So how do you connect with other people, especially when you don't feel like it, especially when life is very, very challenging. Hi, my name is Mike Pettigrew. I'm a bestselling author and a serial entrepreneur since 1987 and I help ordinary people to achieve extraordinary goals, but probably not in the way you might think. So when things are really rough and life is really challenging, and we hit a crisis, most people - they like just to pull in - into - inside themselves, pull away from other people and just keep everyone at a distance, but that can actually make the situation worse. So what can we do? What can we do to connect with other people when things are really, really rough? Well there are several things that we can do. Firstly, just smiling more. It's amazing how when we adopt certain body postures - it affects how we feel inside. And - telemarketers, were always told in the past to "smile while you dial", because when you smile, it's like a subtle energy conveys over the telephone to the person you're speaking with.

And it builds rapport. So when you start smiling, other people automatically want to smile back - it breaks the ice. It creates an opening. And also studies have found that the way we carry ourselves has a - it tells a lot about ourselves to the world. Are we hunched over like that all the time? Or are we carrying ourselves in a much more open way? If you carry yourself in a much more open way, it actually helps you connect with other people much more potently than if you are closed. Closed means pushing away. Open means accepting and ability to connect. Also, doing gratitude exercises is a wonderful way to become more open and to connect with people better because when you start counting your blessings, when you start bringing up gratitude for the things that matter most, the small things that are the most important - it changes the way you interact with everything.

Your environment, the people in your environment. Gratitude is actually, I often think that gratitude and complaint are opposites. Complaint pushes everything away, whereas gratitude is like a giant magnet that draws into your life all sorts of amazing benefits and synchronicities and gratitude is a way of connecting with people much more potently. When you live in a, in a grateful way, automatically people are magnetised to you. If you are always complaining and resenting things. Is that very magnetic? I don't think so. Also, there's an amazing book written a long, long time ago and it's called "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie and despite the title of the book, it's all about real sincere care about other people. When you show deep care towards another person, they cannot help but reciprocate that. So if you share something about your life with another person, that in a way makes you vulnerable, something that you don't have to share and then ask the other person about their life that - that sharing that - it's almost like a body and a shadow and you're, you're, you're - the mirror and you know you, you bend towards the mirror - you bow towards the mirror, the mirror bows towards you.

So just opening yourself up to others, showing vulnerability can create also an amazing connection. Also, another wonderful suggestion in that book is to compliment people - to compliment people and show genuine interest. Not just flattery without any emotion or care behind it, but to be genuinely interested in the person you're communicating with. When you show genuine and sincere interest, it creates amazing connections. So if you are having a really rough time right now and you're really suffering and you're kind of pushing people away, this can create amazing bonds and connections with people and it can certainly lessen your burden greatly. And also just using the other person's name in your speech a lot. You know, if you read that bestseller, "How to Win Friends and Influence People", it says that using someone's name, that the one thing that makes people happiest is when they hear their own name.

So when you're chatting with someone, if you use their name frequently, it shows real sincere care. And of course finally just relax and be yourself. You know, trying to be something different -it takes up enormous energy. It's false, it does not create connections. So I hope you found this short video helpful. As I say, if you are going through a rough time and you're kind of isolating yourself and you want to change that, I think these little suggestions, these little techniques will help you a lot. And if you've found this video helpful, please share it or give it a like, share it with your friends. And if you're ready to completely transform your life, no matter what situation you're in, if you are ready for rapid change, check out my Ultimate Success Club at achievegoalsfast.com/usc. Thank you so much for watching, and I look forward to speaking with you again very soon. Bye bye.