Monthly Archives: January 2016

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How to Increase Your Likability in Two Seconds

Have you ever been at a store or restaurant and been met with a huge smile? How did it make you feel? I bet you smiled back didn’t you? You probably even felt you liked the person helping you. They may have even earned a bigger tip because of the smile they gave you.
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There have been many studies on smiling and the positive impacts of smiling. Here are some benefits of smiling:
  1. Smiling is contagious. Here is an experiment. As you are walking up to someone put a smile on your face. The person you are smiling at will smile back at you almost all of the time. It is hard for them to not smile back because it is natural for them to mimic you.
  2. Smiling makes you more attractive. Research by the Face Research Laboratory  found attractiveness preferences were stronger for smiling faces than for faces with neutral expressions.
  3. Smiling lengthens life. A study by Wayne State University by Ernest L. Abel and Michael L. Kruger found the larger your smile, the longer you might live. They did research on 230 photographs of professional baseball players from the Sporting News Baseball Register up to the 1952 season.  They found longevity ranged from an average of 72.9 years for the players with no smiles, to 75 years for players with partial smiles to 79.9 years for players with big smiles.
  4. Smiling Reduces Stress. Dopamine, endorphins and serotonin are released when you smile. This relaxes you and potentially lowers your heart rate and blood pressure. Endorphins are a natural pain reliever. Serotonin is an anti-represent that lifts your mood. You get all these health benefits for free.
  5. Smiling Changes Your State. If you are not feeling super happy try putting a smile on your face. It is hard not to change your state of mind when you smile.
  6. Smiling Makes You More Likable. People tend to gravitate to people that are happier. Putting a smile on your face will make you more likable.
I put a mirror at the desk of my receptionist by her telephone to remind her to smile when she answered the telephone or greeted customers.  She came in to my office one day and said, “I can’t believe how much more friendly people are.” The customers could see the smile in her voice and responded to her with a smile.
Here is an action plan for the next 2 weeks. Practice smiling every day. Test out your smile. Smile at someone and see if they smile back. I guarantee you that most of the time it will work. It will decrease your stress, improve your mood and allow you to maybe change other people’s moods by putting a smile on their face.

Be Great!

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How to Keep the Spark Alive in Your Marriage

 

Are you dating your spouse? Has your relationship become routine with you doing your thing and your spouse doing their thing?38106979_l

One way to stay closer is to have a date night every week. This is a special night every week that you go out and do something together or stay home and plan an evening together.

Date nights for many couples are nights are a set night every week.  These are important. They allow the couple to have time together to talk and spend time alone.

Couples should get away at least 3 – 4 times a year. These don’t have to be extravagant. This could be just checking in to a local hotel for the weekend or it may be a staycation. Somebody takes the kids and you just stay at your own place alone for the weekend.

If you have young children sometimes a date night or date weekend can be hard to fit in. Date moments are a perfect solution. Every couple can have date moments as part of their daily routines. Date moments can be 60 seconds to 30 minutes of spending time together.  Date moments help to keep relationships alive and healthy. Here are a few date moment ideas.

Creative Date Moments

  • A passionate kiss when you get home
  • Slow Dance in the kitchen to your wife’s favorite song
  • A quick prayer together
  • Deck or Patio time after the kids go to bed
  • A text or call during the day to see how the day is going and let them know you miss them
  • Fire Pit time
  • A bubble bath
  • Drinking a glass of wine or your favorite beverage together
  • Getting coffee at your favorite coffee shop
  • The time before your kids games or events in the car/truck to talk or listen to music
  • Talk after the kids go to bed without the TV on
  • Take a walk around the block together
  • Feed the kids and then eat dinner alone together
  • Write a note or card to your spouse
  • Intimate time after the kids are in bed

Take time this weekend to plan your date night and set up some date moments.

Be Great!

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How to Get Stuff Done

Have you ever had a project that seemed daunting? Accomplishing big things requires breaking the big things in to smaller pieces. If you simplify the project or task it is easier to accomplish.49658488_s

Breaking It Down

1) Define the project

2) Estimate time needed to complete the project

3) Project due date

4) Divide the time required, or size of the project, by the number of days to get your daily required output

5) Develop a project plan

Let’s say for example you want to read 24 books this year. The average nonfiction book is approximately 300 pages long. That would be a total of 7,200 pages. If you were to read every day you would need to read 20 pages per day to read 24 books. 20 pages per day appears a lot easier than reading 24 books. This same idea can be used for many simple projects.

Other projects will require a more in depth process. You may need to go into broader detail and break the project down into sections.

Most larger project plans require the following:

  • Break the project in to tasks
  • Determine materials and resources needed
  • Who is responsible for the task (Can you delegate?)
  • When does each task need to be completed to finish on time

A project checklist or spreadsheet can be very helpful. These are best used for simpler projects. Complex projects may require software programs or apps. There are many great programs available to help you with all your project needs.

Be Great!