A Slight Change of Plans The Life-Changing Impact Of Showing People They Matter
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Feb 3, 2026 Jennifer Wallace, journalist and bestselling author of Mattering, studies how small actions make people feel valued and purposeful. She explains the SED framework—significance, appreciation, investment. Stories range from teachers and caregivers to firefighters, plus simple practices and rituals that help people feel seen and stay connected.
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Use The SED Framework Regularly
- Practice the SED framework: make people feel significant, appreciated, and invested in.
- Speak to their quirks, praise the doer not just the deed, and show sustainable reliance.
Tutor Role Turned Invisibility Into Impact
- Maya Shankar recounts being invisible in a large high school until a Spanish teacher asked her to tutor a struggling classmate.
- Tutoring made her feel capable and created a preserved meaningful letter of appreciation.
Breakfast Club Became A Healing Ritual
- Grandma Peggy hosted breakfast clubs that made students feel known and supported through tests and personal struggles.
- After her grandson's death the teens kept coming and the ritual helped both her and them grieve and heal.
