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Baby accessories seldom come cuter than this.
A Georgia mom-to-be has a viral hit on her hands thanks to her crocheting skills and a fondness for Cabbage Patch Kids – the dimpled dolls that sparked a craze in the 1980s.
“I was a huge child of the ‘80s and I had lots of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and I just loved them,” Amanda Lillie, 33, told TODAY Moms.
She also loves to crochet and scours Pinterest for new patterns, so she was excited when she saw another user showing off “Cabbage Patch hats” – accessories that mimicked the woolen hairstyles of the toys. But Lillie didn’t think they looked like the real thing, so she pulled out her old dolls and decided to crochet a wig of her own.
As a fluke, she put it on sale on her Etsy shop last fall and the business just took off, she said. It takes Lillie two to three hours to crochet one of her Cabbage Patch Kids wigs. The most popular model has pig tails and comes in a light-brunette color, she said.
Lillie, who lives in Dawsonville, Ga., and is expecting her first child in September, also sells patterns for the accessory and estimates it would take a crocheting novice about a day to complete.
Most of her customers buy the wigs for babies who are about 8 months old – the age when a child is actually the size of a Cabbage Patch Kid and looks most like the doll – though the wigs come in all sizes and can be made for adults.
Sales were most brisk around Halloween, but buzz about her creation seems to be snowballing online.
“I’ve just seen a tremendous response,” Lillie said. “Apparently it’s going viral on some of the social media websites.”
She’s been moved by some of the ways her customers have used the wigs. One woman who works in a daycare center is planning to wear one on the job to amuse the kids. Another customer makes them for children who have cancer and have lost their hair because of chemotherapy.
“I thought that was just amazing,” Lillie said. “That was just the sweetest, endearing thing I’ve ever heard.”
Meanwhile, she’s preparing for her baby girl’s arrival in the fall and her first Halloween. She’ll be wearing a Cabbage Patch Kids wig, of course.
By Nicole Frehsée An expert in the field of positive psychology explores the perks of bonding -- with everyone around you. An expert in the field of positive psychology explores the perks of bonding -- with everyone around you.
Here's some simple advice: Spread the love. Not just with your partner, family, and friends but with people you hardly know, because the more loving you are in everyday life, the healthier you could be. In her new book Love 2.0: How Our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do, and Become, Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D., suggests that true love isn't just about romance, companionship, or fondness; fundamentally, it springs from something she calls "micromoments of shared positive emotion." Fredrickson's research has found that such moments have the potential to lower our risk for disease and may even influence how our cells regenerate. We asked her to tell us more.
Q: How did you arrive at your definition of love?
BF: I look at it from the body's point of view. When the brain registers love, it triggers the release of the hormone and neurotransmitter oxytocin. This happens as long as three things occur: First, a warm feeling must be shared -- say, the barista at your café comps your latte after noticing you've had a rough day. Second, your brain activity has to sync up with the other person's, as when you laugh at the same joke. Third, there's a mutual motivation to invest in each other's well-being.
Q: But can you really be invested in a stranger's well-being?
BF: Yes. Say you have a friendly chat with a guy in line at the post office, and then you see a package fall on his foot. You'll have more concern for him than for a person you'd never connected with. It's not something we think about consciously, but these fleeting connections happen more often than we realize.
Q: If the connections are so short-lived, why should we care about them?
BF: They can help improve something called cardiac vagal tone, which reflects how much your heart rate is influenced by your breathing. It's an indication of your body's capacity to regain calm after you've been in a stressful situation. Low vagal tone has been linked to chronic inflammation throughout the body, which is a known risk factor for heart failure, stroke, and diabetes. In our research, we found that the more positive social connections people had over a nine-week period, the more their vagal tone increased.
Q: You say these micromoments of love can also change our cells. How does that work?
BF: Your emotions can trigger hormones that influence the way genes are expressed in the body. We know this happens with negative emotions: Stress releases adrenaline, which can prime cells for inflammation, causing disease. I believe that positive feelings, which can trigger the release of oxytocin, have the opposite effect and set us up for a healthier life.
Q: How can we add more micromoments to our lives?
BF: Simply get out and be more social! That's what's really promising about our research. Getting the benefits of love doesn't require being in a romantic relationship or living near family and friends. Just make sure you're connecting with others, whether it's through conversation or eye contact. We tend to trivialize these interactions, but they're just as important to your health as eating well or going for a run
13. Style Police: Go Tuck Yourself
Okay, here's the deal: Letting your dress shirt hang out doesn't make you look younger or thinner. It makes you look like you're wearing a muumuu. Traditional dress shirts aren't meant to be untucked; they're cut long so they remain in your pants. Tucking in your shirt won't kill you, it'll just make you look better.
