Recently as I was listening to personal development on my iPod I learned a tiny bit of information that had a huge impact for me. As you know when I am walking down the street I make it a point to smile at people as we pass on the sidewalk. Downtown Vancouver can be a very busy place, lots of people walking down the sidewalk. Because of that I usually just keep the smile on my face. What I heard while I was listening to my personal development was that people respond only when they believe something is meant specifically for them.That morning I tweaked my behavior just a little bit, I made sure that my smile got bigger when I got close to someone. So here I am walking down the street smiling, I see you, am about to walk past you, attempt to look you in the eye and then make my smile even bigger. The results were amazing, everyone who actually looked in my direction smiled back. Prior to that when they did not see that my smile got bigger when I was actually looking at them, I was just a person smiling 8/10 would look away. Now I realize that I have an even more effective way to encourage people as I am walking down the street.So if simply smiling at someone encourages them what can you do to encourage people on a regular basis? How do you encourage your family, friends or co-workers?Everyone needs encouragement on a regular basis because doubt develops distraction and disbelief. When you are not encouraged that doubt creeps in, pretty soon you are not sure you should even be doing the project or home based business, you get distracted and failure results.Have the courage to encourage someone today, assist them to keep the doubt at bay. Smile at someone, even people you do not know, give a compliment or even hold a door just a little longer. You will find that when you encourage others you will also encourage yourself, talk about a great win/win situation.