Top 10 Reasons to Smile

1. Smiling Makes Us AttractiveWe are drawn to people who smile. There is an attraction factor. We want to know a smiling person and figure out what is so good. Frowns, scowls and grimaces all push people away -- but a smile draws them in (avoid these smile again habits to keep your smile looking great).

2. Smiling Changes Our Mood

Next time you are feeling down, try putting on a smile. There's a good chance you mood will change for the better. Smiling can trick the body into helping you change your mood.

3. Smiling Is Contagious

When someone is smiling they lighten up the room, change the moods of others, and make things happier. A smiling person brings happiness with them. Smile lots and you will draw people to you.

4. Smiling Relieves Stress

Stress can really show up in our faces. Smiling helps to prevent us from looking tired, worn down, and overwhelmed. When you are stressed, take time to put on a smile. The stress should be reduced and you'll be better able to take action.

5. Smiling Boosts Your Immune System

Smiling helps the immune system to work better. When you smile, immune function improves possibly because you are more relaxed. Prevent the flu and colds by smiling.

6. Smiling Lowers Your Blood Pressure

When you smile, there is a measurable reduction in your blood pressure. Give it a try if you have a blood pressure monitor at home. Sit for a few minutes, take a reading. Then smile for a minute and take another reading while still smiling. Do you notice a difference?

7. Smiling Releases Endorphins, Natural Pain Killers and Serotonin

Studies have shown that smiling releases endorphins, natural pain killers, and serotonin. Together these three make us feel good. Smiling is a natural drug.

8. Smiling Lifts the Face and Makes You Look Younger

The muscles we use to smile lift the face, making a person appear younger. Don't go for a face lift, just try smiling your way through the day -- you'll look younger and feel better.

9. Smiling Makes You Seem Successful

Smiling people appear more confident, are more likely to be promoted, and more likely to be approached. Put on a smile at meetings and appointments and people will react to you differently.

10. Smiling Helps You Stay Positive

Try this test: Smile. Now try to think of something negative without losing the smile. It's hard. When we smile our body is sending the rest of us a message that "Life is Good!" Stay away from depression, stress and worry by smiling.

Source: About

7 Steps That May Dramatically Boost Your Happiness

You’ve probably read countless articles that promise you better happiness, only to be disappointed. I know what it’s like to not get exactly what you’re looking for from an article.

When I was reading a lot of personal development articles and books, I was looking for a magic bullet that would somehow infuse my life with happiness. However, it wasn’t until I realized that I alone had to take responsibility that I started seeing dramatic results from the simplest of tips.

The tips in this article are common-sense, practical, and simple. They won’t magically do anything, because the magic lies within you. When you take responsibility, the tips and tools you have don’t matter, because it is you who decide how they impact your life.

1. Be Here, Now
   Most people are stuck in either the past or the future; recalling bad memories, or imagining bad things happening in the future. The good news about the past is that it's over. And the future? Well, it isn't here yet, is it?
   
   By being in the here and now, you will be more aware of what's going on (obviously), and you will be feeling much happier as you return your awareness to your body. And yes, that means even when you’re feeling bad. It’s crucial to stay aware when you’re feeling bad. What most people try to do is drown their feelings by eating, drinking, smoking, and so on.
   
   It doesn’t help.
2. Cherish Your Relationships
   Imagine going to the end of your life. If you somehow could imagine the last 24 hours of your life, think about what would be important to you at that point in time. Is it money? Is it appreciating the fact you worked 30 years at a job you despised? Or is it the people around you, and the experiences you’ve had?
   
   When I did this, I realized that what was important were the relationships and connections I have with the people around me. What you do and accomplish is fine, but that too shall pass.
   
   Remember to keep your priorities in check. Discover what is truly important in your life, and it will dramatically increase your happiness, because you will have what most people lack—focus.
3. Kindness
   Remember an experience when either you gave something to someone or received something. It feels good, doesn’t it? It feels good to give, and it feels good to receive.
   
   Kindness can be tough at first if you haven’t practiced giving, but as you become more comfortable with giving and helping, you’ll come to like it.
   
   There are a lot of different sources that say that what you give comes back to you. The more you give, the more you receive. I’ve certainly found that to be true in my life. Whether or not it’s true for you is up to you to discover.
   
4. Personal Growth
   I began my personal growth journey at the young age of 16. I started with lucid dreaming, and followed the clues from there.
   
   You've probably bumped into personal growth books, audios, and even videos. Some of them have been tremendous, while others have been let downs. The real secret is to keep going until you find something that resonates with you, because when you do that, your life will begin to change. The only problem is that sometimes it may take a while, and you might run into frustrations, and begin to wonder if all of his personal growth stuff is really worth bothering with.
   
   And believe me, it is.
5. See Through Goals
   The goals you set should keep you flexible, and not give you tunnel vision. You see, when you set goals, it's good to be specific, but you also want to be open to all the possibilities around you. You never know where you will have a breakthrough, or where that one idea will come from that changes everything.
   
   You just never know.
   
   And when you're not as attached to your goals, you will feel freer, and naturally this will lead to more happiness, which in turn will increase chances of your success.
   
