Picture this:
You’ve been invited to a house party of someone who values your time and energy. While the host of the party takes you on a tour of the house, they take you through their lounge room where they have a cabinet with clear glass doors. Lining the shelves of this cabinet are important collectibles, awards and photos of personal achievements in the host’s life. And then, amongst all of these awards and collectibles is one trophy. This isn’t any bigger than the other awards but, it has been strategically centred and has clearly been cared for meticulously over the years of this individual’s life. It has a particular shine and sparkle to it. There isn’t a speck of dust and there certainly aren’t any dents or signs of age. It absolutely stands out as the centrepiece amongst their life achievements.
Then, on closer inspection, the badge on the base of the trophy shows the shortest inscription even known for a trophy. It merely has that person’s name on there. Nothing else.
This isn’t a true story, it’s merely a metaphor for the importance that each person places on their name. It’s quite funny because it holds the most meaning to each and every one of us.
If this trophy was just skimmed over by guests due to lack of interest, the likelihood of the host being insulted is probable. What seems to be somewhat insignificant to most people is the most important to its owner.
We associate our name with our identity. And most of the time we take pride in the way that it is spelt, the way it is written and even the way it’s pronounced.
What if we took the same care in other people’s names? It’s pretty simple but so overlooked. Dale Carnegie said, “A person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Imagine the effect we can have on people’s lives by purposefully recognising the names of the individuals that we come into contact with.
I’ve personally been blown away by the results of doing this in my own life. People open up and want to share who they are with you.
Give it a try. Power lies in simplicity.