Most of us react instead of respond to other people, their ideas and thoughts.

Reacting is knee-jerk, top of mind living that gets us into trouble.

All that is necessary to respond and offer truer feelings is 30 seconds.

30 of the most difficult seconds we could ever suffer through.

Resisting the temptation to jump in and answer when we need the other 29 seconds to think about what we just heard first.

Holding back emotions until we have spent at least 30 seconds getting in touch with those emotions and how to frame them.

My wife and I play a game based around the 30-second rule.

When I jump in and react, I can be reminded that I still had 29.5 seconds left to think about what I was feeling.

When one of us comes up with an idea and we have 20 seconds left, we warn “the first idea could be the worst idea”, a reminder that living in a fast paced world is not necessarily beneficial.

The good news is that it is entirely possible to change the way we positively relate to people and to get to know ourselves better.

Take the full 30 seconds and see if it doesn’t make a difference for you.

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