Your name is worth the three extra seconds it takes people to learn it.

REFLECTION

WHAT THIS MEANS

Shortening your own name to save other people effort is a trade you make without noticing, and it costs more than it saves. Three seconds is the entire price of the correct version: one repetition, maybe two. Offering the easy substitute first teaches the room that your name is negotiable, and it is one of the few things about you that is not.

Give the full version when you introduce yourself this week, and say it slowly enough to be learned. If somebody asks for the short one, you can decide. Deciding is different from handing it over before anybody asked.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Do you let people shorten your name to save time?

MORE IN MINDSET & IDENTITY

Free, with nothing to buy inside it.