During my commute to work I walk for about 6 – 10 minutes along Long street. Its a busy street around the morning hours, plenty of people commuting to work too and plenty of pretty tourists.
I myself am not a morning person so I’m generally not smiling. Always have my sunglasses on with a slight frown on by brow with earphones on.
My Experiment
So a couple of days ago I decided to conduct a small experiment, just to keep me entertained. I decided to loose the sunglasses which then made it easier to loose the frown. As I walked down the street I made it a point to establish eye contact with as many people walking towards me as possible, of course especially the pretty girls.
What smile was it? A non toothy easy smile. The kinda smile you have when you remembered a funny joke..in your head.
My Results
At first I did not smile, I just smirked. I found that most people held eye contact with me for longer than they did when I had a frown and my shades on.
Then I started smiling, only when someone held eye contact with me for longer than 2-3 seconds. Most people smiled back, some even went as far as to say “good morning” to my surprise.
Another result that at first surprised me but then later dawned to me as obvious was my mood. I felt “happier” or less grumpy as all non-morning people are.
Now of course I didn’t get these results in every single case but it presented me with a lot more opportunity to initiate conversation if I chose to.
My Conclusion
A simple smile is disarming.
Taking the initiative to smile compels others to smile too, just like a laugh, its contagious.
What Next?
Im going to carry on with this experiment and even try initiate conversations after the fact. Ill report all my results here.
stay tuned
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Smiling works! I am on Day 10 of my own experiment. Check it out!