To become interesting, be interested
In my first two years in the junior high school I was bullied a lot. Beaten up on a few occasions and walkin back home crying.
Guess it was only deserved because few years earlier, in the last years of elementary school I played my role in bullying another boy. Karma is a bitch.
Luckily my parents showed unmatched leadership and put an end to it after I told them about my situation. Should have told them a year earlier, though.
Since those experiences I felt a fear of being outcast from the social groups that I had. I desperately wanted to have people like me… I was ready to do almost anything to be interesting.
For me, the pendulum swung after I ended up as the CEO for our company at the wake of the financial crisis. I very nearly burned myself out as the company stood at the verge of bankruptcy.
Working with a desperate need to close a few more sales to get through the next month too, I discovered something that gurus had discovered already centuries ago. It’s like Dale Carnegie said: To be interesting, be interested.
Being interested is the easiest life hack there is to find new friendships, build deeper relationships, generate professional reputation and maybe even close a few more sales.
If there was one tip that I could give to the schoolboy me, it would be this.
Pay attention to others. Learn about their motives, desires, fears and dreams. Be interested… becoming intersting is a byproduct of that.
