This is my 1st edition of “Wake up Wednesday.”
Occasionally on Wednesdays, I’ll put together a “Wake Up Wednesday” post. Each WUW post serves two purposes:
- To make you think, analyze, and question principles
- To provide you with actionable steps that you can apply to your daily life
First impressions are important. Our human instincts are geared to send us subtle hints and signals regarding the person we have just met. Do we like the person? Are they nice, annoying, trustworthy, etc?
There is a large difference though between first impressions & first judgements.
This post is about “first judgements.”
First judgements don’t have anything to do with the person you are encountering. They have everything to do with you.
When you meet a 40 year old biker full of tattoos and a leather jacket for the first time, your first judgement has nothing to do with him. It only has to do with your perception.
When you meet a successful women business owner who’s interviewing you for a position for the first time, your first judgement has nothing to do with her. It only has to do with your perception.
When you meet a boy with learning disabilities for the first time, your first judgement has nothing to do with him. It only has to do with your perception.
We live in a world where so many of us are too quick to judge. Again, there is a huge distinction between impression and judgement.
Most of us don’t even realize we are judging because we have been raised this way. We associate and group individuals into sectors based on their outward appearance alone (this happens in a matter of seconds).
Examples:
That biker, he must be a tough guy who swears a lot. Why is he at church?
That business lady, she must be really rude. How’d she get that job?
That kid, he’s weird. Why is he in our class?
I don’t condone any of the above statements. I’m merely pointing them out because they are typical judgements made by individuals every single day.
Our society as a whole makes false first judgements alone based on age (young & old), race, gender, socio-economic status, occupations, and interests.
THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE!
At one time in our lives, we have all been guilty at least once (if not more) of judging people without good reasoning behind it.
The only way for us to change is this:
- Realize we’re doing it
- Actively stop creating these preconceived judgements
For the next week, I really want you to be judgement free in relation to meeting new people. At the least, I want you to be aware of what you are doing so you can start to make changes.
Example- The clerk at the convenience store has crazy piercings and hair color.
Instead of pre-judging, have a conversation with the guy. He has a personality too, just like you. Your backgrounds might differ greatly, but that shouldn’t hold you back from getting to know him more.
You will both benefit!!!
By getting to know a person before making initial first judgements about them, you will realize how wrong your initial judgement was most of the time.
I want to leave today’s article with the following quote.
“Sometimes the nicest people you meet are covered in tattoos & sometimes the most judgmental people you meet go to church on Sundays.”
I think the opposite can also be true, but the point of this quote to me represents that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
We have all been taught the saying from a young age: “Don’t judge a book by its cover”
But are we actually following through on that lesson in our own lives.
Are you?