Fun fact: this was the 1st podcast episode I ever recorded!!! Canon event!!
The seminal Harvard study on Adult Development found that close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives. Those ties protect people from life’s curveballs, help to delay mental and physical decline, and are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes, the study found. Our relationships have a powerful influence on our health – so how do we enrich our relationships? Partly through deeper conversation.
TIMESTAMPS
00:36: pro-tip – go to networking events where you know NOBODY
01:26: why you should care about deeper conversations & connections w ppl
02:11: staunch advocate of talking to strangers in this house
02:42: serendipitous meetings with strangers
02:51: the story of the beautiful stranger i met under the eiffel tower in paris
06:35: second story of a beautiful stranger i met during the sunset in port melbourne
07:42: meeting god through strangers
08:14: the mindset that there’s ALWAYS something you can learn from someone
09:26: when you reduce the multiplicity of a person into a series of labels, that’s a disservice to both you and them
09:37: nobody is ever above or beneath you + some absurdism
10:36: if you want to be interesting, be interested
10:54: my favourite questions to ask ppl
11:53: go first – smile first, compliment first, be vulnerable first
13:18: approach conversations with the mindset of “how can i help this person?”
13:55: on conversational card games like we’re not really strangers
Recommended reading: longitudinal Harvard study, which began in 1938 and studied people over the course of their lifespan to investigate what drives happiness: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/
Cover art: “The Dance” by Henri Matisse
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