The Sam Walton 10 ft Rule

We'll call today's talk the Sam Walton ten Foot Rule. I steal a lot of good stuff from my buddy Michael McLain, who's ex insurance agent, ex hockey coach, ex tennis pro. He has an adult coaching program mostly for insurance guys, and he puts out a lot of stuff. And he was talking about the Sandwalt in ten foot rule, which is kind of why they have breeders at Walmart. If you came within 10ft of San Walton, he said hi to you, made eye contact and said hi. And again, until today's society, it seems like everybody avoids this head down, doesn't look at each other. And when you, when you come up to somebody, you know, and you do that, people are like, what's wrong with this person? Whatever, you know, they don't care. But if anyone gets within 10ft of you, say hi to them, try to shake their hand, look them in the eye when you say hi to them. You'd be surprised at how that changes people's opinion of you, changes their perspective on life. Maybe they needed that, but I thought that was a good point. I try to do that myself when I walk, when I go anywhere, but, you know, I'm an old guy, so I'll talk to anybody. But I see so many young people like that, they're just head down, walking, don't want to mess with anybody. Why not take a few seconds of your day. If you pass by somebody, hold the door open for them. I'm always shocked. I remember one time me and mom were in California at a conference and I held the elevator open for this lady and she was like, taken aback. She's like. I said, you know, I said hi to her. She's like, you're not from here, are you? I'm like, no, ma', am. I'm from Oklahoma. She's like, yeah. People in California don't hold doors open for people, which was shocking. We've all been raised here in the south, so it's a little bit different with manners. So hopefully we always hold our door open for people, ladies, anybody. But getting around people and just saying hi to them changes their perspective. Especially these are people you're working with or you're in, you know, again, maybe cities, at a hospital. Jack's out in public with his people. Riley is a teacher and a coach. You know, sometimes you walk by somebody, you'll miss some people occasionally. But if you walk by somebody and they'll take a second to say hi, they're like, gee, what's wrong with the coach today? He didn't Even say hi. People like that. So anytime you pass within 10ft of people, just practice that. Look them in the eye, say hi. Hi, how's your day? Introduce yourself to people. If you're in close proximity. And even another little side tip on this whole thing is when you introduce yourself to someone, stand up. At least for men, you don't introduce yourself to somebody sitting down, Slide your chair back, stand up, look them in the eye, shake their hand like you got a pair. No limp wristed bullshit. Give them a nice firm handshake. We're not trying to break someone's hand here, but so often someone comes at you, it's like shaking a dead fish. Have a good, strong, decent handshake. Look them in the eye, say your name, ask their name, make sure you got it down. Try to remember it. There's a whole series of videos we could do on mnemonic devices on remembering people's names. But be polite like that, that will change people's perspective on you as you deal with people on a regular basis. Or they say you again and say you see someone for the second time, hopefully you can remember their name. Worst case, you say hi to them and look them in the eye. This is the kind of impression, especially small business owners, teachers, coaches, nurses you want to make. I mean, if Citi stays in the nursing track, you'll have so much power to change people's life at the worst time of their life, when their loved ones are sick or in pain or dying. Being nice to somebody and then eye contact and maybe remembering their name or just that. Or Riley as a coach with his players, his kids, he teaches, you can make such an impression on people forever, a lasting impression. So whenever you're near somebody, say hi, look them in the eye, see them again, say hi again. People appreciate that. Be a good person, be different than everyone else. So you'll see this as a reoccurring theme as well. When everyone's going right, you go left, you do the direct opposite. So when the majority of people don't say hi, they don't look someone in the eye. They're looking straight down at their freaking phone. Walking into walls, you know you're the opposite. Keep your phone in your pocket. When you can look at someone in the eye, say hi, shake their hand. If you, if you can, always be polite. The world needs more of that. So go out there and spread the light out there being the better person, and it will change your life and change the life of others.