Most of you have heard of the golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

There's a guy though, who upped the game on that to the Platinum rule, "Do unto others as they would have you do unto them", which is a lot more considerate.

What that introduces is a word that my longtime mentor used to interject into this when we talked about how to treat others. He called it the "Considering Rule", not just consideration, not just being kind or pleasant, but to consider. Consider who they are. Consider the circumstances, the timing, who we are, all those sorts of things.

At some point in time, we tripped across a technique actually used by Rotary Club. But it came originally from either Socrates or Buddha, it's not clear.

That technique is to ask: Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?

Three simple questions, although we can tease them out a little bit.

Is it true? And am I sure it's true? Is it necessary? Is it necessary for them to hear it? And is it necessary for me to say it? And then, is it kind or is there a way it can be made kind?

The world is filled with opportunities to interact with people in all kinds of ways, and to get feedback, and have interactions, and have relationships. In the end, maybe it goes back to what your mama told you: It's not what you say, it's how you say it.

Well, maybe both of those are true. And maybe we can up our game. Maybe we can get better at this. Maybe we can become so considering that we can become highly effective at interacting with others.

That seems like a beautiful, beautiful outcome, and well worth our efforts to get ourselves there. So give it a shot.