Most of the intentions behind our actions are hidden. If a person is feeling depressed or angry, usually the resulting behaviors distort their true feelings.
By focusing on empathy you can usually break away these subversions and get to the heart of the issue faster.

Explicit Social Behaviors

Don't assume everything is fine just because someone isn’t having a nervous breakdown.
We all have our individual problems, angst, and upsets that are normally repressed.

We Are All Emotional Beings

People are forgetful by nature (especially with information they don't find relatable), so don’t assume hostility or disinterest if something is forgotten.

People Have Poor Memories

It happens when helping you directly or indirectly helps me. And our behavior is largely dictated by it.
Start understanding the motives of people and appeal to them as if they were selfish. Don’t expect people to offer aid outside of selfish altruism, it isn’t impossible, but it isn’t likely.

Selfish Altruism

<ul>
<li>People are spending only a small part of their time on judging you; your self-judgment is overwhelmingly larger.</li>
<li>People who seem to be mean don’t usually do it intentionally. There are exceptions, but generally, the hurt you feel is a side-effect.</li>
<li>Relationships are your job to maintain. Don’t wait to be invited to parties or for people to approach you.</li>
</ul>

We're (Mostly) Focused On Ourselves

We are social animals and we feel especially sensitive to any threats to becoming ostracized.
So many people who seem to have it all suffer from periods of loneliness.

Suffering From Loneliness

Most of the time you feel something, nobody else knows about it. So don’t get angry when people aren’t responding to you.
If you deceive your thoughts with your actions, don’t get angry when you fool people.

Our Feelings Are Not Explicit

My headline might sound overreaching. Clearly a rule can't define something as complex as human behavior. But despite this, I've found most people tend to make the same mistakes. These mistakes are frequent enough that they create conflicts later. Remembering these seven rules will help you avoid these mistakes.

Selfish Altruism

Similar ideas to Selfish Altruism

What is selfish altruism?

Uses for empathy