Here are this week’s Life Pro Tips.
1. If you tell someone a secret they are almost definitely going to tell their spouse, even if you promise them to secrecy.
2. If you are doing something and a young child asks to help, don’t say “no” or “you’re too little.” Find a way to have them help, even if it’s a distraction unrelated to your task, and thank them for helping. This develops positive self-esteem, mindfulness, collaboration, and gratitude.
3. When you are teaching someone HOW to do something you should also spend a lot of time explaining WHY you are doing it a certain way because the WHY helps the person remember the HOW.
4. If an elderly parent or relative is retelling the same story for the millionth time, don’t stop them. Instead, ask them questions about the event. It is likely an important event to them and asking new questions about it gives them the opportunity to revisit it in new ways.
And it also helps you not have to listen to the same exact story all over again. It can be like a game. Each time the story comes up, you get a chance to ask a new question to take it in a different direction.
When you just aren’t in the mood you can also help steer the conversation away from known triggers. Stories like this occur based on triggers. If any time you talk about swimming your dad tells you the story of chasing snakes out of the pond to swim as a kid, you can make sure to avoid conversations about swimming if you aren’t in the mood. If you can identify what causes this story to trigger you can help steer the conversation away from that in the future.
5. Only take from the center of the Nutella jar to empty it completely.
If you only take from the center of the Nutella jar, the thickness of the Nutella stuck to the glass will pull it down. This will cause the sides to be perfectly clean by the next day.
