Three New People: Make the Most of Your Daily Interactions and Stop Missing Amazing Opportunities

Recognizing that other people have other minds is incredibly important, but it comes with a caveat: the fact that somebody else has a mind completely unique to them, and distinct from yours, means that you will never be able to truly understand their thoughts, feelings, or beliefs.

I guess I do a pretty good job of remembering people’s names. The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized it wasn’t a gift. Rather, it was a skill that I had been developing, unconsciously, over many years of giving interactive stage performances.

when you love somebody, you put their needs ahead of yours.

if you aren’t looking at me, I may as well be invisible.

One of the oldest tricks for remembering someone’s name is to use it out loud three times in quick succession. In the context of my live stage show, it goes like this:

This banter from popular 2000s TV dramedy House, M.D. perfectly represents the issue. Cuddy: “How is it that you always assume you’re right?” Dr. House: “I don’t. I just find it hard to operate under the opposite assumption.”

Will I use those three opportunities today to make my life, and the lives of the people I meet, better?

The road to success is a labyrinth with many locked doors in its path. But there is always at least one person who holds the key for each door.

The best way to hone an act is to shine a light on its shortcomings, and the only way to do that is to fail in front of live audiences.

There’s a phenomenon by which you can selectively focus in on your name, even in the loudest and noisiest of environments. It’s called the “cocktail party effect,”