The late Michael Jackson may have had a point when he sang about smiling through thick and thin. Here in Kaizen we talk often about our ability to choose/change our emotional state by choosing/changing our language, focus or physiology. Smiling is an example of a tiny change in physiology which has the potential to make a huge difference.
A recent experiment got members of the public to hold a pen in their mouths and read some cartoons and then grade them as to how funny they thought they were*. Some held the pens so that they stuck out forwards and some sideways (ie the former between their lips and the latter between their teeth). This had the effect of either preventing smiling or forcing a smile in a purely physical way. The people who held the pens sideways between their teeth (ie forced into a smile) found the cartoons much funnier than the other group. This suggests that the just the physical act of smiling is enough to impact your emotional state!
When I read this research I decided that I wanted to respond in some way to it and test it out. I resolved that I would smile first thing every morning. So for the last six months that is exactly what I’ve been doing. Every morning, even before I open my eyes I have been putting a big grin on my face. Has this made any difference? I can honestly say that I’ve got up in a good mood every day for the last 6 months – regardless of how well I’ve slept or what sort of day I anticipate ahead! In fact as I have co-operated with the process it’s got more and more powerful. Psychologists would say I’ve created an anchor (like Pavlov’s bell). And as I sit here and write these words a big grin has crept across my face once more and suddenly I find myself feeling great.
So, apart from the obvious potential to make life a bit brighter what might this mean to your work environment? What if you established a routine where you deliberately smiled before making a call or answering one – creating a very positive anchor? What if you learned to smile every time you entered a room – whether it’s your workplace or your home! What if you learned to smile every time just before you click ‘new’ in your email system? What if you try one of these for a week and see whether it makes a difference? Let’s face it, it’s not going to make life worse for you is it!
Call to action … and a free book!
The first three people to post a comment here with their own ideas for using smiling as a positive anchor at work will get a free e-copy of my book ‘Knowing you, knowing them’ currently selling on www.Lulu.com for £4.68.
Thanks Justin – your blog brought a smile to my face today!
Hi,
We have small mirrors at everyone’s cubicles so that we can take a quick note how much we are smiling when we are engaged on the phone with the client.
I also have a quick 5 minute huddle daily with my team and at the end we all give a big smile to kick off the day.
Hi Cindy,
Mirrors? What a great idea!
And an e-copy of my book winging it’s way to you this morning.
Hope that brings a smile to your face
Justin
Oh – just realised that your name isn’t a link to your email. Could you email me (Justin@Kaizen-training.com) so that I can send you the book?
Thanks
I’ve tried this (fake it til you make it). But my question is, how do you put a genuine smile on your face when alone. I just look like a demented axe murderer.
Lisa – you brought a smile to my face with this!
(PS I’ve recently met Lisa and I can vouch for the fact that this pretty woman could NEVER look like an axe murderer!)
Reading this brought a smile to me too. For behaviour change I’ve long said it’s “easier to act your way into a new way of thinking, than to think your way into a new way of acting”
This shows it’s also “easier to act your way into a new way of feeling, than to feel yourself into a new way of acting”
ps. new smiling picture required Justin
Hi Justin
I (natutally and purposely)use smiling in the work place all the time.
If you are going to talk to someone about a difficult subject or something which is going to require help or buy-in from that person I find that if you start the initial contact with a massive smile whilst asking how the person is, you (just about) always get a positive response.
Equally, if I have a difficult person on the phone during the day (..one of those people who go on and on and on perhaps!) then I just make myself smile (sometimes through gritted teeth, ha ha!) and it instantly makes me feel better. Ultimately you are also giving a much better service to the person on the phone too.
As you point out, we all choose how to react to certain situations AND you can also change the outcome proactively – by a simple thing such as smiling!
Lucy
I like these comments – makes me stop and think again about all of this. I guess for me it’s not a ‘fake it til you make it’ moment so much as simply doing the action knowing that the action itself (without trying to MAKE any emotion happen) will help. Having said that now the smile has become such a great anchor that it does help.
I’ve recently started allowing the smile to grow slowly – like Lisa I worry a bit about how creepy I might look when this is happening but it does make me feel good!