You Never Get a Second Chance to Make a FIRST IMPRESSION….

So the saying goes… and I hate to admit it but, it is 100% true.

When it comes down to it, what does everyone always tell you? Go with your gut. And what is your gut feeling? The judgement you made during your first encounters and experiences regarding some person/place/thing. As much as we try (or want to deny it) we all do it and it’s a hard thing to fight against. You can’t deny it’s importance. It carries more weight than it probably should. I’ll give you three examples I’ve come across.

Exhibit A (and probably the most obvious): Job interview. Whether it be your physical appearance, professional demeanor, or paper resume – you want to present yourself as a qualified individual and I’ll go ahead and just say it – you want to IMPRESS them. Generally people aren’t picked because they were “fairly adequate and seemingly sufficient.” Don’t be the jerk that comes in all rude, or sassy, or acting better than those on the front-line for the business. Just because they aren’t the interviewer doesn’t mean they don’t matter. You don’t think the person who matters isn’t going to ask others what their impression of you is? Remember, they ALREADY work there… you’re on their turf, amigo.

Exhibit B: Service Industry. I get it. We can’t all work our dream jobs so, sometimes we settle to pay the bills. Sometimes I think that these people are forgetting that they are WORKING! Don’t take it out on me because you are tired or cranky or whatever. YOU, my friend, are the one who agreed to work at one of Hollywood’s most popular 24 hours eateries on a Friday night at 3am. Of course it’s going to be busy, chaotic and just downright obnoxious! People are drunk and drama-fied and you knew this was going to happen. Remember, it’s called a tip, not your inheritance. Unless my party is 8 or more, you can’t force me to pay 18 or more %

[*Disclaimer: I ALWAYS tip more than 18% but don’t be the asshole who makes me think twice about it and wish I didn’t have a conscious and apathy for what you’re doing. I should want to give gratuity because I am grateful. The end. ]

And the final most frequent Exhibit C: Nice to meet you. No matter how much you want to say you don’t, you know every time you meet a new person for the first time that you develop your own set of opinions right then and there. Hell, if this is someone you knew of before, you probably had expectations pre-developing in your brain of what you thought they were gonna be like and then compare the two to form an even more concrete decision on how you feel about them. And sure, there’s always the case of “oh, we hated each other but now we’re best friends…” or “I couldn’t stand him when I met him but now I love my boyfriend…” blah blah blah… You never know how these are gonna turn out but, either way, your first thoughts on a person help set in motion the entire course of your relationship.

Obviously the goal is to keep an open mind and not judge a book by its cover, as they like to say. But let’s face it. Everybody does it. Regardless of how objective someone is, they are going to make their own assessments from the moment they come in contact. It’s human nature – intuition is the first line of self-defense. That sense of disapproval is our instinct to stay away from that which is and is not good for us. Sometimes we’re completely off and others spot-on. Pretty much screwed either way. So, just be aware and proceed with caution. Always look out and do you because, no one else can do it for you.