I’ve realized something that I’ve been doing only in a scattered way, but every time I did it, it turned out to be a wonderful boon in my life.
In our lives, it’s pretty common to go over the same converation multiple times. When that converation is an uncomfortable one, we predicatbly fail at it every single time.
I.e when you meet someone, how do you start a conversation? Most people just end up talking about what they do, and it’s not the best way to build rapport. We think we’ll be creative in the moment, but we just end up saying the same thing.
So, let’s keep a swipe file. How about ‘ Hey, how did you and X meet? ‘
Or, when speeking to a mentor at a conference, instead of blaberring about how they’re your hero and ending the conversation, why not ask them ‘Hey, who do you learn from?’ (Saw this is one of Ramit Sethi’s emails, this is gold).
These are generic to everyone, but where this comes in super handy is with specific touchy points that some of us have. For me for example, it’s about discussing University with my parents. I always end up becoming slightly defensive, and can’t really convey my point across. Time to fix that!