Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to keep track of your friends and
Speaker 1: family members favorite things. It turns out that being thoughtful
Speaker 1: is a skill that can be learned. It just takes
Speaker 1: a little bit of work. I bet we can all
Speaker 1: remember moments when we have felt seen and loved. The
Speaker 1: birthday dinner with all of our favorite foods, the introduction
Speaker 1: that listed all the things we're actually most proud of.
Speaker 1: And then there are the awkward moments, like if you've
Speaker 1: ever been given ear rings but don't have pure steers.
Speaker 1: Being thoughtful is hard to do on command, but a
Speaker 1: big part of it is just paying attention. Notice your
Speaker 1: friends and family members favorite things and keep track of them.
Speaker 1: That way, you'll be able to incorporate these details into
Speaker 1: your life together and increase the chances that people feel
Speaker 1: seen when someone mentions a favorite food, color, musician, sports team,
Speaker 1: make a note. Indeed, the notes field in your Contacts
Speaker 1: app can be a great place for recording this information.
Speaker 1: Handwritten notes in your address book or even a spreadsheet
Speaker 1: can work. Now there's no need to go overboard on
Speaker 1: this and you don't want to feel creepy or inauthentic.
Speaker 1: So John, how about those Eagles, who I remember are
Speaker 1: your favorite sports team? Did you have a Yangling while
Speaker 1: watching the game? Since I remember that that is your
Speaker 1: favorite beer. But when you learn about something that's important
Speaker 1: to another person, especially if it's of interest to you too,
Speaker 1: just pay attention. Subtly. Including these insights can lead to
Speaker 1: a lot of delight. For instance, if a friend loves
Speaker 1: dark chocolate and cherry candy bars, bring a handful of
Speaker 1: those rather than a plant when you visit. If your
Speaker 1: niece's favorite color is purple, put her birthday gift in
Speaker 1: a purple gift bag. When you're taking a colleague out
Speaker 1: to lunch to celebrate his promotion, make a reservation at
Speaker 1: what you know is his favorite restaurant. When you go
Speaker 1: to an exhibit of work by a friend's favorite artist,
Speaker 1: send her a postcard from the museum store featuring a
Speaker 1: painting by the artist and say, seeing this exhibit made
Speaker 1: me think of you. Even with people in your own household,
Speaker 1: it helps to truly pay attention, rather than assume we
Speaker 1: know everything about each other that there is to know.
Speaker 1: People live in their own little worlds. I was somewhat
Speaker 1: surprised recently that my immediate family members didn't know my
Speaker 1: favorite ice cream flavor despite their seeing me order it,
Speaker 1: oh maybe a hundred times. Then again, I've cooked hamburgers
Speaker 1: and hot dogs for my family a great many times,
Speaker 1: and yet I consistently forget to cut up onions or
Speaker 1: put out pickles. Even though my husband always eats those,
Speaker 1: I don't eat them, so it doesn't occur to me.
Speaker 1: Paying attention isn't automatic. The people we think of as
Speaker 1: most thought full and gracious don't have some special power
Speaker 1: that the rest of us don't. It's just that they're
Speaker 1: much better at keeping track of these things, and the
Speaker 1: rest of us, well, we can learn. You can even
Speaker 1: make a game of noticing who loves what. Play twenty
Speaker 1: Questions with your kids, except instead of identifying characteristics of
Speaker 1: an object, name favorite things of a person you all know.
Speaker 1: Or give everyone in the family a survey about favorite things,
Speaker 1: and then see if your kids can guess their parents
Speaker 1: and siblings favorite ice cream flavors, animals, books, and so forth.
Speaker 1: Once you know, you can put this knowledge to work
Speaker 1: paying attention to people's favorite things. Let's us show that
Speaker 1: we care about them and feeling known and loved is
Speaker 1: a pretty universal favorite thing in the meantime. This is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four, then Breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com
Speaker 1: that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For
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