Yesterday was Monday, and it was raining. Usually I don't let those two factors determine my mood. But yesterday I was in a pretty crappy mood. Then of course, lately my stress levels have been pretty high, so unfortunately, the fact that it was Monday AND it was raining effected me a little bit. I typically look at Monday's as a fresh start. New week. New business. New opportunities. Another chance to start the week off right and make it better than the previous week.
As an entrepreneur and a person who works in sales, most of the time I am conscious of my appearance, demeanor, facial expressions, perspective, etc. Always asking myself the question: "Would I approach me?" Anyone who owns a business, talks with others on a daily basis in business, or has a market to serve understands the fact that one must be 'approachable'. Not stand-offish and bothered by others' inquiries or conversation. People pleasing isn't the key to success in business, but relationships are key, so it's important to be trustworthy, approachable, and smart. So with that in mind my personal 'ism' to success in life is: "Smile, you'll make more money." Of course it's a simplistic approach, but in perspective a person is more likely to attract others when he or she has the outward appearance of being happy. The easiest way to share that feeling is to simply smile. Be happy to help others. Engage with others. Be genuine. Smile. I have even gone so far as to get dental work done to make sure I'm at least confident in my smile and folks aren't turned off by my smile.
Back to Monday...after the meeting my mood felt a little better because the meeting was positive, encouraging, and very informative for the sales team. Pumped and ready to book appointments. The stresses of my personal life and finances still pressed on in my mind though. When I stopped at the gas station and was walking in to go put '20 on 5' (yep, times are tight when I'm paying cash for my fuel) and a woman walked out of the store as I'm walking up, classic suburbanite climbing into her Lexus SUV, dressed nice, hair and makeup near perfect, and she looked at me and just flashed the nicest, most courteous and genuine smile and said 'Hello'. Now how can I not respond to that? I mean, I definitely did not want to be 'a snooty bitch' and not respond, or flash a 'fake smile' so I smiled back. I was pleasantly surprised and returned the 'Hello', and it was genuine. A friendly interaction that could have been shrugged off, but the fact that it re-aligned my perspective on my Monday issues making me realize that the only way to go is up, the whole thing felt good.
The whole 'incident' got me thinking that life's not so bad, and that there is a lot of value in a genuine smile. The value perceived may vary by person, but think of how a smile can change your day or better yet, someone else's day. I'm not trying to be the rah-rah smile cheerleader, but if you want to make a difference in someone's day or your own, flash a pretty little smile and see what happens.
~Cat~
