Readers of this column know that I am a big fan of Dale Carnegie, the master of making friends. I carry an excerpt from one of his books with me and often share it when I am speaking to groups. It’s about the value of a smile, and I hope you learn as much from it as I have:

“It costs nothing, but creates much. It enriches those who receive, without impoverishing those who give. It happens in a flash and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None are so rich they can get along without it, and none so poor but are richer for its benefits.

“It creates happiness in the home, fosters goodwill in a business, and is the countersign of friends. It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad and nature's best antidote for trouble.

“Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen, for it is something that is no earthly good to anyone 'til it is given away. And if in the hurly-burly bustle of today's business world, some of the people you meet should be too tired to give you a smile, may we ask you to leave one of yours?

“For nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none left to give.”

I learned years ago that one of the most powerful things you can do to gain influence with others is to smile at them. Never underestimate the value of a smile. The person who is smart enough to keep smiling usually winds up with something good enough to smile about.

People all over the world smile in the same language. A smile should be standard equipment for all people, both at work and at home. It takes far fewer muscles to smile than to frown -- so really, you have no excuse. Put on a happy face!

Smiling adds face value and helps you make a good impression. We like people who smile, because they appear warm and kind. They are more approachable.

Smiling encourages trust. People who are constantly smiling appear to be more trustful than those who are not.

People who smile are more productive. A 2010 study by Andrew Oswald, a professor of economics at the University of Warwick in England, proved that employees who smile more often are significantly more productive and creative in the workplace.

Smiling makes you more creative. A 2013 study from the University of California, San Francisco, explored this connection in men and found that those who were happier had a more comprehensive approach to problems, improving their ability to think of more solutions than their negative-minded counterparts. The researchers connected this finding to the release of dopamine triggered by happiness, since the neurotransmitter is involved in learning, processing and decision-making.

Smiling enhances your disposition. The more you smile, the happier you are. And don’t forget that the more you smile, the happier other people around you feel.

Smiling makes you more attractive. A smile is a very inexpensive way to improve your looks. People are naturally attracted to people who smile.

Smiling improves health. Studies have proven that when people smile, endorphins are released making people feel happy and less stressed. The more you smile, the happier and more relaxed you get. Surprisingly, this also works when faking a smile or laugh, as the brain can’t differentiate between real or fake smiles.

Endorphins act as natural painkillers. The added oxygen from smiling and laughing benefits your body while improving your immune system. Smiling releases more white blood cells, which protect the body against infectious diseases.

In a 2012 study published in the journal Psychological Science, University of Kansas psychological scientists Tara Kraft and Sarah Pressman studied 170 participants who were told to hold chopsticks in their mouths in three formations, making them smile to various degrees without realizing it, after performing a stressful task. The experiment revealed that subjects who smiled the biggest with the chopsticks experienced a substantial reduction in heart rate and quicker stress recovery compared to those whose expressions remained neutral.

Finally, smiles are contagious, just like yawns. So, smile and start an epidemic.

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important. That’s why you should not only smile from ear-to-ear, but from year-to-year.

Mackay’s Moral: Smiles never go up in price nor down in value.

If I had to name the single characteristic shared by all the truly successful people I’ve met over a lifetime, I’d say it is the ability to create and nurture a network of contacts.

Although I never met David Rockefeller, he certainly would have fit in this category. When he passed away in March 2017 at the age of 101, Bloomberg News revealed that he had an “electronic Rolodex” of 150,000 people. The Wall Street Journal recently reported it was 200,000. He was a master networker during his two decades as the head of Chase Manhattan Bank and 60 years of being involved with the Council on Foreign Relations.

In my corporate speeches, I often ask the question: What is one of the most important words in the English language? I add that if all of us understood this word just a little bit better, we’d be way more successful than we already are. That word is “Rolodex,” which of course is now referred to as a "contact management system."

My father, Jack Mackay, who for 35 years headed the Associated Press in St. Paul, Minnesota, shared his secret with me when I was 18. He said, “Harvey, every single person you meet the rest of your life should go in your Rolodex file. Write a little bit about that person on the bottom or the back of the card. And now, here’s the key -- find a creative way to keep in touch.”

That’s what I’ve been doing ever since. I now have nearly 20,000 names in my electronic Rolodex file, a far cry from David Rockefeller, but still crucial to my career. The contacts I’ve made over all these years are why I’ve been writing this nationally syndicated column for the last 24 years.

My Rolodex was instrumental in launching my publishing career. Let me explain. In 1988, there were roughly 2 million “wannabes” -- people who wrote manuscripts. Roughly 200,000 books got published. Of those, only a small percentage were business books. If you’re a first-time, unknown author like me and you write a business book, you want to get it published. But a work by a debut author would get a print run of 10,000 hardcover books, at most. That’s it. Tom Peters, “In Search of Excellence,” 10,000 copies; Ken Blanchard, “The One Minute Manager,” 7,500 books.

This is why it was so tough to get started. There were 5,000 bookstores back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, which means an average of only two books per store if they print 10,000 copies.

