“I’ve trained myself to illuminate the things in my personality that are likeable and to hide and protect the things that are less likeable.” — Will Smith
Last week, I picked up the book The Likeability Factor, by Tim Sanders.
It’s a book about how the single biggest improvement you can make in your life is likability.
From winning elections to having the best job … it’s all about likability, based on research.
The more likeable you are, the happier your life will be. Likability impacts your health, wealth, and happiness. People choose people who they like.
They hire them, vote for them, buy from them, and spend time with them. Research even shows that doctors spend more time with those they like.
The 4 Keys to Likeability
The beauty of the book is it treats likability as a skill. Here are the key parts:
- Friendliness
- Relevance
- Empathy
- Realness
Friendliness is your ability to communicate liking and openness to others.
Relevance means you know what matters to people and you can connect with others’ wants, interests, and needs.
Empathy means your ability to recognize, acknowledge and experience other people’s feelings.
Realness means your authenticity and integrity behind your likeability.
Working On Your Likeability is Like Working Out
Unless you’re naturally a 10 on the likeability scale, it takes work. As Sanders puts it, “A high L-factor is a form of social fitness, and achieving it can be just as tough and time-consuming as developing physical fitness.”
In this case, your L-Factor is your likeability factor.
It’s an insightful book, full of anecdotes, stories, and pragmatic advice. I’ll be sharing more book nuggets in the future.
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