You can change your mood in 60 seconds and this quick technique will not only improve your mood, but it will help you create the mindset you need to take rapid action in your life.

I have learned the past few months that I do not smile very often. I am not naturally a bubbly and smiling person. Because of that, it hurts when I do the following exercise I am going to teach you. While this exercise will not fix all of your problems, it will help you realize a few key facts about mindset and hopefully get you practicing to look better in photographs.

The Mind Body Connection

I am not an expert in the mind body relationship, but I know from reading Mind Hacks (Amazon Affiliate Link) that there is a connection with the muscles in your face and your body’s production of serotonin, one the brain chemicals that make you happy.

In Mind Hacks, they prescribe smiling for 60 seconds or longer in order to “trick” your brain into thinking you are smiling and trigger the production of serotonin.

Sounds crazy right? It is crazy, but it works. So start smiling right now and hold it for at least 60 seconds.

To make this Mind Hack work better, you can do the following:

1. If you cannot hold a smile, put a pencil lightly between your teeth. This forces the corners of you mouth up and has the same effect as smiling.
2. For a few minutes while you are smiling, feel grateful for the things you have in your life right now. Think about the positive experiences, that you are alive, or other positive things that have been happening.
3. Now think about the positive outcomes you want to have in your life. The people you want to be with, the career you want to have, or the places you want to visit. While you are smiling, think of these for the next few minutes.

Give it a try right now. Put the pencil lightly in your mouth and practice doing this every day for a few weeks.

Does it hurt to smile?

As I mentioned earlier in the post, it really hurt me to smile for more than a few minutes. Now I find that by doing this exercise, I am smiling more and I am able to hold a smile for much longer. Doing this exercise also starts making you feel happy about what you have in your life and puts a positive spin on your future.

What is your experience with this exercise? Let me know in the comments.

Does it hurt to smile? is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

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I dream of traveling the world to speak to audiences about technology, leadership, and personal development. The past five years, I have worked hard at becoming an excellent speaker. However, being a great speaker is only part of the equation.

What it Takes to be a Professional Speaker

In order to be a professional speaker, you need a combination of speaking skill, knowledge, and marketing.  I have the first two, but I am struggling at becoming a marketable speaker.

You Can Help Me

One of the top ways to be recognized as a marketable speaker, is to be seen speaking at major events. An event that I have always wanted to speak at is South by Southwest (SXSW), a music, film, and interactive media festival. The SXSW event is a key event for me, because it lets me reach a young, technologically savvy, and forward thinking audience.

To help me, you can vote for my proposed presentation for the event.

What you need to do:

1. Visit http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/3264
2. Register on the site in order to vote
3. Vote for my presentation
4. Leave me a comment after you vote

If you vote for me, you rock.

If not, then that is OK too.

Thank you for your support!

Vote for Chris to Speak at SXSW is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

1. Your Greatest Competitor Should be Yourself

I have been attending and leading sessions at this conference for three years and no matter how many times I say it, people still are confusing benefits and features when discussing the value proposition that the organization offers.

The story I told to the group I was leading was shared with me by my mentor Craig Valentine (affiliate link). He told a story about going to a car dealership and being told about the safety features, the engine specifications, and the interior options. He wasn’t sold on the features description, so he went to another dealership.

This dealer looked at him; put his had on the car, and said in this car you will be a chick magnet.

SOLD!

So what was it about the second dealer that allowed a buying decision to happen? The second dealer described the benefits of the car and not the features. He allowed the buyer to perceive the value of the car as a chick magnet and not as a list of fungible features that any car could possess.

Describing the benefits that add value to your customers is still something that many of us do not do. I even catch myself doing it from time to time. It happens, but you can change.

When facing a sales decision, you have to put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Think about what they want from your product. If you are into personal training, then a benefit of value is having the body you have always dreamed of in time for swimsuit season. If you are a time management coach, then having the time to enjoy life again is a tangible value to your service.

So what are the benefits of your products or services that add value to your customers?

Also, how do you know? Have they told you or are you just hoping that it is the case?

Let me know in the comments. I am curious.

Value…You Still Don’t Get It… is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

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The 10 things that I hate, as experienced in the first 60 minutes of my stay:

1. Paying for Wi-Fi

When I was in Las Vegas a few months ago, I stayed at a hotel that billed itself as the top hotel near my conference. Though a little shabby, it was better then most hotels I have stayed in while traveling. However, they wanted to charge me $15.95 a day for Internet access and they didn’t even have a kiosk so that I could print my boarding pass for free. My friend at the conference stayed at the Super 8 for ¼ of what I spent, got free wi-fi, pastries, and coffee around the clock. I had to pay for all of that.  Wouldn’t you think that if you were spending more on a nicer hotel, you would expect the hotel to respect their guests and provide at least free Internet?

