Let’s face it, as a whole, we love to look at ourselves. In mirrors, in shop windows as we pass, in pretty much any reflective surface.

Maybe it’s vanity, as some suggest, but I think much of the time it’s really to get a view of how others might see us. Insecurity? Maybe more spot-on.

However, for all the looking that we do, there’s no way we can actually see ourselves as others see us.

No one else has lived behind our eyes, experienced our triumphs and disappointments, or understands that we got those lines from laughing too hard at stupid jokes…

Sure, it can make a great impression to have every hair in place and a smile brightening our faces, but even with all that, there’s only one way to know how we are perceived.

Others only see the slice of us that we can present to them at that moment.

And in some ways, that makes people our very best mirrors. They tell us more about what we really want to know:

• Are we likable?
• Did we say the right thing?
• Are they attracted to us?
• Do they want to play?
• And more…

So sure, use those reflective surfaces to check your appearance.

But people, what they do, how they react to you, and what they say can tell you so much more about how you communicate yourself than any mere image, no matter how polished.