You never get a second chance to make a great first impression.
Do you believe in that?
A lot has been said and researched about first impressions and that we all judge people the moment we meet them for the first time within a matter of 60 seconds.
First impressions are usually accurate on broad personality traits for most people. The sub-conscious radar within us tells us about likeability, openness to talk, friendliness, and intelligence of the person we are meeting.
At the same time, these first judgments can be misleading. Many people can pretend who they are not and some like me never get that.
In my case, first impressions are 99% incorrect – I am close to people who I did not like the first time I met and those I really liked are not anywhere close to being friends.
How about you? Are your first impressions correct?
For Day 16 of NaBloPoMo and NoMo, I am participating in #MicroblogMondays
happiness and food 
It’s a 50-50 thing for me. Sometimes the person who I feel is an introvert turn out to be a social biggie. Sometimes the one I think is arrogant turns to be exactly the same. I would say, it’s just a chance perception. At a greater depth, I assume our sub-consciousness does know the fact but it takes time to convince our logical minds.
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Could be. Never thought like that..
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Of late, I’m learning to trust my gut a lot more, Parul. So after I’ve given people the benefit of the doubt to some extent, then I go back to my instincts. Happy to report, it’s working!
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Give me some tips. It’s hard for me to feel what’s instinct.
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I think it’s impossible to judge a person by meeting him or her for mere 60 seconds . I was impressed by a person during my Banking days when he boasted about himself and his proximity to so many other Managers of our Bank . I gave him car loan for Innova . Till I was in the Branch , he was regular in paying his instalments . After I was transferred he stopped paying his EMIs and then I came to know that he had commited a fraud on the Bank by selling his hypothecated vehicle .
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Gosh! That must have been so bad.
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I am lousy at first impressions – like you, most of the ones I have about others end up being pretty much totally incorrect. We definitely need to keep an open mind about people, as first impressions are NOT always accurate!
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In many ways, I see similarities.
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I agree with your views. I think the definition really applies in the corporate setting, where the other person will try to be his/her best consciously right away (and the first impression concept works)!
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You are right Alok. People put up their best faces and we handle the rest later.
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First impressions are often misleading and the old adage holds true: “Never judge a book by its cover.” I always try to keep an open mind.
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So true!
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Na.. .not always! I suck at judging people with the first impressions! Forget first, even after 2-3months I have realised people can turn out to be real bad! 😛
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Can’t say that doesn’t happen with me 😀
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I don’t think I’m at the 99% level. There have been plenty of people I’ve written off that have become close friends, and others that I thought would be a fantastic connect and yet… not so much.
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Happens, right? Life is a long train 🙂
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I have made quite a many mistakes with first impressions of people so I have begun to disregard the first impressions and try to keep an open mind about whether I will be able to gel with a particular person on the basis of repeated interactions.
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Looks like we are all in the same boat.
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I did a post sometime ago…the guy in question was someone I saw on reality TV who made a really bad first impression…he almost proved me wrong few days later when he had people swarming around him. I was inclined to think that first impressions don’t really matter, but few more weeks down the line and the masks of pretense having been shed, the guy has proved that first impressions are often right!
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I could depend on situations and people. Cos mine are so wrong, I have stopped making much impressions in the mind. I let things be till I start to trust. 🙂
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I use to take everyone at face value , and beleived in everyone from the word GO
but slowly over time i have realised the world is not as we think it is , So Now I keep the first impressions to myself and not let them influence me .. a few meets later I descide ..
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We all learn that way I guess. First making mistakes in trusting and then taking time to understand.
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First impression hardly mean anything to me. As long as you do not get to know the person, I see no point in having made a decision regarding the person just based on what he/she appears to be.
In my opinion impressions take time. They should take time. And yes, they can change over time. They should change.
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I agree with your view. Impressions should take time.
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I don’t really go for the first impressions. Coz like you, I can’t judge people so well the first time I meet them. Give me three weeks with a person, and I’ll be able to tell you whether the person is really good or not.
But there are some times when something within you just tells you that the person is right for you.. And when that happens I always listen to that inner voice! 🙂
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Those few times it must be different. Sometimes I don’t know whether the inner voice is in the head or the heart and that confuses me. Thank you for stopping by!
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Honestly avoid going with just the first impressions in judging people since more often than not I am wrong :P.
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