This quote reminds me of a very practical lesson I learned from Tony Robbins. He called it “The magic of Rapport”. In a nutshell: people will like/respond to you, if they think you are like them, or how they imagine themselves. Tony uses a method called mirroring. That means you pay attention to the person in front of you and copy their movements, habits, speech, breathing, etc. If the person sits with their right leg crossed over their knee – you sit with your right leg crossed over your knee. If they blink excessively – you blink excessively. If they talk using their hands – you answer using your hands. Copy their breathing, speech patterns, body language, etc.
You may think that the person you are mirroring will see you as mocking them, but that is almost never the case. Most people are talking to themselves – they’re unconscious, and it’s their sub-conscious that makes them like or dislike an individual. If they see themselves in you they will like you. Tony is a master at this. It’s only one of the tools that has made him a billionaire. If this sounds airy fairy, or hard to believe, try it yourself. The next time someone is angry with you, start mirroring them. Within minutes that person will have a smile on their face. It’s not as easy as it sounds though. Basically you have to completely relinquish your own ego and take on the personality of the person in front of you.