People Skills Decoded

I often say that the most valuable resource we have in life is time. Time is the only resource that cannot get replenished. You can perhaps extend it a bit by living healthy, but beyond that what you get is what you get, and your responsibility is to use it wisely. So if there is [...]

I got an interesting question a few days ago from a reader of the social confidence newsletter. He noticed that very frequently, in buses, on the street, in the supermarket, while waiting in line, people look intently at him. So he asked me: “Why do people stare at me?” It’s not that “Dang! You’re hot!” [...]

Make no mistake about it: in today’s world, knowing how to talk to people is one of the most important virtues you can possess. If you don’t know how to talk to people it’s hard to make friends, build a social life, grab the interest of the opposite sex or get ahead in your career. [...]

They say friendship is a lost art. I don’t know if that’s an overstatement, but as a social confidence coach, I do know that many people don’t truly grasp how to be a good friend. Their friendships are frail and superficial. They don’t last and they don’t provide the positive experiences they could. I think [...]

I believe the importance of friendship is something that simply cannot be overstated. Nevertheless, friendship is something that we as a society pay little attention to. We seek to make money, achieve success, find love and have a family, but we often mislay making friends somewhere in the category “and others”, which we’ll eventually focus [...]

If you’re shy, learning how to stop being shy, whether it’s around girls, guys or people in general could be one of the most important things you’ll learn in your entire life. Once you understand how to stop being shy, you can become more confident, connect with others better and have and enormous amount of [...]

Me, I’m an oddball. I follow a healthy eating plan although I’m thin as a rail (which most people find strange), I believe in polyamory, and I often say some of the most retarded stuff you can imagine in conversations. Many of the persons I coach have this belief that they are weird and that [...]

In the last few years, I’ve given a lot of thought to the question: What makes one happy? I think there is a lot of variation, as each person is different, but there is at least one common thread. And that thread is good relationships. I think that, on the whole, the people with the [...]

I was recently watching Mark Sisson’s talk about The Lost Art of Play. Mark, who is the author of The Primal Blueprint, takes an interesting viewpoint on playing. He says that play, in any of its forms, entails three key qualities: It’s not directed towards an outcome; It’s in the moment, and; It’s fun. So [...]

Romantic relationships: the epitome of complicated. Once in a while, I like to surf on various personal development forums and read some of the recent threads. I can’t tell you how many threads on these forums are started by people who just broke up or they’re on the verge of breaking up with their partner. [...]