Happy people…Fires, showers…

Happy people…Happy faces

You know the quip. about the guy who’s exhibiting every outward sign of being unhappy or upset but who, when asked says he’s totally happy and everything’s fine.

Then the quips’ snappy line follows with, “Well, maybe you ought to tell your face that!”. Perhaps that’s something we might want to tell ourselves once in a while, because we’re all sometimes guilty of wearing that sad face.

And if a dour countenance is telegraphing negative vibes, then it’s owner shouldn’t be at all surprised if they aren’t enjoying the best of relations with their customers, their associates and especially success in their new account selling efforts.

It’s certainly no revelation that we all dislike dealing with unpleasant people. Who’d like buying their next car from a crabby salesperson, or even just dealing with a grocery store cashier who’s glum and off putting? Similarly then why would we expect success if we’re not projecting a happy face?

And there you have it: The little secret is simply putting a smile on our faces. It’s a well-established psychological principle that if we’re outwardly cheerful in our speech and facial expressions we’ll provide feedback that can affect our actual state of mind. The saying “Fake it till you make it” is more than a slogan. It’s a practice that can alter lives. So keep smiling!

Fires, showers…And motivation

There’s a saying that goes, “Motivation is like taking a shower…You need to practice doing both daily”. There’s a great deal of truth and wisdom in those words. Some mistakenly believe that once we’re motivated to do something that excited state is permanently set in stone. The fact is it’s more like having been written in smoke because it frequently doesn’t last all that long

Then there’s also the absolutely bogus notion that motivation is all internal. You know, we either have it naturally in our makeup or we don’t. And while there may be folks who simply can’t (or won’t) be motivated, the vast majority of us are outwardly “motivateable” and will, with a bit of help, respond with real enthusiasm.

Of course there are those – perhaps like many reading this, who’re blessed to be hardwired to tackle tough tasks with indefatigable and full-blown enthusiasm with no outside help.

But even those hard-core types need to refresh their excitement occasionally. And if they’re leaders, they need to deliver that regular shot in the arm to their team – either to awaken the latent excitement that’s already there, or to rekindle the fire that they started last week.