Blah to Bodacious: Be That Person People Remember And Seek Out

It's a question all of us hear every day, right? (In some circles here in the South you might hear "How's your Mama and all them?" instead of the plain vanilla "How are you?" - but the meaning is the same. ;)) And most of us typically provide an automatic and standard response - something along the line of "Fine" or "Good," along with the requisite "And you?"

Generally speaking, do you really care what their response is to your rejoinder? Do you think THEY care about YOUR response? Probably not. It's an automatic gesture, like saying "please" and "thank you." Or maybe it's being used as an icebreaker to get a conversation started when you don't want to bring up the weather.

Now, here's another question: Do you want people to remember you and want to spend time with you? If so, you have to come up with a better answer than "Fine" or "Good" - and you absolutely must emphasize the positive.

Having a bad day? Did that business deal fall through at the last minute? Dog just died? Things generally not going your way? No one wants to hear about it except, maybe, your family and close friends. (And they don't REALLY want to hear it either, but it's in the "family/friend" contract.) If you are a pessimistic wet blanket, people may remember you but they certainly won't want to spend time with you. Or hire you. Or conduct business with you.

I've heard a few pretty good responses to the "how are you" question. My personal favorite: "Best day of my life!" A very upbeat answer that people will probably remember, but is it totally honest and accurate? Not really, especially if your dog just died. But it certainly says something about your attitude toward life if you respond this way and actually mean it.

Perhaps a better answer is simply "Perfect." No need for an exclamation point. "Perfect" is honest, positive and always accurate. No matter what is going on, isn't your life always "accurate, exact, or correct in every detail?" Mine is - even when things aren't necessarily going the way I want.

I think "Perfect" will be MY new response to this age old question - at least until I come up with a MORE perfect way to be both memorable and remarkable!