Mind the Gap

Hey all,

I hope you've had a good two weeks. This week, I have a couple of thoughts/pieces of advice - specifically focused on gaps people create between what they think is important and what's important.

For example, when communicating, what's conveyed is sometimes more important than your intentions.

• As a result, you must also focus on your body language and how you're saying things when giving a speech, presentation, or even communicating with a partner.

Another example is that when people judge you, they care more about whether what you're doing makes sense to them than if it's efficient or makes sense in context.

• As a result, if you're selling something or explaining yourself, it may be better to go with a simple story rather than justifying a process that you will have to teach people about

In the end, what I'm getting at is that people mostly only care about what affects them at the moment.

• Like, I'm sure you'll find it's much easier to be empathetic and wish the best for someone you slightly dislike when their actions don't directly impact you any more.

However, to be a good partner, salesman, speaker, or in general, good at interacting with people - you have to think about which perspectives matters to you. It's not simply enough to consider other perspectives or acknowledge they exist.

You have to change your behavior and cater to those perspectives that matter - whether that be your perspective, your spouse's, the customer's, the reader's, the listener's, or someone else. And remember, those perspectives carry different biases - and more biases than you may think.

Have a great week!

-Ethan