I made it part of my morning routine to go outside, have a cup of coffee, and listen to this app that gives you basically 15-minute summaries of books.

It kind of randomizes it for me.

And this morning, the one that came on

was called How to Talk to Anyone.

And there was a part that really stuck out to me

talked about being methodical

about who you interact with,

particularly in a social setting.

The idea being that you don't need to be

some type of polished politician to be

able to navigate a party or work a room. And it goes into, you know, planning. The idea, like,

eating before the gathering or parties. So while you're there, you can focus on connecting with

the people you want to connect with,

getting the most out of your time there.

That type of thing.

Makes sense.

But the line or the way it was summed up that really got me was, in that situation, be the

chooser, not the choice.

Pretty powerful framing there, right?

Think about how often, when we don't ask ourselves what an ideal ending is, what we want,

and we simply show up and go with the flow, we're actually forfeiting our ability to shape the outcome of the evening.

It's instead going to be shaped by the people who do have a preference and act accordingly.

...