First Impressions Are Overrated

You only get one chance to make a first impression.

That’s the expression, and it’s true. But maybe we overvalue first impressions.

I’m much more interested in what I understand about you after several interactions. Because anyone can make a good first impression. Be gregarious, be friendly, tell a good joke, and you’re in. It’s not till we’ve spent some hours together, and I see what you’re like in a few situations, that I really know you.

So maybe we should recognize that first impressions are significant, because they’re first but they’re not all that significant, because they’re only a single snapshot. Like an Instagram post with 150 rejected pictures in the “Deleted folder”, first impressions aren’t an honest representation.

First impressions are overrated.