I’m not an incredibly patient person. I have a short fuse and I bore easy. It’s bad. I think it makes me good at a few things, like keeping people entertained and engaged, but makes me bad at other things, like coping with slow restaurant service. Over the holiday break I turned away from the…
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I Almost Got Into a Fist Fight
READ MORE: I Almost Got Into a Fist FightDid I tell you about how I almost getting into a fist fight? It didn’t happen in a Starbucks, or over the last pair of half-priced boots at Macy’s. It was on the football field. That doesn’t make it ok. But still. I was wearing cleats. I don’t pick fights on the field. When I’m…
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Your Fears Are Boring
READ MORE: Your Fears Are BoringWhen she was eight years old, Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat Pray Love) was so upset by the ocean that she begged her parents to get everyone out of the surf and back onto their towels, where they belonged. She was, by her own admission, afraid of everything—the dark, the deep end, babysitters, board games, grass,…
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How to Be a Better Person Than You Were Last Year
READ MORE: How to Be a Better Person Than You Were Last YearEvery holiday I drive up the Merritt Parkway feeling hopeful and upbeat. Who doesn’t want to have a relaxed, enjoyable break from the workaday week and stuff themselves silly? Um, I love that. Images of me having a great, easy time dance in my brain. And yet I have ruined many a holiday, mainly for…
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Why You Need to Embrace the Haters
READ MORE: Why You Need to Embrace the HatersNot too long ago, haters were the domain of the rich and famous — or at least, anyone with a sizable platform. In fact, it was basically a celebrity tax: you want attention, get ready for vitriol. But now it very much is our problem. Because now we all want attention, and, thanks to the…
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You Need to Give Yourself a Raise
READ MORE: You Need to Give Yourself a RaiseThe only good thing about working for a boss who doesn’t compensate you fairly is that you can leave. If you’ve made a convincing case for why you should be promoted or given a raise, and been turned down (repeatedly), you are well within your rights to move to another department, accept another offer, or…
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How Being Busy Is Costing You Business
READ MORE: How Being Busy Is Costing You BusinessI’m going to break something to you right here and now: No one actually cares how busy you are. Honestly. No one. And telling people how busy you are is very likely costing you business and opportunities. I do a lot of events for freelancers and solopreneurs (including this one hosted by the lovely Kate Gaffin’s Connecting…
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Stop Trying to Get Paid What You’re Worth
READ MORE: Stop Trying to Get Paid What You’re WorthYou and I have fallen under the sway of a misled idea: that in order to advance our careers, we must persuade people to recognize our worth and then convince them to pay it. When negotiating salary or figuring out what to charge for a service, the first question we often ask ourselves is: What am I…
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What You Learn by Being Lousy
READ MORE: What You Learn by Being LousyI went camping recently. I say that casually, as if it’s so normal for me, when it’s so not. But regardless, I went camping—legit slept in a tent, ate meat off a stick, the whole thing. I was with a big group of friends and on the agenda was a lot of boat-related activities: water sports…
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Take the Work Out of Networking
READ MORE: Take the Work Out of NetworkingNetworking’s problem? The word “networking.” It sounds like work, feels like work—it has work in the damn name! So let’s take it out. The truth is, networking isn’t a work thing, like you’ve always thought and dreaded. It’s a life thing. Networking is all, and only, about connecting with other people, and you were born to do…