Making Friends and Influencing People

As a Psych major, I'm familiar with the multitude of methods to change behavior but was never a big fan of the external reward for reinforcement. Although I don't doubt it works, I always thought that it was more effective in the long run to find the internal incentive. Speaking for myself, I believed that all that I needed to continue with a desirable behavior was for it to really matter to me.

Well, I'm only human and I discovered that I was slightly off. Case in point: Today I met with a new doctor at the weight loss clinic I've been going to for months who stated, "Oh my God, I thought I had the wrong patient, your photo at the beginning doesn't even look like you! You're beautiful. Wow, what does your husband think?"

I don't know whether the white smudge on his tie was crack or powdered sugar from a carb saturated donut, but the man was clearly high on something since the last time I checked, 4 hours of sleep plus jeans and a t-shirt didn't equal aesthetically pleasing. No, I wasn't the type of person who, after first sight, could inspire someone to write a touching tribute song but something all together different. I'm more likely to give the impression of being too nice which explains why the only lyrics anyone ever wrote me were apologetic by some jackass Kurt Cobain wannabe with the refrain "Sorry" screamed over and over again into a breakup song. But I liked this doctor's forthright style, positive attitude, and exuberant enthusiasm enough to politely go along with his delusion. Besides, as a woman, you can never hear that compliment enough, especially when it comes from someone you just met. It works for me, as now I've got that extra boost, in addition to my own resolve, to literally go the extra mile in my cardio regime. He's my new favorite doctor.

And at this rate who knows what could happen next. Somebody could discover my photo posted in the lobby and offer me some spokeperson deal like Valerie Bertenelli has for Jenny Craig. Maybe I could even be on Oprah and get a book deal too. Hell, I would settle for a lifetime supply of their chocolate protein bars.