What is the cost of a smile? We often do not realize what a smile could do to somebody’s day. Though it doesn’t cost you a thing to smile, we are reluctant to this one gesture.
That day was frustrating for me. I was already late to office and I had a very bad road rage verbal altercation with another driver and was cursing everyone I found on my way as I drove into the basement parking in my office. I knew the day would be a terrible one for me. As I reached near the door of the lift lobby, I saw the security-guard sitting there. With a gloomy face I leaned forward to open the door and suddenly, I heard a voice say, “Good Morning, Sir. How are you?”. As I turned towards the security guard, I found a pleasant and smiling face looking at me. The smile was contagious. Suddenly there was a smile on my face too and I replied, “I am good. How are you?”. He replied, “Excellent, sir. I am enjoying the day here”. There was a sudden rush of enthusiasm into me and I felt happy and wonderful. That day was unexpectedly good for me.
What made the difference? It was the smile that the gentlemen passed at me. He did not loose anything, but he made my day.
I had once read somewhere about the 90-10 principle. It said that,
90% of the things that are going to happen around you and that is going to influence you are beyond your control. But 10% of what is going to happen is very much within your control. And this 10% is what determines how 90% of your day will be.
It sounded strange to me. The principle was somewhat similar to the Pareto principle, but how can percentages define a behavior, I wondered. But experience proved that the principle was right. When your daughter spills coffee over you in the morning, a slight change in your approach meant that you don’t shout at her. Rather you calmly walk into your room and change your clothes and tell your daughter, “It is OK”. This small change in behavior would mean that neither your day, nor your daughter’s day (for that matter even your wife’s day) starts on a bad note and there is pleasant smiles all around.
Check how this small change can bring about a lot of important and major changes in your day. This is the influence of the 10%. The 90-10 principle really works.