Compliment a stranger

People are surprisingly easy to please sometimes. It just takes a few words in praise, and like Pavlov-conditioned canines, we smile goofily and automatically in response. Try it and see. Approach a person you'd never normally talk to (note that this isn't an excuse to chat up an attractive stranger), and say something as simple as "Nice hat." A sincere, spontaneous compliment from someone who doesn't want anything from you is a fantastic thing.


Effort involved: very little. We think complimentary things about strangers all the time, but the next step of actually saying them out loud is the daunting one.