Learn from Cohen and Greenfield.
Once upon a time in Brooklyn, New York at Merrick, Long Island middle school in the 1960s, two chubby and the slowest boys, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were in 7th grade. Although Cohen and Greenfield were in the same class they never became friends, “He told me that day that he liked gym, and we became friends because I also liked gym,” Cohen explained.
They’ve known each other for a long time, and they moved to Vermont in 1978 to open their first store. The shop evolved into the well-known Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream company, which now has over 600 locations worldwide and it’s a part of British conglomerate, Unilever.
In the cases of Cohen and Greenfield, you will learn the best way to converse when meeting someone for the first time. The majority of people prefer to introduce themselves solely using their work. For example, in conversations at events, gatherings, or other social undertakings, when we are asked, “What are we doing?” We find ourselves describing our job profile, It’s as if that job is our identity or the only thing that can tell about us. It is not a good idea to introduce yourself solely using your work. For instance, you might meet someone at a party. In a conversation, he asks what you do, and you respond, “I work for organization A.” We are engaged in activity B. I’ve been there for over X years. I started as an apprentice. Then you end up there.
In a nutshell, this is not a good thing. There are so many things that identify you more than your daily work, and you should not identify yourself solely through your work because;
* It alters your identity and morphs it into a single entry;
* It gives you only one point of view to the people you meet.
* It does not allow you to connect productively and happily with people outside your work cadre; and
* It also makes you tired of your life, which has turned into an endless race after convincing yourself that your job is your life and you are nothing without it.
What is the best way for us to identify ourselves?
If you’ve ever gone to a festival and introduced yourself solely through your work, don’t feel bad about it after reading this. Allow me to share some stats with you. Throughout his or her lifetime, a person will encounter approximately 80,000 people. If you’re still young, you haven’t reached even a quarter of those people, which means you have over 60,000 people waiting to see your face for the first time.
Make no mistakes when meeting someone for the first time at a party, assembly, or any activity. Give an identity based on a small portion of your work; discuss how you spend your spare time, what you enjoy doing, or what you do on weekends. This type of identification will make them more aware of you and your interests, making the conversation more realistic and exciting, and reminding you that you are more than your job and might find your partner in such hobby based conversations.
According to studies on the establishment and development of friendships conducted by Benedykt Fink and Klaus Wild in 1994, it was found that there is high possibility of having have more cohesive and productive friendships with people of similar interests. So you should not tell people about your work only. If you don’t know, let me just tell you that people do not like their work! Those are not my words. The results of a global survey, conducted by the Gullup research and analysis organization that involved more than 1 billion employees, showed that only 15% of all employees worldwide are interested in their jobs, and the remaining 85% are not happy with the work they do. If I put those figures into ant-stats language, then it would be,
For every 10 employees, more than 8 employees do not like their jobs.
This 8-person gang is the gang that collects checks and leaves, the “I’m so excited it’s already the weekend” gang And when you meet people like this at a party, and you identify yourself as “I am a teacher and I teach form X and Z at high school Y.” If he is also a teacher, be aware that this will most likely be your first and last conversation.
Prior to our work, we must value our lives and personalities. Over the last 20 years, You’ve had some interesting experiences and memories (if you are still young). These memories are what keep us connected to others in friendships, productive relationships, and solidarity. Know what you enjoy doing because it is what will bring you together with true friends. Learn to identify yourself with these things because they represent your worth in exchange.
If Greenfield told Cohen that he was in seventh grade and that they were both in the same class, it’s very likely that the two would be unfamiliar with Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Company.
