The Most Important Moment

A marriage, a friendship, a close family relationship... All of our important relationships are built on countless moments, innumerable interactions that either build qualities of trust, joy, and respect - or undermine those qualities.

One of the most severe punishments for a prisoner is solitary confinement; one of the most hurtful things kids do on a playground is to ditch another kid; one of the most frustrating and hurtful things that friends can do to each other is to give "the silent treatment." These are all experiences of social isolation; and social isolation is the strongest psychological risk factor for disease. More that stress, more than anything else.

It is so easy to get caught up in whatever it is that we're doing, and miss these moments of contact - the moments when the people we care about ask for our attention. We usually think that it will be just fine to respond a little later when we're done with our task. We do this not because we're rotten people, or because we don't care about our mate or our children or our friends, but because these moments can be easy to miss, and we don't realize the power that's contained in them.

Sometimes when I tell my clients about this, they say something to the effect of: "But if I respond, won't I have to do what the other person is asking? What if I'm busy? What if I don't want to do what they're asking? Do I have to always drop everything whenever someone wants my attention?"

People who should listen to this show are entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, career coaches