Learn a Little Something from Everyone You Meet
John Maxwell has a rule: Within the first thirty seconds of meeting someone, say something encouraging to them.
It's a good rule. The world definitely needs more encouragement.
I have another rule for myself. Whomever I may meet, I want to find out what I can learn from them.
This might seem self-serving, but it really just makes me inquisitive. It makes me value everyone because everyone you meet has something to teach you!
The only way to disagree with that is to assume that 1) you know it all and 2) they couldn't possibly know something you don't.
So here's the challenge.
Meet someone. Encourage them. Find out what you can learn from them, which requires that you recognize their inherent value and worth.
And here's a bonus. Finding out what they know that you should know is good. But finding out whom they know that you should know is even better.
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Thank you Brandon for the sharing. Everybody has a message to share. And when you are curious about that message, it is easy to encourage someone to tell you something about themselves.
It's hard to "encourage" a person in the first thirty seconds if you don't know them at all, but I'd say acting friendly and positive and paying a compliment to some observation or maybe their cell phone or a book they're reading would be considered encouragement. That's why it's important to be self-confident, so one can easily reach out more and help more people.
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Thanks for this Brandon and you are so right in what you say here. Xx
You're welcome and thanks for the encouragement!