Surround yourself with talented folks to succeed.
I hope this isn’t new advice because today, I’m going to show you a simple trick to keep them around.
It’ll improve your relationships and you’ll live a happier life.
You don’t need an expensive membership and you can keep your same daily routine. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Now without further ado… smile :).
That’s it! All you need to do is smile.
Natural or forced, a smile sends a powerful message. Both inward and out.
Smiling lowers stress and makes you more approachable. And don’t just take my word for it. There’s research to back it…
In one study, students performed a stressful task while holding a chopstick in their mouths. The chopstick’s position helped the students hold a smile or a neutral position.
The task raised stress levels as intended and the results surfaced. Students with a smile showed significantly less stress… but the study didn’t stop there.
Genuine vs. Fake Smiles
The smiling group was broken down into genuine and fake smiles. The researchers prompted the students to unwittingly trigger muscles at the corner of their lips. This was for all the smiles. And the genuine smilers were prompted to activate muscles around their eyes. This produced “crow’s feet”… or wrinkles around the eyes. They form during a genuine smile.
The study showed genuine smiles reduced stress more than fake smiles. But once again, both the smiling groups showed less stress than a neutral face position.
So smiling, forced or not, is a great way to reduce stress. The old adage “just grin and bear it” carries some weight… And smiling isn’t the only way to improve your happiness. You can simply frown less.
In another study, depressed patients received Botox injections. The treatment disabled facial muscles responsible for frowning. And compared to a control group, the frown-free patients showed huge improvements.
Now the reason for increased happiness is likely two-fold. First, your brain subconsciously reads your body language. You trick your mind into thinking you’re happy. And the second reason is more social.
Your outward emotions influence the way folks treat you. Look happy to keep folks around you happy. You’ll be more approachable.
I’m sure you’ve heard “your first impression might be your last”… but with a smile it’s less likely. Always remember our communication is largely nonverbal.
So it’s simple, smile more and watch folks around you do the same.
We’re social creatures. Emotion is contagious and it’s built into us.
Powerful Psychology in Advertising
One of my favorite ads is a screen showing a face in clear detail. The face slowly yawns… and then folks watching it yawn too. Then boom! An ad pops up for coffee. It’s Brilliant.
Now pause what you’re doing. Imagine a friend yawning.
Seeing and thinking about it, you’ve likely yawned. Talk about a psychology hack.
I encourage you to share this article. Watch as friends read it and look for them to yawn… or just ask after they’ve read it.
Learning the way you work will improve your relationships in the world.
Start with your emotions and control them. They compound around you. So put out good vibes and folks around you will yearn for your presence.
Invest mindfully,
Brian Kehm
P.S. Interested in more psychology tips and tricks? This simple Venn diagram shows an amazing way to improve your focus.
I think you’ve got it.. Smile really is a great way to start the day.
I appreciate your studies of this…
Very interesting
Thanks Joyce! Smiling is powerful and has many other benefits I didn’t list in this article.
Brian, you really shared alot of wisdom there! Wise and frugal….wisdom shared….may I use this as I preach and I will always give you credit and share Frugal Fortunes too! I have always been joyous when someone referred to me, I know that frugal is faithful. Be faithful young man!!! Well done!
Thanks Barb! Feel free to share this research with anyone 🙂
Hi Brian, I would like to sincerely thank you for sharing this nice article. Here is my personal experience; partly similar to your research:
We have a lot heard of fake smile that can lower anxiety and stress level. Now do steps below to try it instantly:
1- Close your eyes and review a painful event or a terrible situation.
2- Now try to put and freeze a mellow smile on your face and again think to that irritating event. (no need to show your teeth 🙂 !)
3- Compare your feeling of two above states. How different were these two moods?
My friends who did the test have expressed that keeping a smile on their face, make them unable to entirely focus on annoying thoughts.
Scientifically, human brain cannot analyze two different feelings simultaneously. That’s mean it is impossible to feel sad (due to negative thinking) right at the moment that you are happy (by having a gentle smile on your lips) or vice versa. So, bringing a smile on your lips whenever you are feeling stressed or anxious will force your brain to follow your face and give you extra power to overcome bad feeling.
Thank you kindly
Thanks Saeed I really appreciate it! Also, thanks for the example and additional steps to try. It worked for me as well.