The most important thing ever

Think of a time when:

you received excellent customer service;

you got a promotion;

you received an award;

you fell in love.

Now think of a time when:

you received poor customer service;

you were passed on a promotion;

your teammate or co-worker got the award;

you didn't get the girl or guy.

We've all been through all of these — many of us, many times. 

In the first set you felt good; at varying degrees. In the second set you felt bad; also at varying degrees.

The reason why has something — not everything — to do with how IMPORTANT you felt.

Put differently:

Make someone feel important; they will likely have a good experience. Make them feel un-important; they will likely have a bad experience. 

It applies to everything above:

You get a promotion = you're important to us, here's more responsibility. You were passed over for a promotion = [Pete Tequiza] is more important then you. Also, Pete's a nerd.

A busy waitress stops by to say she's super busy and will be right back for your drink order = you're an important customer to her. A busy waitress that zips by a trillion times, without saying a word, ignoring you while you die of hunger = you're less important then the other customers.

You get the girl = you're important to her. She's not that into you = you're not that important. Also she's an idiot, and how could she not see how awesome you are. Just saying.

Even if you only remember to do this 50% of the time, my suggestion is for you to figure out what makes people — and everyone is a little different — feel most important in this world. And do that.

In business, in friendship, in love, and in life — it will make a world of difference.