"First Impression Never Reliable"

Have you ever been out and met someone who you instantly didn’t like? The person just rubbed you the wrong way because they said or did something that turned you off.  When that person later turns out to be someone you become friends with or date, you have to wonder how reliable our first impressions really are.

So often we seem to make so many snap judgments and quick superficial scans and we actually rule a potential romance out based on this.  When you think of your best relationships or closest friendships, do you remember what you first thought about that person when you met?

Fortunately, there is other research that suggests you might have up to four minutes to make an impression. In which case we suggest, other than giving some thought to the challenge, two things to focus on:

Try to remember people's names. We can all improve our memories. Dave Thomas, a fireman from Halifax, decided on a whim to improve his rather average memory. Two years later he was said to have one of the most powerful memories in the world, accomplishing feats such as memorizing a shuffled pack of cards in 90 seconds and reciting 22,500 digits of the number pi. Although there is no need for you to take it that far!

Maintain steady eye contact. Steady eye contact shows that you are confident and alert to others around you. That's why expert advice has it that, should you ever come face to face with a mountain lion, you should give the animal the opportunity to move on, slowly backing away, but maintaining eye contact. Note, however, that unlike humans and mountain lions, brown bears don't like this as much, if you happen upon a brown bear, keep an eye on them, but avoid direct eye contact.