I recently read the chapter ‘Do This And You’ll Be Welcome Anywhere’ of Dale Carnegie’s book ‘How to Win Friends & Influence People’. It is fascinating to find identical values in a book written almost a century ago! Here are a few takeaways from the reading which I found on Coursehero:
- To make friends, show interest in other people rather than try to impress them or make them interested in you. People are “interested in themselves — morning, noon and after dinner.”
- Showing interest in and “concern for the seemingly unimportant people” can lead to greater popularity, unexpected benefits, and new opportunities. In addition, showing interest in customers can strengthen their “loyalty to your company.”
- Making friends takes effort, including doing “things for other people — things that require time, energy, unselfishness, and thoughtfulness.”
- “Greet people with animation and enthusiasm” to set a positive tone for the conversation.
- Kindness can have a profound, lifelong effect on people.
- Principle: “Become genuinely interested in other people.”
I probably couldn’t summarize the chapter in a better way. I liked how simple the text was, easy to understand, nothing too fancy for someone like me who lives under the rock.
This week I applied what I learned from this chapter in my life. I agree that it is better to be interested than being interesting. This mindset has acted as a catalyst in helping me make friends who come from all walks of life. I couldn’t be more grateful.
This mindset has acted as a catalyst in helping me make friends who come from all walks of life. I couldn’t be more grateful.
I started out by asking my friends questions about themselves, how they were coping with the lock-down, what they were doing to keep themselves busy. I focused entirely on them, their interest, their lifestyle. The conversations we had were very engaging. The responses to questions relevant to their interests generated profound responses and made the person on the other end seem more engaged than they usually are when we talked on topics of mutual interest. Someone was watching Tarak Mehta ka Ulta Chashma, while someone else was having a flop tutoring session with their sibling.
…we still talk the same but have different priorities in life.
I also got a chance to connect with my middle-school best friends who are now either in a different country or a different province. It was good to talk after a long time, we still talk the same but have different priorities in life. It felt good to know about what was going on in their lives at the moment and what they were up to. The skinniest of us all was trying to be funny by informing us about her tummy. Yeah right! If she had a tummy, we had a sack of potatoes! How hard people try to fit in sometimes! Toxic, I tell you.
Anyway. We decided to have a video chat after about 7 years. Yes, a long time. Because the stars weren’t aligned that night (or every other time we decide to video chat), we have postponed it to a tentative date. *whispers never happening*
Don’t I look fancy waiting for the tentative date to be announced? Also, please suggest if I should keep the bow on my neck or shift it to my head? I am confused.