I had written a book titled “Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive.” I wanted the publisher to print a lot of books so they would promote it and not run out of copies. I scheduled a summit meeting with publisher William Morrow and Company -- the CEO, president and vice president of national sales. About 45 minutes into the meeting, I asked for the order. I said, “I would like you to seriously consider printing 100,000 hardcover copies of ‘Swim With the Sharks.’" We were on the 37th floor, and they basically told me to jump. The VP of national sales closed his notebook and said, “Thank you very much, Mr. Mackay. Obviously, we’re not going to get together.” Then he basically screamed, “Who are you coming in here asking for 100,000 copies? We only print 10,000 copies for any first-time unknown author.”

I’d brought in two humongous briefcases and took them out. Inside were two huge Rolodex files, 6,500 names at the time. I started to go through them: “Pillsbury, 18,000 employees. We do business with them. Maybe they’ll read the book and pass it along. General Mills, 23,000 employees; Cargill; 3M; here’s American Express.” I went to the second Rolodex file. “We do business in six countries, France, Germany, Spain ... maybe it’ll be an international best-seller.”

Three weeks and three meetings later, William Morrow published 100,000 hardcover copies of “Swim With the Sharks.” And it became a New York Times No. 1 best-seller.

Did I know when I was 18 where my contacts were going to come from? Do any of you know where your contacts will come from five, 10 or 15 years from now?

Our lives basically change in two ways -- the people we meet and the books we read. Trust me; the people you meet every day are extremely important in building your network.

In my entire career, I have never once heard a successful person say he or she regretted putting time and energy into keeping their Rolodex file.

Mackay’s Moral: When you work on your network, your network works for you.

A new year often brings new beginnings. I was intrigued to discover how one company used a novel way to motivate employees to think about new ways of doing things.

Here is the approach practiced by Chiyoji Misawa, who founded the largest home builder in Japan, Misawa Homes, more than 50 years ago. He “died” at least once every decade to combat the solidification of outmoded methods and thinking. He sent a memo to his company that formally announced “the death of your president.”

According to Robert H. Waterman Jr. in his book “The Renewal Factor,” this was Misawa’s way of getting his company to question everything. When his employees would resist change, Misawa would declare: “That was the way things were done under Mr. Misawa. He is now dead. Now, how shall we proceed?”

I was particularly interested in this novel idea because so often the resistance to major changes starts at the top. As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

But that thinking doesn’t apply to improvements. Simply because things are sailing along, assuming that the winds won’t change is dangerous business. When I went into the envelope manufacturing business decades ago, the notion of email and the internet were pretty much science fiction. Yet it became one of the biggest challenges that an envelope manufacturer could face.

Being a great leader is not always about becoming an expert at everything -- it’s really about knowing where to find knowledge and expertise when you need it. That’s where Misawa’s genius was most evident: knowing how to solicit input and gain perspective from his own connections.

In turn, he encouraged his work force to learn how others approach new markets, revamp processes and resolve problems. Giving his employees the opportunity to offer their suggestions served several purposes: acknowledging their value to the company, encouraging them to think ahead and teaching them not to be afraid of change.

Change is inevitable, and those who embrace it are more likely to have staying power as each new year rings in.

New Year’s resolutions tend to focus on areas that we know need a change. Make those resolutions too general or too sweeping, and chances are they will be your resolutions year after year. Alan C. Freitas, president of Priority Management, recommends that you write resolutions/goals that are SMART:

Specific -- Decide precisely what you want to achieve, and by when;

Measurable -- Know what a successful outcome would look like;

Attainable -- Make your goals challenging, but achievable;

Relevant -- Address areas of your work and life that are really important to you;

Trackable -- Figure out how you’re going to gauge your progress.

Getting into the right mindset to make changes, large or small, takes some motivation.

Figure out why you want to achieve the goal. Make a list of all the ways you will benefit from achieving it. Whether it’s a personal goal, like finishing a degree, or a professional change, such as breaking into a new market, you need to understand why it will be worth it to make a change.

Then analyze exactly where you are now in reaching that goal: the strengths that will help you, the weaknesses that could hurt you, and the opportunities you can use to attain what you want.

Next, you must determine what you’ll need to invest to achieve your goal. Whether it’s time, money or something else, know what reaching this goal could “cost” you. Is it worth it? If it’s important enough to you, sacrifices will pay off in the end. Just make sure that you have an end in sight!

Do your research. You may need to master new abilities to fulfill your resolution. Will you need to take classes to learn a new skill? What kind of information do you need access to? Are you willing to carve out the time it will require? You don’t want to start something that you are not committed to finishing.

Look for support from family, friends, co-workers, managers or organizations that can help you. The more people who you share your resolutions or goals with, the more likely you will be to follow through on them.

You will have more success if you set deadlines for achieving your goals and resolutions. List specific dates on which you want to complete the various steps of the plan.

Finally, resolve to make it a happy new year!

Mackay’s Moral: You don’t have to “die” like Misawa to bring your dreams to life.