Carolyn Manning, on her blog thoughtsphilosophies.com, does a cool thing of contrasting two posts on the same or similar subject. For example, here's one she recently wrote about treating customers well. Carolyn is a master of this blogging style.
I don't usually use this posting technique, but two recent posts on smiling dovetail so well that I wanted to introduce you to them.
The first post, by Gretchen Rubin, covers mostly the right brain side of smiling - emotions and feelings. The second post, by Bob Sutton, handles the left brain side - the evidence for the efficacy of smiling.
Gretchen has been working on a book about happiness this year, and using her blog, The Happiness Project, to share her ideas, trials, tribulations and successes. This week she wrote about how she has been trying to smile more, because she believes folks will feel friendlier to her if she smiles. And, she says, smiling makes her happy.
When you read Gretchen's post, don't neglect the comments. They add tons of ideas related to smiling. And check out the website she suggests.
Bob is my favorite business writer, because he combines a tight focus on evidence while managing a comfortable writing style. (Two of his books made my recent list of business books worth savoring.) Bob picked up on Gretchen's post and gave us the science of smiling. Cool!
Check out the comments on Bob's post, too. And head on over to the evidence-based management website (link on Bob's page, too) for more.
Read both, if you are so inclined, or just feed one side of your brain - your choice. Whatever your choice, give yourself and those around you the gift of a smile. Instinct and evidence say you will feel better for it.
