The Power of Baby

You’re sitting at work.

Bored.

And not just bored, you are “I could fall asleep standing up”-bored.

You are, “I’d rather be cleaning”-bored. This boredom is serious and is not to be trifled with. In fact, you’re almost so bored it’s starting to tip from boredom to a low-level anger. You know, that kind of anger or frustration that sits just below the edge of consciousness; an itch you just can’t quite scratch.

At any rate, you’re sitting there hoping for anything. You’re boss yelling at you would be better than this!

And then something happens.

It’s subtle at first. You almost miss it, actually. You hear a bunch of your coworkers, excited, enthusiastic - almost painfully cheerful. “What could that be?” You decide to wonder on over. You make your way through the crowd and what do you discover? Your coworker brought in their new born baby; Everyone is fawning over it. All of a sudden - and you can’t help this - you start to smile. You look at everyone else’s smiles and you can’t stop your smile from growing even bigger! All of a sudden - almost as if it’s an instinct - you start fawning over the baby too. You’re cooing and saying things like, “Who’s the most beautiful baby in the world? You are!”

You take a moment to step back. You think to yourself, “What am I doing?!?” You can’t quite figure it out after you ponder it for a moment. You finish gushing over the newborn human and return to your desk. You have a spring in your step, a smile on your face and all of a sudden you’re not so bored. In fact, you start reaching out to your coworkers to see if there is anything you can assist them with. The day looks fresh, and you’re ready go crush it!

Here’s the thing: Why does this happen. What shifts when a baby walks in the room? Well, everything! When a happy baby is wheeled in with parents in tow, all of a sudden everyone stops what they are doing and they all proceed to fawn and gush over the baby. Do you think the baby enjoys it? Of course - that baby, even if it can’t put it into words, feels happy, passionate, and super curious! Does everyone touched by this new life feel a little better about the day afterwards? You bet!

So where am I going with this? (“Okay, Mike, get to the point!”). Okay, okay, here’s my point: What if, when people entered the room - coworkers, potential customers, or your spouse of 50 years - we made the choice to get as excited as when a baby entered the room. Well...maybe not that excited - we don’t want to be accused of eating a special brownie for lunch - but perhaps we display a PORTION of that enthusiasm. Don’t you think that other person would appreciate it? If they were a customer don’t you think they’d be more willing to purchase from you? If they were a family member, don’t you think they’d be more interested in hearing about your day or listening to your bad jokes? Of course! That’s the power of baby!

So, the next time someone enters the room: get excited. Use the power of baby! Make them know you are genuinely happy they are around. Show them that you genuinely care. I promise you’ll make them smile and you might just smile a little more yourself.

Get out there and crush it!