6. Embrace Death
   You can die at any moment.
   
   A scary thought, isn’t it?
   
   It helps you stay focused on what is important. It also has the tendency to completely melt away your fears. What is it that you really want to do with your life? What are some of the excuses, fears, and obstacles that are stopping you from doing that? And how do you think you can overcome those and start moving toward what it is that your heart truly wants?
   
   If you answer the above questions seriously, you may just find yourself strangely motivated to start taking action. There's nothing like following your heart when it comes to feeling happy and joyful.
7. Follow Your Heart
   And that brings us to the last point. Most people are out of touch with their emotions and particularly with their hearts. We've been conditioned to be logical and to have everything make perfect sense. The only problem is that life doesn't really make sense all the time (or most of the time?)
   
   And some of the greatest opportunities and adventures of life are not discovered by logic, but by following your gut and your intuition.
   
   When you consider deep down what it is that brings you happiness, and go after that, you will notice that your life changes in accordance.
   
   Now, you don't have to change your whole life all at once, because if you begin with only one step today, you will be surprised at how far you can go, and how happy you will feel.
   
   What are you waiting for?
   
   You’re not supposed to have an answer to that question, you know?

By Henri Junttila

Source: Dumb Little Man – Tips for Life

Entrepreneur Article One: Saving Our National Treasures Entrepreneurial Success versus Small Business Failure

What follows is totally new thinking regarding the nature of small business success and failure. Accept as a preface that this is neither an attack on more traditional thinking, nor a rebuke of agencies, educators, and other caring, accepted authorities on the subject of entrepreneurship. Instead, this is a journey into the more personal aspects of entrepreneurship and a new perspective on solving a difficult problem.

There are two widely accepted reasons used to explain why small businesses fail. One is an inadequate understanding of the business; the other is insufficient capital to sustain the venture. Even though those are obvious contributors to failure, I believe there is a much more basic cause of failure; one that is far more powerful and important than knowledge or capital. Just keep in mind as we go forward that any venture can be shoe-stringed financially, and the processes required to run almost any business can be learned. Therefore, accepted theory is not my resting-place.

Let’s begin our analysis with an often stated, yet unfortunately true, piece of information. According to government statistics, two-thirds of all new businesses fail before they are five years old. Like many of you, that statement had been drilled into my head to the point where I was made immune to its implications. And, even though I have personally experienced most of the wins and bruises associated with entrepreneurship, I never took to heart, or fully appreciated, the true meaning of that statistic until I quietly pondered the numbers. Then, as the magnitude of the problem impacted on my thinking, I took up the Grail and set out on a quest to help entrepreneurs win more and suffer less. That mission is both the center of this article and the core of my work. 

Percentages are often more meaningful when we consider the numbers they represent. For example, if we state, and accurately so, that only 5% of the total number of businesses in existence are start-ups, that is not terribly significant. But, that 5% represents 700,000 start-ups per year; a huge number by any standard. (Note: There are somewhere between 12 and 14 million total businesses in North America, ranging from General Motors to Pete’s Amway sales, whether white or black entrepreneur, women or men, or young and old. The percentages and the facts are about every entrepreneur and every free enterprise.) 

The next step is to calculate failures and see what kind of humanity we are dealing with. If my math is right, 66% of 700,000 equates to roughly 455,000 failed or failing businesses at any given time. Friends, please focus on the size of that population for a minute. Four Hundred Fifty Five Thousand infant businesses are in various stages of dying! Think about it! If we just assume that the average “new” business employs a minimum of two people, and further assume that at least one family of three depends on the success of that business, I think we have a population well worth saving. If all of Boston, Dallas or Detroit were in a death grip, a state of emergency would be declared and sufficient forces would be mobilized to fix whatever was wrong. I am a conservative thinker on most issues, and I am not for more interference in our lives, from the government or any other source, but with those statistics, don’t you think some real help in the form of a solution for decreasing failures is in order? With such a high loss rate, you would think that general subsidies to truly fix the problem would be a shoe-in, but unfortunately, that is not the case. In most instances, the bottom-line medicine given to most failing owners is, at best, a heavy dose of empathy.

 

Please think about how many bank accounts and life savings are wiped out via the carnage of 455,000 dying businesses. How many families are torn up? How many health problems result? Literally, how many lives are lost? What is the net cost to society as a result of the problem? And finally, what are we doing about this tragedy? When you take a hard look at the issue, the answer is little of real value. This is the true reality of entrepreneurial success and failure. This is the true reality of small business start-up statistics. 

We support entrepreneurship because it is our economic lifeblood and the foundation of our hiring future. We strive to help businesses in general, but on the individual level, those facing failure are courageous souls who basically face the world alone. We offer great assistance to the unemployed and the needy, and that is proper, but our entrepreneurs are also valued commodities that deserve care and nurturing. Our governments, workforces, indeed, our entire economic base depends on these critically important men and women, but we are woefully lacking in assistance when they are in trouble. 

Next time, we will take a look at the players involved and begin to flesh out why traditional thinking and support systems need refinement. 

By Nicholas A. Bibby

Source: The Bibby Group