Our Mood Is Contagious

I have a kind of (dangerous) superpower: I can sense the mood of a room within a few seconds of walking into it.

Although it’s probably more pronounced in my case, the truth is that every human being has this ability. I’m sure you can remember a moment when you walked into a room and immediately sensed the atmosphere before anyone said a word.

That’s because emotions are contagious.

Whether we realize it or not, we constantly influence the emotional climate around us, at home, at work, with friends, and even with strangers. Our emotions often spread more quickly than our opinions.

As leaders, parents, partners, or teammates, we spend a lot of time thinking about what we should say. But people usually remember something else: how they felt around us. Did they feel encouraged? Safe? Judged? Inspired? Drained?

None of us can be positive all the time, nor should we pretend to be. Life is messy. We all have difficult days. But there’s a difference between having a bad day and making everyone else have one too.

Every interaction is an opportunity to leave people a little better than we found them. Sometimes that’s through enthusiasm. Sometimes it’s through calm. Sometimes it’s simply by being fully present.

I try to put this idea into practice. Instead of asking myself, “What do I need to accomplish today?”, I try to ask a different question:

How do I want people to feel after spending time with me?

Then I do my best to let the answer to that question shape my day more than anything on my to-do list.