Have you noticed how your mood and approach to business can affect everyone around you? If you speak with a lack of clarity, your team feel lost; if you speak with a lack of confidence, your team feel less empowered; if you are unhappy, then your team feel flat?
Then how can you make sure this doesn’t happen again. Ever?
For years self-help gurus and business coaches have preached the same simple mantra: ‘If you want change and positive improvements in your business/life then you need to change how you think.’
They say, ‘force yourself to think positive thought and you will become happier.’ The problem is, it often doesn’t work.
If you think you can simply ‘think positive thoughts’ and the result will be an immediate happy smile and friendly disposition, then think again. But I do have a solution that WILL work…
In reality, you can’t ‘will’ yourself to be happy, but you can ‘pretend’ to be happy which just might have the same effect…. it’s kinda like ‘fake it till you ARE it’. ‘Will it work?’, you ask.
Try this; ACT in a positive way by smiling at the staff (even when you don’t particularly feel happy) and speaking and holding yourself with confidence (even when you’re not). Result? you will actually FEEL happier and more confident…
Yes, it’s true, this is a highly effective way to transform how you gain positive results and be more successful literally overnight.
This technique turns common sense on its head, but is grounded in science, and it all starts with William James, who, in the late 19th century, dedicated his attention to the relationship between emotion and behaviour.
Our everyday experience tells us that your emotion cause you to behave in certain ways. FEELING makes you ACT; for example, feeling happy makes you smile, and feeling sad makes you frown. Case closed.
James, however, hypothesised that the relationship between emotion and behaviour was a two-way street, and that behaviour could cause emotion. He claimed that the ACT of smiling could make you FEEL happy and the ACT of frowning could make you FEEL sad.
Psychologist James Laird put this theory to the test in the 70’s where volunteers were asked to adopt certain facial expressions. Half were asked to draw down their eyebrows and clench their teeth to pretend they were angry, and others were asked to draw back the corners of the mouth. The results were as expected; the participants felt significantly angrier when they clenched their teeth and much happier when they forced their face to smile.
Research conducted since then has shown that the same effect applies to almost all aspects of our lives. By acting ‘as if’ you are a certain type of person, you become that person. What is known as the ‘As If’ Principle.
For example; if you want to be more confident: Dana Carney, an assistant professor at Columbia Business School, led a study where she split volunteers into two groups. The first group were placed in power poses – those seated at a desk were asked to put their feet on the desk, look up and place their hands behind their hand.
Those in the second group were placed in poses that weren’t associated with dominance. For example; some were asked to place their feet on the floor, hands in their laps and look at the ground.
The results were loud and clear: Just one minute of dominant posing provided a real boost in confidence.
Interestingly, the researchers found some amazing results when they focused on the chemical coursing through the volunteers’ veins. Those power posing had significantly higher levels of testosterone, proving that the poses had changed the chemical make-up of their bodies.
The result from this was ever further defined: that just one minute of dominant posing changed the chemical levels within the body, and hence, providing the poser with more ‘surreal’ confidence.
So, if this is you, If you want change in your life, then you have to take ACTION. Be that person. Adopt that characteristic. Strangely enough, it will make you feel empowered.
So sit up straight and take a deep breath. It is time to rip up the rule book and embrace the truth about change.
Action speaks louder than words.
Here are 2 quick and effective exercises that use the ‘As If principle’ to transform how you think and behave.
HAPPINESS: Smile
Smile and you will feel happier. To get the most out of this exercise, make the smile as wide as possible, extend your eyebrow muscles slightly upward, and hold the expression for about 20 seconds.
CONFIDENCE: Power pose
Adopt a power pose to increase your self-esteem and confidence.
If you’re sitting down, lean back, look up and interlock your hands behind your head. If you’re standing up, then place your feet flat on the floor, push your shoulders back and chest forward.
What’s next?
- Join our Kick-Ass Tradies Facebook Group, for access to trade business specific conversations, tips and resources, plus a like-minded community of tradies.
- Book a 15-minute Game Plan Call with Andy, owner of Dr. DRiP plumbing and co-founder of Lifestyle Tradie, to clarify your priorities and get clear action steps.