Simply Being Nice Will Help You with Your Business

This is a guest post from Hulbert Lee at FromBottomUp.

Let’s face it. We live in a society that’s run by capitalism.

If you’re in business, everyone can be seen as a competitor. The ones who have a cold, determined attitude to do whatever it takes to get to the top of their business are also often the people who are highly praised.

High rating TV shows like The Apprentice often teach us that in order to get a job, you have to be willing to out compete others and that there is no room for “nice” or you will be booted. But in my opinion, being nice has more long-term potential to help you in business.

3 Reasons Being Nice Is Better for Business

Here are the reasons I believe we should be nice:

1. Positive Impressions are Contagious

Every time you make a positive action towards others, whether it’s smiling, saying hello, or laughing at someone’s joke, you are spreading positive energy to them. They will hold in this positive energy when they receive it and potentially spread it towards others, making themselves feel better.

Even if people are having a bad day, they will remember back in their day, reminding themselves that there was at least one person who was nice to them and will remember you for it. Not only does it help them prosper, but one day they may return the favor to you.

2. You Never Know Who They Are

You never know who you will run into when you’re nice. I remember a story of Tony Robbins in his book Unlimited Power where he’s in New York. He walks and sits down on a bench in Central Park to see what’s going on.

He notices a man that sits across from him. He starts to do what the man does. When the man throws bread crumbs to the birds, he throws bread crumbs to the birds. When the man sways back and forth, he sways back and forth. When the man looks up, he looks up.

Soon the man walks up to Tony Robbins and starts to talk to him. They engage in friendly conversation together. The guy tells Tony that he feels that he has known him better in that moment than the people he’s known for twenty-five years. He then offers Tony a job. You never know who you will bump into in life that will hand you an opportunity after a friendly chat.

3. People Change Over Time

People change. A person that you are nice to now may turn out to be totally different from who they are today. What I’m getting at here is that we should be nice to people regardless of their status. They may not be the wealthiest person on earth, but you should still be nice to them anyway.

One day when they become a successful person, they will look back and think of those people who helped them become successful. One of those few people could be you and you never know what kind of help they might be able to offer back to you.

Take the High Road and Be Nice

Being nice is something that we should embrace, not just because we want something out of it, but because it just makes us a more fulfilled person inside.

If you consistently portray a nice personality, people are going to remember you for it, especially in a very competitive world. It’s hard to get past that initial fear of lending your hand out there, but if you’re willing to do so, not only will you be able to feel happier, but you’ll influence others in a positive way in which they may one day lend a hand back to you.

Like Jay Leno says, “Life is not that hard. Try giving a little. You would be surprised at how much you get back.”

This has been a guest post from Hulbert Lee. He writes about personal development and success at his blog, FromBottomUp. If you haven’t had a chance already, make sure you follow him Twitter or subscribe to his RSS feed to get his blog updates.