The dumbest career hack that's worked 100% of the time 🍓

I've used this in 1,000+ meetings...

I’ve never failed a job interview.

Not when I was 18 with zero experience. Not when I was massively underqualified. Not even when I fumbled every creative question they threw at me.

The secret? I smiled like I just won the lottery.

When I finally asked recruiters why they kept picking me despite my obvious failures, their answer shocked me:

“You’re the only one who smiled through the whole thing - even when struggling”.

This unfair advantage is literally hiding on your face 🤫

I know it sounds stupid (like something from a cheesy self-help book).

But hear me out:

If you want to advance your career faster than anyone else → start every interaction with a big smile.

You should smile so wide it makes your eyes wrinkle.

Last week, I gave a marketing update to our entire company over Zoom. Nothing special - just our regular team sync. But I smiled like crazy through the whole presentation.

The chat exploded. All I did was smile.

It’s like finding a cheat code in a video game that makes you invincible… Except this one works in real life.

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The timing secret nobody tells you about ⏰

Now, here’s what 99% of people get wrong:

They wait for the interaction to start, and only then force a smile ❌

That’s wayyyyy too late.

The magic only happens if you start smiling BEFORE:

• 5 seconds before you open your camera on Zoom call

• 5 seconds before you pick up the phone

• 5 seconds before walking into the meeting room

You should start smiling before anyone sees you. I discovered this by accident during COVID. Starting to smile while still on mute and camera off completely transformed my calls.

But what if I just don’t want to smile? 😞

Look, we all have bad days. Sometimes your brain screams “HELL NO” and smiling feels impossible. But I have a solution.

Here’s my actual pre-meeting ritual that works every time:

Hold a pencil between your teeth horizontally for 60 seconds. ✏️

Sounds insane. But this muscle position literally forces your brain into “Smile Mode” and it gets stuck like that.

I do this before every major meeting.

It’s saved my ass more times than I can count.

Your smile goes through the phone (I know, it sounds crazy) 🎧

Here’s another thing that blew my mind: People can hear a smile through the phone. I thought this was BS until I tested it. I recorded myself saying the same message twice - once while smiling, once without.

The difference was SHOCKING.

The smiling version sounded warmer, more confident, more trustworthy.

Try it yourself: Record a simple “Hey, my name is X and I’m recording my voice right now” on your phone twice — first with a straight face, then with a big smile. Listen to both recordings. The voice that comes through when you’re smiling is 10x better.

What 10 years in tech taught me 🧠

After a decade in the industry, I’ve watched people try everything:

• Getting another certification

• Building their “personal brand”

• Networking with industry leaders

• Perfecting their elevator pitch

But what they should have tried first is… smiling more. It costs nothing. Requires no experience. Works instantly.

In my entire career, no other hack has had a bigger impact.

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Hope I made you smile ✌️

Tom

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