how are you today?

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Today is Saturday, a day of rest for most people. A day off to do the shopping, spend time with the family, friends and a time for getting stuck into those projects you have sitting waiting for you.
 
But what I would like to talk to you about today is not your goals per se, that is a secondary component of today's message. Today I want to talk to you about those conversations that you have as you go about your day(s).
 
Do you speak differently to people depending on who they are and where they fit into your social hierarchy? You may not think you do, but if you want to see it in action - I need you to go the supermarket or a.n.other shop where there are lots of people serving and a few customers. And I want you to observe.
 
What are the people who are serving speaking about? Do they look the customer in the eye and speak to them with respect, or are they just doing enough to get by? Now you could argue that they're only kids and kids don't know any better. Well kids tend to emulate those people around them, so watch their interactions with their peers. If you have children, have you "taught" them to speak to people with respect? - How do they learn to do that you might ask? Well they learn by being shown, and as a parent, we do most of the "showing".
 
Now, look at the people who are waiting to be served. Are these people smiling or grumpy? Do they speak with respect to the person behind the counter or not? Now turn it around, if these check out persons came into your business, would you treat them in the same way as you were being treated? Of course not, you'd have a bad reputation if you treated these people in a rude manner, so why do we think we can get away with speaking to these people as if they are not worthy of being spoken to?
 
You have the chance to make or break someone's day, just by the way that you speak to them. One day I happened to be in the store buying some bits and pieces - it was the middle of a working day - I'd taken a couple of days off work to write, so don't assume I was shirking. Anyway the person who served me was a young(ish) boy, late teens I'd say although I didn't ask. But I did ask, why he was working at a time when most people were either in school, university or "in a proper job"...he replied that he was going to uni and was earning some extra cash, but because it was a minimum wage job he'd applied for another casual position - in a warehouse. Now and here is the reason why I spoke to him, the guy looked despondant...so me being me, asked him what had happened. he then said he had failed an colour-blind test for reds and greens, and was annoyed because - he didn't think it mattered that he was colour blind - all he was doing was moving boxes.
 
He was a little shocked when I explained to him that these uncaring people had probably saved his life. He opened his eyes wide and said "why?"
"Well" I said "most warehouses have forklift trucks that use the traffic light system to move around the warehouse. Imagine if you can't tell if the light is on stop or go, you could have been run over."
 
I then advised him not to go for a job as a sparky - but my very short interaction with that person - made his day. He had thought he was a failure becuase he had failed at a job interview for moving boxes, now he knew that he wasn't. He was already over 6 feet tall, but he lifted his shoulders, stood up straight and thanked me....
 
Don't think you cannot make a difference to people you meet, you will be very surprised at the effect you can have on people. Just make sure your interactions are positive ones.
 
And as a final word - when someone asks you how you are today, always respond in the positive
 
I'm well thank, and you?
Good,
Never been better
 
OK it may be a fib on occassion - but most people don't really need to know that you didn't sleep well, you have a bad back and your boyfriend walked out on you last night. Say it - even if you don't mean it all the time, Square your shoulders and look the person straight in the eye, and say it with a smile on your face.
 
Sooner or later your mind and your body will start to believe it too.
 
So - how are you today?
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