, bust my buns and improve my performance.

But the times I get good reviews and praise for my work, I become self-satisfied and complacent. My last good review resulted in a lethargic six months before I was brought before HR for another scare session. Now I am back on track and doing better than ever. So I am going to go in again in December, get a good review and repeat the cycle, I fear.

I can't tell my boss to be mean to me all the time, that is not her job.

Has anyone else had this problem? How did you deal with it?