Recently my “far away daughter” (the fond name we have given exchange students we’ve previously hosted) asked if we could Facetime.
The reason? She was having boy problems and needed to talk.
Our “far away daughter” is 26 years old now and in the throes of finding a partner. As she explained things to me through tears, the guy she had been on “6 or 7 dates” with had suddenly gone quiet and ignored her all night at the dance they were attending.
Our daughter is currently living in Bali (sounds dreamy, right?!) which is a magnet for millennials from around the world and, according to her, dances are a big thing and are held every night. The night had gone poorly which meant that “her heart was broken again”.
“What do you think might be going on in his world?
Maybe something happened with his family?
Or maybe he received bad news from home?
Did he say anything?”
“Mom, thanks for reminding me I’m not the center of the Universe! I’ve been thinking about everything I’ve been doing and how I’ve tried so hard to be attentive, and I forgot that it’s not all about me!”
And isn’t that the truth?
We all get caught up in our own worlds and what WE are doing and often forget about the other person.
This happens in business and in our personal lives.
Just remembering to step back and consider the other person’s point of view is a great place to start when addressing any issue.
And it’s a good habit to get into and remind ourselves of on a daily basis.
It's empathy.
What’s going on in their world?
How are they feeling about things?
Are there any nonverbal cues that indicate something is off?
How can we be supportive versus making things more challenging?
It turns out, our far away daughter is onto something--we aren’t the center of the universe.
Your co-pilot, (who just made a reminder sticky note!),
