What you do and how you do it matters. Not just to you. It also matters who you impact and how you impact them. In the E+R=O System (Event + Response = Outcome) it looks like this:
“My response is an event for other people.”
You put events in people’s paths by how you respond, just like they put events in your path by how they respond.
It’s the daily interactions that matter most. Comments, conversations, and considerations. Intentions, empathy, and humanity.
How you listen to colleagues. The tone you use with your spouse. How you interact on Twitter. The experience you give to waiters, cashiers, and people you encounter in your community.
You’re well aware of the people in your life who, for one reason or another, can make things more difficult. Sometimes it’s friends and family. Frequently it’s customers and colleagues. Certainly it can be strangers.
People who try to make you feel small through sarcasm. Who take rather than give. Who are quick to get defensive and refuse to listen. People who put in little effort. Who fail to see the impact of their actions on you. Or who see but don’t care.
You recognize these people because you see them, feel them, and know how much effort it takes to control your response when you encounter them.
But today I’m asking a different question:
Do you recognize when you are that person?
Everything is training for something.
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