The Power Of "Hello"
One of the most powerful words in the English language is “hello.”
Hello opens doors. It blows roofs off.
I moved to California from Florida when I was in my early 30’s because I met a man at Starbucks. Are we still together today? No. Do I regret it for one second? Heck no! It’s one of the best hellos of my life. California led to NYC. NYC is everything. He said hello.
One of my best friends is my best friend today because I said hello to her on a rooftop bar in NYC and another best friend is a girl I sat next to having dinner solo at a restaurant in West Village one night. She was eating alone. I was eating alone. She said hello.
I just went to Austria for a week on a ski trip with a man I met at a pub one night in London last year. He said hello.
Be different. Work your courage muscle and be the first to connect. People are starving for connections, they just don’t know how to start. A few ideas:
1) Look up. In an elevator, look up from your phone and smile at the person getting on. I bet they smile back. They’ll probably even speak. Just smiling gives them the green light to connect.
2) Compliment someone. One of my best friends today is a girl I met at a networking event. She was wearing a navy blue lace Zara skirt. I loved it. I complimented it. And now I can't imagine NYC without her. You don’t have to be weird about it. Just say "great (fill in the blank.)" Great shoes! Great bag!
3) Say “good morning.” Sitting down at your breakfast table at a café? Look to your left or right and say good morning. At a bar for happy hour? Look to your right and say “good evening.” You don’t actually have to launch into some random conversation to connect. Simply acknowledging someone’s existence (wow that sounded so sad) is enough to open doors and blow off roofs.
Challenge:
For 5 days, say hello to 2 people per day. That’s 10 hellos. 10 opportunities to connect. 10 ways to make someone’s day. See above for examples. That’s it. Keep a journal each evening of what happens. Bet you’ll be amazed.
