Other people don’t have to be wrong for you to be right. In other words, there is usually more than one way of doing something. If you do the same thing differently, that doesn’t mean that one of you has to be wrong.
Try not to get defensive, especially in arguments or debates. Easier said than done, but getting defensive can ruin credibility.
Oh, and bring your lunch to work whenever possible. It saves a ton of money and frequently a lot of calories.
Well, you are correct in that someone doesn’t have more value as a person because they have more money, but I think you are missing the point that was being made. It isn’t the balance of the checkbook that matters, but if someone says that they are a vegetarian feminist and their checkbook shows that they spend all their money on burgers and strippers what they say is obviously lies. Someone who says that charity work is important to them but their schedule involves no charity work and their checkbook shows no money is ever given to charity then obviously charity isnt that important to them.
Fear is an emotion which is useful for keeping children (of all ages) from harming themselves. Once a person has developed good judgement and a sense of responsibility, fear becomes the most useless and damaging of commodities. Trust your good judgement to prevent you from walking off cliffs or jumping into dangerous situations, and get rid of your fear, as it is no longer useful and will only drag you down.
In my office, the Executive Director makes a point of asking me (the lowly secretary) about the demeanor of applicants when they come in. As a rule, if they are pleasant, genuinely smile, and make polite chit chat with me, they have excellent potential to be a good fit in our environment. On the other hand, if they are rude or talk down to me, they might find their interview cut short and their resume 86’d by the boss lady.
My advice for the thread? Be as kind as you can be in whatever circumstances you find yourself. A little kindness goes a very long way.
I agree except for the final clause - it’s not inevitable that doing what you love will make money, but the upside is you won’t necessarily care, because you’re doing what you love.
Become known for keeping people’s confidences… you will become privy to a lot more confidences as a result.*
Lack of a university degree does not make a person less intelligent than someone who’s studied. Possession of a university degree does not mean you are a snob.
It’s OK to schedule sex with your partner - just 'cos it’s not spontaneous doesn’t mean it’s not romantic, espeically if you’re both short on time.
*exceptions for major criminal acts, child abuse etc
Allow yourself a margin of error, especially when it comes to money and time.
Keep some money in your wallet, and some money in your bank account, that you will not spend. That way, you won’t have to worry about being overdrawn, or caught unprepared in the case of unexpected expenses or minor emergencies.
Allow yourself a little extra time to get where you need to go, do what you need to do, etc. Don’t fill your schedule completely full; allow some time when nothing’s planned. It’s easier (and more fun) to find something to do with extra or leftover time or money, than to figure out how to cope when you run short.
I suppose the principle applies to other things to, like not waiting until you’re down to your last fraction of a gallon to put gas in your car.
I’ve found that being polite to secretaries and receptionists saves you whole boatloads of inconvenience in the long run.
Every place I’ve ever worked, if you wanted accurate information, needed something done quickly and efficiently, had a pressing need or emergency situation (of your own or someone else’s making), need to know how to do something, or had any sort of administrative issue (and there is always an administrative issue sometime), the person you really need to ask is the secretary or receptionist (depending on the firm).
Not only that, but when jobseeking (as Adoptamom pointed out), there are a whole lot of people doing hiring who will ask their assistant to give them a rundown of how you were behaving before (and sometimes after) they were on the scene. At my firm (a really large corporate law firm in NYC), I know of at least half a dozen attorneys whose careers at this firm were adversely affected by their failure to treat an assistant with a modicum of basic courtesy. As an example, one of our primary corporate litigation guys routinely asks his assistant her opinion of new attorneys before he decides whether or not they get work from him. A senior partner having heard bad things about you from someone he’s worked with every day for decades just doesn’t do anything for your chances.
I know one helluva lot more about what is going on at my place of employment than anyone has any clue about. Because I talk to a large number of people in different departments and they tell me all sorts of stuff because they know that I don’t pass it on.
Sometimes it is damned tempting, such as when my boss is pulling this “you don’t know the real story” bit and I not only do, but I know MORE than her. Things that might change her opinion or behavior*. But to reveal what I know would be to break confidences and expose certain people, and that would not be a good thing.
Such as how her bosses department head meetings have been described as “The UN as run by 5 year olds”; or how another department head in those meetings has been viciously running her down to his employees.