2. $5 Bottles of Water

Why would anyone in their right mind spend $5 for a 12 oz bottle of water? I drink the equivalent of 8 bottles of water a day, and if I got it from the hotel, I would be spending $40 a day. A few months ago, I stayed at a business orientated hotel that provided a liter of water a day for free. Do you think that stuck out in my mind as a place that I might want to come back to?

3. Paying for Coffee

I can be a terror in the morning until I get my morning coffee fix. If you delay that by making me walk to the lobby to pay $5 for a single cup of coffee two hours after I normally wake up, then I might not be happy during check out time. How much loyalty can you build with the addicts if you just put out some pump thermoses of decent coffee throughout the day?

4. Stupidly High Prices for Breakfast

Do you really think that I am dumb enough to pay $8.00 for a bowl of oatmeal? I don’t care if it is served with apple-cherry compote. As personal spending and per diem levels fall, so will your breakfast revenues. This means that your customers will be going to the closest Dunkin Donuts and grabbing a cheap large coffee, a donut, and a large bottle of water. That is a much better way to spend $8 then shell out my company’s money on an $8 bowl of watered down horse feed.

5. Snobby Service

I hate having to point out that hotel employees need to trim their nose hair as they turn up their nose when asked about where to find free water, wi-fi, and coffee. I am sorry that you have to deal with horrible people, but don’t take it out on me. I speak on excellence in customer service and guess what…it is not hard to treat all customers with respect. That is all I ask for. Yes, I am younger than the average high end traveler. No, I do not make a million dollars a year…yet. However, I like staying at good hotels, so if your service sucks then I am never coming back and I am going to tell people not to stay there.

6. Cramped Fitness Centers

I practice Tai Chi, so I need a large space to warm ups and form practice. I am sure many Yoga practitioners are with me here as well. I want to know what the designers of hotels were thinking when they created and stocked their fitness rooms? Only once in the past few years have I found a hotel that had the space needed to do form practice. So the fitness room takes up space, I get it. Just provide a quiet space and some mats on the floor. Your customers that practice Yoga and Tai Chi will thank you with repeat business.

7. Complicated Appliances

Did you know that low end hotels put cheap coffee pots and free coffee in their rooms? Why do some high end hotels feel it necessary to provide machines that require a 10 step process to get a single cup of coffee that tastes the same as the coffee from low end hotels? Not only are these machines difficult to use, but they are prone to breaking when people that have not gotten their first cup of coffee yet try to use them.

8. Impossible to Use Lighting Controls

Yes, the lighting and switches look cool but why the hell do the lights not go off when I press all of the buttons? What happened to putting a switch on the wall that actually turns the light on or off?

9. Beautiful but function-less design

I started this post sitting at a wonderful looking Scandinavian style desk. It is beautiful, but I have no place to put folders, books, a 5$ coffee, and $5 bottle of water because the desk it too small. I am a big fan of nice aesthetics, but please give me room to get some work done. Is that too much to ask?

10. Not enough power

Many people carry a laptop, personal phone, camera charger, battery charger, projector and more when they travel. If you are a geek like me, you have a lot of gear. Since I have not yet invested in a snazzy portable power-strip, I cannot find enough plugs to plug in everything I need to have ready for my meeting. How hard would it be to make a power strip available for me to plug in my gear? Also, why are all of the outlets hidden in recessed pockets of desks and table-sides where half my AC adapters don’t fit? Did the designers try staying in one of their rooms before they opened them to the public?

So What is the Word You Were Talking About?

By now you are wondering,”What is the point of this rant?” It is to share one word that if you take it to heart, you will your customers happy. The word is VALUE. As per diem and personal spending drop, it is important now more than ever to provide as much value in return for your customer’s money. If you provide your customers with an over the top value proposition, they will come back, bring their friends, and bring their meetings. If you nickel and dime your customers to death with internet fees, service charges, and not providing coffee and donuts – they will not come back and they will not bring their meetings.

I know what many businesses say, “If we give them too much then we won’t make any money.”

Do you know why you are not making money…it is not because you are not charging enough for a cup of coffee? It is because your revenue model and processes suck. Charging $5 for a bottle of water is not going to save the ship. Developing processes to reduce cost while producing more value to the customer will make your revenues grow with your value proposition. What is so hard about that?

Let me know where you are seeing companies that don’t understand this concept or those who are going above and beyond for their customers while still making money

Ten Things I Hate About Nice Hotels is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

1. Value…You Still Don’t Get It…