Please use these mental life hacks mindfully. They are really powerful and should only be used with good intentions.
1. Silence is golden
If someone avoid answering our question properly, maintain eye contact and keep silent, wait. We’ll eventually get what we want, as people will keep on explaining if they think their answer is not enough.
2. Stop feeling anxious or nervous
The best way to let go of anxiety and nervousness is to chew gum. Chewing gum makes our brain think we’re eating and there’s no danger. This is how we get our brain to think we’re relaxed.
3. Who likes who?
When we’re in a group and everyone is laughing, take a look at who’s looking at who. When we laugh, instinctively we look at the people we feel (or want to feel) closest to.
4. They know we believe in what we’re saying
Stop saying “I believe…” and “I think…”. These phrases indicate lack of confidence.
5. Keep calm
When someone is trying to argue with us, keep calm. They may get angrier, but we’re training them to lose their tantrums by not reacting.
6. The way we act is the way we feel
Our emotions come with physical effects, and these physical expressions are triggered by the emotions we’re feeling. The good thing is this can be turned around. If we want to start feeling happy, start smiling a lot.
7. Brilliance is confidence
It’s difficult to tell the difference between brilliance and confidence. When we act as if know what we’re doing, people will think we’re good at it. So act confident and watch as people rally around us.
8. Even our interviewer is human
If we’re in a situation where we’re being interviewed, imagine that we are old friends with the interviewer.
9. Be the one we want to see in others
If someone is showing behaviors we don’t like, it’s an opportunity to start behaving the way we want them to.
10. Lesser our chances to be attacked
If we are in a meeting and we expect that we’re going to be attacked by someone, sit right next to them. People feel less comfortable to attack someone they’re next to.
11. Let them see how they look like
If we work in customer service, put a big mirror behind. People will automatically act nicer if they can see how they’re acting.
12. First ask for more, then ask for less
People are more likely to agree to a smaller favor if they’ve been asked for something larger first. So start with something larger to then agree on what we really want.
13. Why feel stressed, when we can feel exhilarated
Stress and exhilaration have the same physical symptoms (heavy breathing, increased heart rate). We could decide to look at a stressful situation as an exhilarating one.
14. Associate ourself with fun and excitement
When on a first date, go to somewhere fun and exciting. The person will associate the feeling they get from the environment.
15. Eye contact is everything
Next time we’re with someone, try noticing their eye color. Not just “brown”, “blue” but all of the different colors in their eyes. The increased eye contact will have the person liking us even more.