image courtesy of: http://livinginquiries.com/

            I was at a conference recently that had me running around as support for the things that xiaoyi was doing over the weekend and it got me to thinking about the roles that we take on in our lives. The person that we are at home is different from the person that we are at work or at a party or charity functions. In each of these arenas, we portray a different aspect of ourselves, a different face then we do in the others. These are not lies or ways to deceive those around us, but rather aspects of ourselves that we bring to the fore to better deal with the situation at hand.

            While I was running around the conference and thinking of these things, I realized that there are little cues that I subconsciously give myself to better achieve the role I set out for myself. Ways that I used to trigger myself into that mindset at a very subtle level. For example, I was in more of a support role in that weekend, being there to fulfill the needs that my wife had while she was taking point in everything that was occurring. As such, instead of walking beside her during the weekend, I often walked a step or two behind. Close enough to be involved and help out, but far enough back that she led the way in all interactions. I also wore a little more muted colors then I normally due, pulling the attention away from myself and letting it better fall on my wife.

            This got me thinking about the role that I take on when I am prospecting, or talking to a prospect about my amazing travel club. What cues did I give myself that got me into that mindset? How could I become conscious of those cues and changes in behavior to maximize the impact that I was making, the impression that I was giving to the person that I was talking to? I found that there are several things that I could change, and at the same time came to the realization that what I was doing was working to improve my posture. I had done trainings here and there that spoke about posture and had just taken it to mean the way that I help my body physically. Though I find that is part of it, posture goes far beyond that to include things like tone of voice, speaking method and emotions in speech and mannerisms, even the cloths I chose to wear and my overall appearance. All of these added into my posture and created the image that I portrayed to the people that I talk to. These things give a mood or framework to the interactions that are massively important even if they are only acknowledged on the subconscious level.

            I am taking the time and effort to mold my posture to better suit my needs. What are the things that you do, or the items that you use to make a change in that outward persona that you show at certain events? What sorts of things are you going to change about those personas to maximize their effect and effort?

 ~Dominic

Life’s too short to have bad days! What are YOU doing to make today fantastic?