The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact

defining moment is a short experience that is both memorable and meaningful.

There is power in preloading a response.

the whiplash caused by realizing they could ACT and then willfully jolting their lives in a new direction. They were not receiving a moment, they were seizing it.

Dee Fink’s book Creating Significant Learning Experiences.

Art Aron 36 questions. A. Aron et al. (1997). “The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness: A Procedure and Some Preliminary Findings,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 23: 363–77.

You leave the office that day thinking, I belong here. The work we’re doing matters. And I matter to them.

He resolved to unwind his relationships—to “beautifully resolve” them—and to work systematically from the outer circle toward the middle. He reasoned that as his disease progressed, he’d want more uninterrupted time with the people who were closest, especially his family.

What makes the second note so powerful is that it rewires the way students process criticism. When they get their paper back, full of corrections and suggestions, their natural reaction might be defensiveness or even mistrust.

To elevate a moment, do three things: First, boost sensory appeal. Second, raise the stakes. Third, break the script.