Last week I was driving home from a client during the rush hour. There was a long queue of cars, which I was in the middle of, slowly moving to the traffic light. I would say we were driving about 5 km/h (3 mph). There was a man who wanted to turn left, and join the line of cars… right in front of me. I was about to experience the law of reciprocity in action.
Reciprocity
There were 2 things I could do: I could let the man join in front of me, or I could quickly close the gap so he’d have to wait for another spot. I decided to give him the spot in front of my by stopping and signalling him. A moment later when a similar situation happened to the man in front of me I just let in the queue, and he also decided to let the other person join.
This example illustrates the law of reciprocity. It states that any act is followed by an equal act of the other party. If I would have cut short that person, it would be extremely likely that he in turn would have cut short the third person.
The human factor
When we use the law of reciprocity there is an interesting thing that happens. If I give someone one dollar, the law of reciprocity says he is going to give me back something of equal value. Yet he will most likely give me back something of greater value. This is called the human factor.
It is human nature to give back more than what we received. However, this is also true when what we give is negativity!
The law of attraction
The combination of the human factor in the law of reciprocity and the law of reciprocity itself are commonly defined as the law of attraction. The law of attraction states that you receive what you give.
So whenever you want to use this to your advantage, make sure you do two things:
- Be the first to act
- Act positively
This ensures that people will always give you back more than you have given them and makes sure that you attract positivity around you!
Sat, Apr 10, 2010
Self Improvement