The smallest truths of all: #8 TAKE BREAKS
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Being a hard worker — especially one who doesn't give him or herself occasional and genuine breaks from said work — doesn't always mean we're always doing right by ourselves.
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I’m obsessed with helping people. I’m not a doctor, therapist, convenience store clerk, park ranger, or general contractor, however – so I can’t help you with your foot fungus, daddy issues, lotto habit, insatiable botanical curiosity, or basement renovation. What I am is a writer, editor, and natural-born teacher with a tremendous work ethic and an innate desire to help the world be as lovely and humane a place as possible. So my blog is focused on sharing small lessons I’ve learned: small ways to be a better writer, a better worker, and a better human.
Change happens incrementally. Start small.
New blog posted weekly in either Small Ways, Red Pencil Scribbles, or Nice Thing o' the Week. To receive updates, find me on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
The smallest truths of all: #7 LISTEN TO OTHER PEOPLE
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Don't just act like you're listening. Really listen — to the advice they give, the ideas they have, and the things they feel it's important to tell you.
Read MoreThe smallest truths of all #4: ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR LIMITATIONS
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If I took a survey of the working population of the Western world — including, of course, all the incredibly hard-working stay-at-home parents out there — I'm fairly certain the majority would agree with the following statement: "I have more work than I can handle."
Read MoreThe smallest truths of all: #3 GIVE THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT
/My whole life, I've been a champion for bright-siding. Accentuating the positive. Seeing the best in people wherever and whenever possible. I'm certain there have been occasions when it hasn't been deserved. But I know my life has been better, fuller, and happier because, generally speaking, I choose to trust that people are more good than bad.
Read MoreOn the value of doing it right the first time
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“Be the labor great or small, do it right or not at all." It is to this aphorism — in particular, to the persistence, commitment, and insistence on quality that it has ingrained in me — that I owe a great deal of my success in life.
Read MoreThe rule of YOU
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To succeed in business relationships, “do unto others as you would have done unto you” needs to become “do unto others… as others would have done unto them.” I've started to think of this practice as “The Rule of You.”
Read MorePair your dessert with a nice emotional punch
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In last week's blog, I made an argument for never ending your presentation on Q&A. This week, I promised to explain more fully what I propose you do instead: serve the audience "dessert."
Read MoreDon't end your presentation on Q&A... serve dessert instead
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If you end your presentation with Q&A, you're choosing to give up a very important thing: control. You're giving up the right to decide what the audience's final impression of you will be — what they'll feel, and what they'll remember.
Read MoreMore excellent rules for writing emails that don't waste anyone's time
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Nobody likes having their time wasted. And when you're paying someone for their time, you would hope that they're not wasting any of THEIR time — because if they are, you're paying for it, both literally and figuratively.
Read MoreDecoding idioms for non-native English speakers
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Idioms — phrases that have come to have certain meanings that can't be deduced from the individual words used — are something we ALL learn over time. But they’re doubly hard for non-native English speakers trying to navigate our idiom-laden world.
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