How Smiling Can Raise Your Productivity
We all deserve to smile more. As cheesy and simplistic as it may sound, a smile can help you achieve your dreams. If you’re looking to achieve higher levels of success or break new barriers of personal accomplishment, simply changing your facial expression can have a profound affect on your ability to get things done.
We all deserve to smile more. As cheesy and simplistic as it may sound, a smile can help you achieve your dreams. If you’re looking to achieve higher levels of success or break new barriers of personal accomplishment, simply changing your facial expression can have a profound affect on your ability to get things done. A combination of the way a smile is perceived and the internal reaction evoked by that smile can practically help you move mountains.
By Demonstrating Your Confidence
Picture someone who you would perceive to have low confidence. They’re probably not smiling. Society perceives a smile to be indicative of confidence, strength, agreeableness, and self-assuredness. If you smile when you’re meeting new people or presenting your ideas, they’ll perceive you as confident. They’ll know that you believe in yourself, and that will make it so much easier for them to believe in you.
Some people lack confidence in their actual smile, and this can be a barrier to making their smile sit at the forefront of their introductions and conversations. If you’re long overdue for dental work, schedule that appointment soon (for your health as much as your appearance.) Try out a whitening toothpaste if the years of coffee drinking have given you a shy smile. Consider getting a mouth guard if you’re dealing with bruxism. If you’re confident in your smile, other people will feel that confidence.
By Tricking Your Own Brain
Smiling is a result of happiness. The flood of positive endorphins causes us to laugh or smile when something funny or great has happened. What a lot of people don’t realize is that the trigger works both ways. It’s been found that smiling out of habit can trigger those endorphins just as much as the endorphins can trigger the smile.
Smiling will boost your mood. If stress or frustration is creating a barrier between you and your highest level of productivity, smiling can offset its hampering effects. When you’re in a better mood, it’s much easier to get things accomplished. Tricking yourself into a higher level of optimism when things are tough can help reduce your susceptibility to burnout and reduce your drive to escape when you’re losing hope in a tough project.
By Making Negotiations Easier
Workplace negotiations can be tough – especially if you’re bargaining for something large. Tensions naturally rise, and it can be hard to maintain your composure when you’re attempting to achieve something big. Working towards something like a promotion or a merger, or even negotiating a large contract for your company, can bring out some ugly attitudes in people.
You can stop situations from becoming counterproductive by smiling. It’s hard to argue with someone who seems happy about a situation. You’re keeping the mood light, and you aren’t coming across as aggressive or competitive. People will be more receptive to the things that you’re saying, even if they don’t initially agree with them. Continuing to project that positive attitude can turn the tables in your favor, even if it’s through compromise. You’ll see greater success and have better luck.
Though it can be hard to smile all of the time, take small steps to smile more. Even if you need a little prompting (like taking a short break to look at cute kittens or read uplifting stories), it’s worth taking a few minutes to fill yourself with positive energy. You’ll achieve more and feel better doing it.