You'd be surprised at just how powerful the law of reciprocity is. I personally believe that hospitality extends past being a good host, but being a good guest as well.

More often than not, being a good guest will reward you, through the rule of reciprocity, with good hospitality from your hosts. An example of this would be the way you handle your table when you go to a restaurant. My philosophy is to make the job of the person serving us as easy as possible. My partner and I stack plates in a way thats easy to carry, and we'll often take cups back up to a bar as we leave, even if they weren't ours.

When it comes to playing the reciprocity game, I believe that it all starts with you. If you show your guests good hospitality, theres an underlying and unspoken pressure on them to show you the same courtesy.

While this can be taken advantage of by some, it's just the nature of the rule even if you don't intend to put that pressure on someone. Let me ask you, has anyone ever done something nice for you, and you've felt an unspoken need to do something nice for them? Almost like a debt to them? That's the reciprocity rule at play.

When someone comes to your house, they leave the familiarity and comfort of their own home and essentially, if they're a good guest, have to play by your rules. My advice here is very simple:

Make it easy for them.

The first thing you should think of is providing easy access to the necessities. Offer your guest a drink, something to eat, somewhere to put what they're carrying and show them where the bathroom is. If you have rules in your house, such as taking your shoes off when you come in, just make them aware of that without making it a big deal.

If you'd like to take it a step further, prepare some things ahead of time relevant to the reason that they're coming to visit you. If some friends are coming over for a few hours, prepare some food that you know they like. If they're staying for the night, make sure they have a place to sleep, blanket, pillows and a towel to take a shower with. Have I missed something? Feel free to let me know and I'll add it to the post.

When you go to someone else's house, it's on them to be a good host. It's on you, however, to be a good guest. My advice is to be as courteous as possible and have respect for their home and their ways of living.

If you keep your shoes on in your house but they don't, respect that without issue and abide by it. Offer to clean up after yourself, but respect and accept their decision to clean up after you, and then offer them the same courtesy when you visit them.

This is nothing new of course, and the majority of people already know this advice, but it's important to keep these traditions alive. Mutually reciprocated hospitality, in my opinion, has a profoundly positive impact on the longevity of your friendships and relationships, and will serve you very well within your life.