Posts Tagged ‘success’
Gifts from the heart
December 16th, 2009
When you think back on the favorite gifts you’ve received in your life, chances are the most memorable aren’t the grandest or costliest, but the ones that came from the heart when you needed a lift. Maybe you remember the day you were recovering from surgery and a friend stopped by with a home-cooked meal or an offer to clean your house. Or perhaps you remember how you were taking the bus to work every day when someone offered you the keys to an old clunker of a used car. Then again, maybe the best gift was just a hug on a day when the world seemed too dark and too lonely.
Surviving workplace parties
December 15th, 2009
When I started out, I used to take on temp administrative jobs to help make ends meet. Once I worked for a bank that seemed very proper on the outside. But every year, the prim bankers dropped their conservative personas for one weekend while they attended the office holiday party
They gathered at a hotel near the beach, sans spouses and significant others, partied all night, then stayed in rooms booked for them by their employer. The tales of debauchery arising from this annual weekend were legendary. It’s hard for me to imagine how some of those people could look each other in the eye over a conference table the rest of the year. When they began sharing their stories and telling me I just had to be around for the festivities … well, let’s say I was glad my assignment ended in November.
Cheap options to exchanging gifts
December 14th, 2009
When my brother and I were kids—in the pre-Internet days—our mom used to hand us a catalog from some department store, turn to the toy section, and ask us to show her what we hoped Santa would bring. It’s a tradition we continue as adults. My brother, sister-in-law, and I create Internet wish lists
That’s the nice thing about gift-giving among family members. We can be honest about our likes and dislikes. I’m not embarrassed to e-mail my sister-in-law and say, “Do not get me any pink football jerseys.” Ewww. But we can’t be quite so blunt with friends—which is why regifting
Squawk about conforming
December 12th, 2009
I hated Casual Fridays.
No, it wasn’t because I didn’t like having a chance to dress down a bit. It was because my organization had been taken over by a prig who had no interest in the welfare of the workers—or the welfare of the company for that matter. And rather than addressing real issues of wage inequities and mismanagement, the new president thought he could make it all better by tossing us a bone: Casual Fridays.
So when Casual Fridays rolled around, I made it a point to dress my best. The priggish president never noticed and wouldn’t have cared if he had. But at least I knew I wasn’t going beak down like the chickens Gordon Mackenzie’s dad “mesmerized” back in the summer of 1904. Read the rest of this entry »
How to cut holiday spending
December 10th, 2009
In the classic 1906 O. Henry
Since each is without funds, Jim secretly decides to sell his watch to pay for the combs. And Della decides to cut and sell her hair to pay for the watch chain.
Quotes on the value of regret
December 9th, 2009
It seems to be a favorite line that celebrities toss out in interviews: I live a life without regrets.
Really? Then you must be five years old or the most shallow person on Planet Earth. So you’ve never said or done anything that’s hurt someone else? Never failed to take advantage of an opportunity? Never fallen on your face. Never said yes when you should have said no? Never said no when you wish you’d said yes? Never missed a chance to say a last good-bye?
TAGS: disappointment, do over, inspiration, motivation, Quotations, quotes, regret, regrets, Self-Improvement, success | 
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The secret to team-building
December 8th, 2009
It doesn’t really surprise me when there’s trouble in a professional sports locker room, when some egomaniac decides to dump on the coach or a teammate in front of the cameras. What shocks me is that it doesn’t happen that often. For the most part, the rich and supposedly spoiled elite athletes of the world manage to bring their diverse, cocksure personalities together and function as a perfect unit.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the rest of us could do that?
Learn to take a chance
December 7th, 2009
If my friend Diane and I were little girls and someone wanted to test our temperaments, a good way would be to give us each a wooden puzzle with a piece that’s cut too large. After trying it several times, Diane would probably hand the puzzle back to the proctor and say, “One of the pieces is too large.” I, on the other hand, would be determined to make the pieces fit if it meant taking off my shoe and hammering them together.
Diane tends to go with the flow—which is exactly how she ended up in the career of her dreams.
Lose weight by getting your zzzz’s
December 4th, 2009
If you’re hoping to keep from gaining weight this holiday season, here’s a suggestion: Get plenty of sleep.
Researchers in the sleep medicine division at Harvard Medical School
4 ways to make a difference
December 3rd, 2009
When my niece turned six this year, she came up with a somewhat unusual idea for the theme of her birthday party—well, at least it was unusual for someone her age. She decided that instead of the typical celebration where guests come bearing gifts for the birthday girl, she wanted them to bring donations for the local soup kitchen where her parents volunteer.
Her mom and dad matched what she collected from her friends, and she was able to present the charity, which serves the area’s homeless, with a check for $250.21.