Combining a “Really Useful Attitude” + smiling = pleasant surprises!

There is an interesting post by Matthew Cornell on his blog, Matt’s Idea Blog, about how your attitudes towards others affect your outcomes. I suggest you give it a read. You can find it here.

As I read the post and the associated comments, what came to mind first was what my parents always told me. That is to just be nice to people.

It also reminded me of the story Stephen Covey tells on his 7 Habits CDs of a man riding on the subway with his children who are running around in a rather unruly manner. When Stephen finally has his fill, he asks the man in a rather harsh tone whether or not his kids know how to act. The man replies that their mother just died and he suspects they really don’t know how to act, given the circumstance. Stephen then relates how his own attitudes towards the man and his children changed due to this new information.

With that in mind, I generally try to assume that I don’t know what is going on in other people’s lives and just try to be nice in my interactions with them. In doing so, I have found that it seems to work out best for both parties. First, they act a little surprised that someone is actually being nice to them and treating them like a person. This leads to me having conversations with them that are usually tolerable, if not pleasant. In addition, those pleasant experiences don’t suck the energy away from me for the rest of the day or more. Unlike those times when I forget to be nice and try to butt heads as a show of strength and stew over the exchange for hours or days afterward (emotional baggage).

In case you want to practice being nice and exhibiting a good attitude towards people, I think I have one of the best places for you to do so in mind. Simply fly somewhere.

Going through a security checkpoint (which I am grateful we all have to do) really gives me the chance to practice on some people who I usually observe to be in fowl moods. Then I follow up with a stop at the gate and then sometimes get to practice further with the flight attendants.

I find that if I can get through a flight without picking up any emotional baggage, I know I have done a good job with my attitudes.

Ok now, is there anybody out there with any examples or comments to share?