Loving Those Within 6 – 10 Feet of You
By Tana M. Mann Easton, Lead Efficiency Engineer
I am a huge fan of Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations podcast. Nearly every day for me starts with a walk around my neighborhood listening to Oprah’s interviews with amazing people. One of my all-time favorite episodes of this podcast is Shawn Achor: The Life-Altering Power of a Positive Mind. Shawn talks about the science of happiness, and his research created some profound shifts in the way I live my life.
This interview is chockablock full of quick and easy ways to dramatically improve your life. Start listening at minute 11 to hear about his smiling experiment, for example. There are so many little nuggets of wisdom that he drops in this podcast. The one that changed my outlook on the world happens around minute 22. Shawn tells the audience that the Ritz Carlton trains its employees to make eye contact and smile at anyone who comes within 10 feet of them. Furthermore, they’re trained to say hello if someone comes within 5 feet of them. My soul started singing when I heard that, and I knew I wanted to incorporate that practice into my own life.
Now, because of the pandemic and social distancing guidelines, I’ve changed the 5 foot rule to a 6 foot rule, but the idea is the same. So when I’m walking through my neighborhood, anyone that I encounter gets a greeting. When I’m shopping, even with my mask on, fellow shoppers get a smile (because as Shawn explains in his talk, people can sense smiles even if they can only see your eyes). When I’m driving and someone needs to merge into my lane, they’re getting a smile and a wave. When I’m in my house and my husband or son enter the room, I’m focusing my energy and eyes and smile in their direction. I’ve found in my own life, what Shawn says about mirror neurons is absolutely true. When I genuinely smile, people tend to genuinely smile back. Their smiles give me bursts of energy, and they make my day better. And hopefully I do the same for them.
If you have 33 minutes, I really encourage you to listen to Shawn’s interview and see if any of his suggestions for happiness resonate with you. If they do, consider folding those practices into your life. As Shawn discusses, sometimes the smallest positive actions that we do for ourselves can make a huge impact.
If you or your team would like to sign up for our 2 hour Outlook Productivity training to instantly double your meaningful output and find the feeling of lasting flow and optimized work life balance, please click here and say hello!
Productively Yours,
Focus to Evolve Team