Putting Your Best Foot Forward
On meeting another person for the first time, we are judged (fairly or otherwise) by our appearances and then when we open our mouths.
When you think of ducking down to the local 7Eleven for milk and the newspapers on a lazy Sunday morning, the dress code is informal-think jeans, sneakers and a sweater.
In an amusing account by an Australian woman living in France with her French beau, she described the horrified look on his face, when she was about to step out to the boulangerie for breakfast provisions (dressed in a casual manner).
French women would not dream of going to the shops sooo unprepared to face the world. Oh no, they present themselves in their best possible light and ladies that means make up and co-ordinated fashion and accessories, at the minimum.
If you work on the principle that any and everyone you meet is a prospect and potential client, ask yourself how you want them to see you?
I will pre-empt you by saying that the previous statement does not imply that you are going out there with an ulterior motive of taking financial advantage of the unsuspecting. This is hardly the case.
As an illustration, if you are tired, grumpy in the grocery store check out queue, you may be forgiven for being a bit short with the young person packing your groceries.
However, that young person’s parents may also require your services or business should you meet them socially at a barbeque, for instance.
Imagine your surprise when you enter their home to find that young check out person lives there.
There can be a couple of scenarios here,
i) there is awkward silence when you recall how you spoke to that person at the store or
ii) absolute delight that he/she remembers you as the nice person who took the time to have a little chat with them as they were scanning your box of Cheerios.
So this is what I usually do: 1) smile and make eye contact, 2) comment on how busy or quiet things are in the store, 3) engage them in a conversation, usually around the fact that they are earning whilst studying at university or college, and 4) say bye bye.
Now, that wasn’t so hard and it certainly made me feel better. Try it.
Yours in health, wealth and happiness
It’s the Little Things That Count
Hands up those of us who did the “I’m determined to lose those pounds and stop drinking/smoking in 2010” when the clock struck 12 on December 31 in 2009.
Hands up those of us who are on the path to making this happen even as you read this. Give yourselves that pat on the back!!
Now, hands up those of us who let that resolution take a back seat, from shooting out of the starting blocks like a finely tuned Olympic athlete on Jan 1st 2010 to being a weekend jogger today and if my reckoning is on the money, it will be a casual stroll before spring.
Good news! It ain’t half bad because we have an internal navigation system that we can switch on and need to keep on in times like these.
So, check in on yourself a couple of times a day and ask, how am I feeling about my desire to stop drinking/smoking and shedding a couple of pounds.
I feel your pain, as over the years I had acquired a demanding job and put on over 23 pounds!! Most of it through enjoying a glass or three of wine and spirits.
Here’s my tip for gently easing out of the habit of drinking a couple of glasses of scotch every night as my reward for a long day at the office.
Step 1-Fill a cut glass tumbler with ice
Step 2-Place a slice of lemon in it
Step 3-Fill with filtered water
Step 4-Swirl ice cubes around and enjoy the sound of ice clinking in the glass
Step 5-Propose a toast to myself and to my health
Step 6-Repeat on a daily basis
It was the action of raising the glass to my mouth more than tasting the alcohol. It had become a HABIT.
Newsflash folks-rather than try and break a habit, REPLACE it. It was still the same action, but a different outcome. That’s the secret.
And together with regular exercise I dropped 2 dress sizes.
In the immortal words of Arnie the Terminator, I say, “You can do it”.
To your health
LW