Meaningful interactions are so pleasing that just thinking about them is likely to raise your overall level of satisfaction according to recent research by Barbara Fredrickson and colleagues (summarized in the book Love 2.0).
Here’s how the researchers recommend taking advantage of this finding:[1]
Every night for a few weeks, review the three longest interactions you had during the day. It’s okay if they were all with the same person. Next, score each interaction against the following statements and record the score on a scale from 1 (not true at all) to 10 (very true):
*During these social interactions, I felt in tune with the person(s) around me.
*During these social interactions, I felt close to the person(s).
Most people who did this simple exercise for a few weeks had positive outcomes, and that’s no accident. Look at the questions again: being in tune with and feeling close to another person put zombie interactions—unfulfilling conversations that we stumble through with little thought or energy—into the ground for good. Additionally, reflecting on recent interactions enables us to bask in the glow of meaningful social connections and to appreciate them again.
Such daily reflection can also spur us to improve our communication as we discover ways to either participate more fully in our interactions or avoid more of the zombie-like conversations that we find so unsatisfying.
Originally published on mouthpeaceconsulting.com.
[1] Source: Barbara L. Fredrickson, Love 2.0: How Our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do, and Become (New York: Hudson Street, 2013), 96–99.