by Cheryl Gregory

Created on: October 08, 2009   Last Updated: October 09, 2009

You have probably been around people who are just an absolute joy. They brighten up the atmosphere when they walk into the room with their smiles, sense of humor, and kindness. When they ask you how your day has been, they really want to know. These people have all kinds of friends and you want to know what it is about them that cause people to like them so much. How can you get people to like you?

First, you cannot make anyone like you, but you can work at becoming more likable. Here are some tips that may help you out. Be gregarious! Be fun, and let your personality shine!

If you slip down into your shell, it is probably because you are nervous and uncomfortable for some reason. People will see you hiding behind your self-consciousness and go right past you, leaving you to go deeper into your shell. Do not underestimate your value. You have many things to offer other people, even if you think you do not. If someone told you that you were dumb or unlikeable, do not believe what he or she told you. You can be anything you want to be, and if you want to be likable, you can work on that, too!

Practice excellent personal hygiene. Take good care of your body. Brush your teeth two or three times daily, and bathe on a regular basis. No one wants to be around someone who is not clean. Keep your hair brushed and your clothes clean and tidy. You will not only impress other people, you will feel so much better yourself.

Make it a point to complement others regularly. Instead of being so concerned about your own image and feelings, step out of that shell. Think about other people, and look for ways to complement them. Do they have a cool outfit on? Are they working extra hard on a particular thing? Find something good to say to people when you are around them. Take your eyes off yourself long enough to think about other people and their needs.

Do not take offense! When you run into the class clown or the office idiot, sometimes they will put you down by saying unkind things. You may run into a problem when someone talks behind your back or tells a bold-faced lie about you. It happens to everyone. If you did tell a lie, then you have to reap the consequences, but if you know that you did not do anything wrong, see it for what it is. Taking offense will only hurt you. When you know you could have done things differently, then you need to address that issue. People are always going to be cruel. That is the way this world is.

Always be honest and trustworthy. This is, perhaps, the most important quality a person can have. No one likes a person who they cannot depend on to tell the truth. Who wants to be around someone who lets them down. When you talk to a person, look them straight in the eye, and mean what you say. Do not talk a person down behind their back and then smile at their face later on knowing what you did. This is despicable!

To be liked, you have to be likable. Be the kind of person that you like to be around every day. Look into the mirror and ask yourself if you could change any of your ways. If people do not like you, they generally have a good reason for the way they feel. In some cases, it may be because they are in a clique and play follow the leader, but you probably do not want to be around people like that anyway.

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