An investment returned

William Michael Forbes



That place in the middle of your face is for more than food... wmf

A Well Known Fact: Simple actions from our bodies cause actions in our brains.

You’re on the highway behind the wheel of your car, you’re on the bus or subway amongst a scrum of people, you’re walking through the park or down the street and you may be passing people quietly or politely saying “Hi.” Yet have you ever wondered what would happen if there was just a teensy-weensy bit more communication than the typical en-passant fodder? Or the typical questions about the weather? When I meet people I like to spice up the meeting of minds and souls with unusual first meeting activities like smiles and questions such as “What’s your big dream in life?” or “if you could do anything you wanted what would that be?”...questions that requires a head to poke out of its shell and look around at something or someone new. Which brings us to today lesson on, How to be happy in fifteen minutes or less.

When you do today’s activity, take no more than three minutes per hour for five hours to do the activity. Here are a few ground rules for those of you reading this, just getting out of your shells.

Rule 1. Pick people that are in safe and familiar environments...unless you already feel safe outside your environmental comfort zones.

Rule 2. Remember to greet anyone you do this activity with, with eye contact and a sincere smile. (A smile is an easy investment to get a return on)

Rule 3. Do not expect a certain result or try to get the person to be a certain way...let the results naturally unfold from the conversation.

Rule 4. If the person is reluctant to participate...let it go and move politely on to someone else.

Rule 5. If things become interesting take more than three minutes per person per hour but only if you want to.

With the above ground rules in mind remember the purpose of this activity is to expand and strengthen your existing social skills. Now find one person per hour that you are going to talk with and ask them some thinking questions, ask if they have a few moments and explain to them that you’re doing this activity and if they are okay with you asking them some personal questions...which I suggest you carefully consider ahead of time. As I said before the purpose is to stretch your social boundaries and...


Have a great day!


William Michael Forbes

Copyright © 2010 by William Michael Forbes. All rights reserved.