Friday, January 28, 2005

Reverse Golden Rule

We have all heard the "golden rule". Its found in Matthew 7:12:
12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
We have think about it as treating people the way we want to be treated.

There is also an implied corollary to the golden rule. It is that people reflect back the treatment they receive. A couple of examples to illustrate the point.

1 - Smile. When you smile at someone they will smile back. Try it. It works on perfect strangers walking down the street.

2 - Expectations. If you expect someone to fail they often will. If you expect someone to succeed, they often will. Why? Think about it. How do you treat someone whom you expect to fail? How do you treat someone whom you expect to succeed?

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