Two speakers explore how vulnerability builds connection. They describe the lifeline exercise, where people mark five-year segments of their lives with highs and lows, then share openly with a group. When one person reveals a struggle like losing a parent, others follow, creating a loop of trust and empathy.
The greatest joy I get doing public speaking, doing podcasts is not in sharing my story or I'm so great. What I love is hearing other people sharing their story. And I'm like, okay, what I'm doing in part is connecting with them and now they're connecting with me and we've just elevated each other.
And that vulnerability is sort of like the first step to—
Someone's got to be the first. Yeah.
And admitting you've got a problem, right? I mean, that's somebody else, some other brand's point all the time. The first step is admitting you have a problem, but that's It's got to be it in this case as well.
It totally is. It totally is. There's an exercise you can do with a group of people, 8 or 10 people, and it's called a lifeline. And what you do is you look at your life to today. So I'm 53. I know you're looking at me like, dude, Mike, Mike, you don't look a day over 52. I'm serious. Now, we've known each other since kids. And now I'm 53. And what you and I could do— you're 52.
I'm 53. Are you?
Yes. You don't look a day over 52. So good to me. No, you look amazing. But what we could do is we can cut our life into 5-year segments. So from 0 to 5, most of us don't have much memory, but maybe you have a little memory of maybe kindergarten or something extraordinary, and you go through it. And what you do is you mark the high and low points. Your father's passing, for example, that happened in your 40s. And that was actually— were you 50 when he passed?
Not yet. No, you're right. I was in my 40s.
Yeah. It was a very impactful moment. And that may be a very low point on there, and you write it and other moments. So you do this, And then you talk about it to the group, what your moments were like, but also what you have gained from this. It doesn't have to be positive. It can just be pure, like, "I had a crappy 20-year life of abuse." What's interesting is by sharing your story, the next person feels more confident in sharing their story. By the third or fourth person going, it really starts rolling. And then you loop back to the first person and connection happens. Connection happens out of vulnerability. And the big realization is you and I and the rest of the world, we're all the same.
No one's great.
We all have different paths. We're having different life experiences, but no one's better than anyone else. It's this eternal loop that we're going through. And we just have to have the courage, and I try to have the courage to share the ugliness of it, just to affirm with each other, we're all the same. And please share your story so we can help each other in this eternal loop that we're navigating.
