Every morning, try to look in the mirror and smile at yourself. Concentrate on making the smile look natural, by extending it to your eyes. A slight upturn of the mouth isn’t going to convince anybody. Find a smile that you like the look of and try to memorize how your face feels when you make it. That way, you will be able to replicate that exact smile in everyday situations.
These positive mental images will automatically boost your mood and help you to smile more naturally. Bottom line: think happy thoughts!
Make a mental note of how often they smile, along with the things they smile in response to. Do they smile when you say something funny? Or even when you don’t? Are they smiling to be polite, or just because they seem genuinely happy? Now you’ve seen how a natural smiler navigates normal conversations, you will feel more confident about adopting similar behaviors and incorporating more smiles into your daily interactions. .
You could even come up with a little signal, like a wink or subtle hand gesture, so you can still communicate on opposite sides of a crowded room. A lot of non-smilers get irritated when somebody tells them to “smile!” or “cheer up”. However, if you ask a friend to help you out with smile reminders, it’s important that you don’t get angry with them when they do their job. Remember – you asked for it!
Once you have chosen your trigger, you must make a conscious effort to smile every time you encounter it. It may feel silly, but it will help you to get in the habit of smiling on command, which helps when it comes to social and business situations. Another cute idea is to draw a little smiley face somewhere you’ll often catch sight of it, like on the back of your hand. Do this everyday and remember to smile whenever you look at it, no matter where you are or who you’re with.
In reality, some people will think you’re weird and some won’t smile back, but don’t let that stop you! Think of your smile as a good deed or an act of kindness that could make someone’s day just a little bit brighter. But if the other people does smile back (and most will) you’ll have shared a special moment with that person, a fleeting connection with another human being that’ll leave you with a pep in your step.
Maybe you saw a cute squirrel hopping along the branch of a tree. Or you took the time to call an old friend. Once you recognize the things that make you smile, you can make a conscious effort to seek those things out in daily life. Another great reason to keep a smile journal is so you can look back through it when you’re feeling low and remind yourself of individual instances when you felt genuinely happy. These should perk you up and help you to keep smiling!
Take a pencil and place it between your lips. Open your mouth and let the pencil roll back between your teeth, as far as it will go. Bite down on the pencil to hold it in place and hold this position for thirty seconds. Repeat once a day.
Smiling is a habit, so if you repeat it often enough, you’ll smile without even thinking – which is ultimately what you want to achieve. Make smiles look less fake by smiling with your eyes as well as your mouth. Genuine smiles are marked by a crinkling of the muscles around the eyes, so this is what you should be going for.
