It’s all relative
Back in my Boston days, I worked with some people from the Midwest. I remember them saying that people from the area were not very friendly. At the time, I thought we were friendly and didn’t really understand what they meant.
Later, Trish and I were at Lake Tahoe and had an enlightening experience. We were at Starbucks and I ordered a Chantico drinking chocolate. It came in a little cup that was noticeably different than their other drinks.
When I got my drink, a stranger next to me asked what I had. Their curiosity spread like wildfire until the whole Starbucks was talking about my beverage. It was at that moment that I realized why people think East Coasters are unfriendly. It would be unthinkable for this situation to occur in a Boston Starbucks. Talking to the person next to you in line is unusual, never mind a group conversation with the whole Starbucks.
It’s all relative to what you consider appropriate. Some people try to engage with everyone to be friendly. Other people leave strangers alone to be polite. Whichever group you’re in, the other group seems odd and maybe even rude.
When has someone else’s normal seemed unusual to you or your normal seemed unusual to someone else?
Hopefully, my questions cause you to reflect on your own thinking, relationships or choices. Maybe I even inspire you to make positive changes.
If you want to comment publicly, click on the photo of the post to get to the comment page. Send private comments to info@simplybettercoaching.com
Make your misses hits
When trying to improve your performance, you can maximize your strengths to increase your highs or improve your weaknesses to reduce your lows. How do you know which to do? Figure out which is easier to improve or which will more significantly improve your...
SimplyBetter Growth Challenge
After listening to the Mindset audiobook the last few days, I am inspired to help myself and others reinforce the growth mindset. Knowing we can improve is one thing, taking action is another. My challenge for you is to pick one thing to work on for the...
Observe and learn (don’t judge)
When Trish and I met, I was working as a security guard. Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing for me. I took the job when I was somewhat desperate for money and it paid ok, but it was not very fulfilling and seemed like a waste of my potential. How did I...
The power of constraints
When I first started writing essays in preparation for starting my blog, I used one-word titles. I liked the idea of boiling the blog post down to a key word. After about 10 essays, I realized that one-word titles might be too restrictive, so I ditched...
Set audacious goals
The risk of reaching for easy goals is that you might meet them, not realizing how much more you could have accomplished. If instead you reach for goals that are audacious, you are likely to achieve great things even if you fall a bit short. If you could...
The more I learn, the less I know
Earlier this week, we had a little health scare with Roli. He wanted to go out at 4am (not unusual), but then he was a bit out of it, with labored breathing and coughing. This has never happened and it seemed like it could be something significant. He had...
A little push
Sometimes you do more that you thought you could because someone else expects you can. Self-doubt can restrict your progress. I went to the gym for what looked to be a really tough workout: 3 rounds, as fast as you can 750 meter row 25 foot handstand walk 25 toes to...
Focus on the reward
Chores and undesirable tasks are easy to avoid. Sometimes anything else seems more important. After they're done, the great feeling often makes the effort seem small. Why do we put things off? On Sunday, Trish and I did a kitchen tidy. A couple of our...
Set a new normal
Seeing people that are really overweight, I sometimes wonder how it happened. Then I remember my own experience. I joined the corporate world after college. My normal breakfast was a pastry or muffin and a 20 ounce soda. My normal lunch was a sandwich with...
Get things done
I manage to do lot of different things every week. Several people have asked me how I do it. Spoiler alert - I don’t fit everything in every day, but I fit it in every week. How do I do so many different things? Stack my tasks - I sometimes listen to...
Better to act early than late
When non-essential business are sanitizing like crazy, it’s probably time to close until the danger passes. If you want to see some projections of waiting too long to isolate ourselves, check out this page: https://covidactnow.org/state/NH Here's my thinking: If you...
Do it yourself
If you see an opportunity, take it. If you have a compelling idea, share it. Trish kept suggesting ideas for blogs that I should write. I pushed back and asked her to write the blogs herself. Now she’s published 10 guest blogs. Because I pushed back, she took a risk...