What Makes You Click With Someone Else
You can't put your finger on it. You may not have anything in common. On paper it might seem you'd never be friends. But you just "click.", How does that work? Personally, I'm not one for flighty explanations like simpatico, serendipity, or soulmates. , In Click The Magic of Instant Connections Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman authors of the interesting book Sway The Irresistable Pull of Irrational Behavior explore these phenomena and give some solid insights. They discuss a number of the more obvious causes of connection like proximity and similarity but what struck me most was their emphasis on vulnerability. Via Click The Magic of Instant Connections, Vulnerability is also the element of clicking you have the most control over and can therefore use to improve how often and how deeply you connect with others. There's a heirarchy of vulnerability in the types of communication we have, each one being more open and more likely to lead to a solid connection, The authors spell it out clearly "We can help to create magical connections simply by elevating the language we use from the phatic to the peak level.", Does this really work? Yes. Arthur Aron studies what makes people connect quickly and deeply and has found it's the emotional, personal form of information exchange that promotes feelings of understanding. You can even use it to accelerate the creation of bonds with strangers. It's just a matter of asking the right questions. Via Sam Gosling's book, Snoop What Your Stuff Says About You, You can read some of the questions used here., But how effective can this be really? In under an hour it can create a connection stronger than a lifelong friendship. Via Click The Magic of Instant Connections, The content itself is less important than how personal and emotional it is. Having online daters discuss controversial and taboo subjects like STD's and aborton is more effective in building a connection than "safer" topics, Click points out that studies have shown self-disclosure promotes sexual satisfaction and relationship/marital satisfaction. It even helps online daters, This concept resonates with a lot of people. In fact, one of the most popular TED talks of all time is Bren Browns presentation on vulnerability. I recently posted on how to best strengthen your friendships and romantic relationships. This may be another tool to put in that toolbox. Open up with those close to you. Give it a try. Aron's questions are here., Share this post and encourage your loved ones to open up with you. And if you do, email me and let me know how it works. , Join 25K+ readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree.