Talk less, smile more

If you were at anyway up on the Hamilton craze, you'll probably recognize "Talk less, smile more" as the lyrics from one of the songs. It's a line Burr says when introduced to Hamilton, and I think in the musical, the line gets a bad rap. 

In reality, this is some of the best advice out there. A solid majority (by a landslide) of my goofs in life are the result of me talking more, and usually smiling less while I do it. Many of my real regrets stem from not talking less and smiling more. And the times when I've handled things right, it's because I have talked less and smiled more. And by initially talking less, I've given myself time to learn more, so that when I did talk I was able to have more of an impact. 

I have a friend that I worked who is really good at this talking less.  When things were really stressful at work, and there was very low morale, she held back. And when she did raise a concern--even in private conversations--you paid attention. Her expressions of concern were never personal or about personalities, and even though the situation was still rough, and her input wasn't shying away from that, it somehow made me feel less crazy. My mentor was the same way, as are many of the people that I deeply respect and admire and want to be like. And when I have managed to talk less and smile more--be more agreeable and personable--I have almost always learned something that helped me to have greater compassion and to become more tolerant and patient. I have almost always had my mind opened.

So, even though in Hamilton, Burr came across as double-crossing and devious, there is great value in talking less and smiling more. There are definitely times when you should firmly hold your ground, but you can do that even when talking less and smiling more. And I hope I get better and better at it.