“Remember when you were in the Beatles? That was awesome!” – Chris Farley to Paul McCartney

If you could meet someone famous what would you say to them?

Fame must be strange. We feel like we’ve developed a relationship with the “famous” person but they have no such relationship with us. The late Neal Peart summed it up nicely when he penned the lyrics to Limelight. “I can’t pretend a stranger is a long-awaited friend.”

Famous people are people, just like you and me. If I had the chance to meet and spend time with a “famous” person on my list, I think I’d like to talk about the same types of things I talk to my friend about. I’d like to talk about family, interests, struggles, and experiences. But can’t we already do that? We have people all around us who are important. I like to talk to people who are interested in me. People who care about what’s meaningful to me. I also like to learn about what’s meaningful to them.

Rather than wondering how to talk to someone famous, I think we should just learn how to talk to people. And recognize that YOU are the “important” or “famous” person to someone in your world. Maybe your co-workers, your community, and definitely your children. Ask yourself, if you had the chance to talk to someone influential or famous, what would you ask? What would you really want to talk about? Now turn it around and think about the people in your circle of influence. How do you talk to them? Do you share your time? Do you show interest? Do you know what’s meaningful to them? I challenge you and myself to flip the script. Don’t wish you could talk to someone famous. Rather let us ourselves be awesome, be interested, be helpful, be influential, and be available to those in our circle of influence. We can change the world, one relationship at a time.