Gone are the days when a piece of paper could define your future. Today, rather than what you have, what is important is, how you sell it! The content and knowledge can be learnt. Most employers today say, it is the personality and the attitude which demarcates one individual from the other. So in this extremely competitive world, when everyone has access to the same kind of information, how do you stand out of the crowd? Here are 20 tips which can help you develop your personality. Hold on, the ride is bumpy!
20) Firm handshake – Whenever you meet someone, make sure you give them a firm handshake. This is not just limited to a handshake. Ensure that you sit erect, stand on both legs, keep your hands free and make eye contact with people when you interact. In short, mastering the body language would ensure people take you to be talented and smart. Your body language is the first word that someone hears when they meet you for the first time. Make sure it is such that itcalls for only compliments.
19) Chin up- I have seen people who look down at their feet when they walk or at the slightly lower altitude. This creates an air of confusion, instability and incapability around you. Rather always make sure that you walk with a steady gait, chin up and stature in your body language. This ensures an aura of positivity, self-confidence and assurance around you.
18) Stay fit – As unrelated as this might sound, a good personality is healthy at the body and hale at the heart. Fitness does not mean weight training or anorexia; it simply means stayingfresh, energetic and agile throughout the day. Improve your immunity, eat well, sleep well and you would glow even after a long day at work. Considering that you have to work hard on various aspect every day to build a wholesome personality, you must ensure that you stay fit all the time.
17) Read, read and read – As nerdy as this might sound, even if every book sings a lullaby to you, even if the letters dance and your eyelids get heavy as you turn the cover, make a habit to read. Any successful person in this world, if nothing else, is very well read. There is no fixed rule for reading. Read what you like at first till the time books become your drugs (yes, they do.) Once you get habituated to reading, you will involuntarily read anything and everything that you can get your hands on. Trust me, I have seen people read the airplane magazines during safety demonstrations because that is the most that they can. There will never ever be anything that you read which would not be utilized somewhere or the other.
16) Use the information – Once when I was gorging in a bookstore, getting as many books as I could, one very proficient salesperson asked me – “how much time would you take to finish this 400 page book?.” I said maybe a week or so. He said “what would you talk about in that one week? “ It later hit me that what he wanted to say was make sure you use the information you read. Even if you read one headline in the morning, make sure you use that somewhere in the whole day’s conversation. This has dual advantages. First and foremost, people would know that you are an updated person and you talk about what is happening then, at that moment. More importantly, when you use some information somewhere, you remember that for a longer time than the one you merely read.
15) Curiosity – You can relate with the instances where you tag somebody as dull or boring not because he has different interests than you do, but because he is not interested to explore.Inquisitiveness or curiosity is the most important trait of a vibrant personality. Unless until you are curious about everything around you, you wouldn’t be able to develop a good personality. Curiosity is not a trait that you need to harbor in order to show the world, it is a pre-requisite to building up yourself well. Be curious about everything and anything, about what people think, about how a particular dish tastes, about a different genre of music.
14) Notice – Whenever you enter a room full of people, you face an identity crisis at that very moment. The best way to step out of the “usual crowd”, it is important that you make your mark. The easiest way to do that is notice everything around you. Be it somebody’s dazzling attire or the color combination of the upholstery with the color of the walls, when you keep your eyes and ears open, your words would be appealing and interesting. Many people also call it “words of the moment”, but it is a simple trick of using the environment or background of someone or something to strike an interesting conversation with them.
13) Master the language – When people say that a successful person has very good communication skills, it does not necessarily mean that the skills have to be in English language. As long as you have the command over any one language, that is enough for you to make your mark. Keep learning new words in that language, keep writing to ensure a flow of thoughts and interact with people who share your interests to learn the nuances of the language.
12) Discuss – More often you learn much more and much faster when you discuss with people than when you read alone. When you discuss anything with a group of people, you come acrossvarious facets of the conversation that you might have missed. In addition, you get exposed to those new perspectives that you would never imagine to exist. This would either change your perception or give you some additional content that you need to advocate your perception for/against. Discussion is like learning at fast forward!
11) Network well – A good personality is the one who can gel well with people from different backgrounds irrespective of the fact whether the connections are of monetary importance or not. A good, close-knit network makes sure that you stay updated and active in your field of work and at the same time gain information of diverse spheres over general everyday conversations without putting in any time into it. In addition, networking exposes you to diversity.
The 2nd phase will comprise of the top 10 points! Placed in decreasing order, they are in increasing order of importance and difficulty to inculcate in your daily habits.
Would love to hear reviews :)
~~ Palak Marwah