Read More http://www.gq.com/style/style-manual/201204/shirts-guide-sizing-fit#ixzz2WfusaX6y
Choosing the right swimsuit is an obvious way to amp up your shoreside style, but you also can't forget about what goes over the skimpy swimwear. Stars like Miranda Kerr illustrate that the trend of wearing more innovative pieces to the beach are in full swing, so click through the gallery to see more unique ways to cover up at the beach this summer.
SAN FRANCISCO - Popular photo-sharing app Instagram will allow users to upload short video clips onto its network as early as June 20, according to reports.
OK, this is not a question for the formal interview — it’s better aimed at the receptionist on the way out, masked as an inquiry for a recommendation. Or, if your interview includes lunch, you can try, “Do you eat here regularly? What other restaurants does the team frequent?”
Then, listen closely. Do they all go to a local deli then eat together while talking shop in the board room? Or does everyone usually brown bag it and eat at their desks? When you’re told everyone goes to a local raw-vegan-gluten-free restaurant, do you think “Awesome!” or “Awesome…” [insert eye roll]?
Getting some insight into the team norms and habits — the ones not outlined in the employee handbook — can show you how well you’d fit in.
4. “Are there family photos at the office?”
Here’s another question not to ask — but rather to think about to yourself. The prevalence of personal items can be directly proportionate to the formality of the office: If photos of employees’ children are visible when you’re passing by their desks, it’s probably the sort of place where a colleague will ask how your son’s birthday party was. No photos in sight? It’s likely a more down-to-business work environment.
You can look for other indicators of personality, too. Do employees sport Shoe-a-Day calendars or a list of the corporate values on their office doors? Is the break room whiteboard scribbled with last Friday’s ping-pong scores or the team’s monthly deadlines? These visual cues can give you a better sense of how reserved (or not) the atmosphere may be.
Remember, at an interview, it’s not just the company deciding if you’re right for the team — you get to decide if they feel like the right fit for you.
Chilling with some tunes. Relaxin on this Father's Day weekend baby!
This post is my third summarizing some of what I learned during the ASTD International Conference and Expo that wrapped in Dallas last week. This theme, a strong one at the conference, deals with some of the basics of training delivery and how to make it more engaging. I’ll focus here on three excellent sessions:
* Simple strategies for creating more engaging elearning with Cammy Bean
* Creative training techniques with Bob Pike
* Flip your training – designing for practice with Koreen Olbrish
Cammy Bean
Cammy shared great insights and simple strategies for creating engaging elearning. She began by offering three reasons for a learning experience: to inform or raise awareness, to improve knowledge or skills, or to change attitudes and behaviors. On the subject of creating engaging elearning, she began with this:
“When designing elearning, remember there will be someone on the other end either suffering through it or enjoying it.”
She continued to share seven great tips with examples and plenty of good suggestions; here slides are here so you can view them at your convenience. My take-aways are these:
* As in so many other situations, good writing is important. Get to the point quickly. Keep it short and snappy, but add a little fun. Nothing loses interest faster than boring, passive writing. And don’t forget that audience members are busy professionals; it’s equally important to avoid patronizing, passive voice. First person, active voice works best.
* Object to learning objectives! Well, it’s still important to use them, but sharing them with those using your elearning stuff is another way to lose interest quickly. Use creative approaches to describe what’s in store for the user.
* Think outside the course: Give users/participants things to “take away,” opportunities to relearn and refresh. One great tip, Cammy mentioned setting up a course so each completion automatically triggers her team to reconnect two weeks later.
“I don’t mind having a “Next” button…but make me want to go there.”
BobPike
Not surprisingly, Bob Pike led two sessions to nearly packed (600+ people) rooms on the topic of creative training techniques. Much of Bob’s material is readily available (his worksheet is here and his redacted presentation is here), but here are a few of my takeaways.
“Training is a process not an event. It starts before and continues after an event until we see results.”
* Separate content into need to know, nice to know, and where to go
* Your opening should raise the BAR – Break preoccupation, Allow networking, and be Relevant to content.
* The closing ACT should Allow celebration, Create action planning, and Tie things together.
* People forget quickly; be sure to take breaks every 90 minutes, break things into 20 minute segments, and engage the audience every 8 minutes (more often online).
* Revisiting is key!
“The goal is to get people to learn, not pass the test.”
* Five ways to squelch motivation: (1) Have little personal contact; (2) Get people in a passive mood keep ‘em there; (3) Assume the class will apply what is taught – don’t bother with examples; (4) Be alert to criticize; and (5) Make them feel stupid for asking questions.
Koreen Olbrish
The concept of the “flipped” classroom has gotten a lot of attention the past few years, but like many other buzzwords it may not mean quite the same thing to every person. I’ve even heard people equate it with Salman Khan and the Khan Academy, rather than see the latter as one of many sources of content for learning outside the classroom. I very much appreciated Koreen’s simple definition of flipped training:
What does it mean to flip? Lectures OUTSIDE the classroom.
Koreen began by sharing three resources that can help with flipped training:
* TedEd where you can can build instruction and interaction around video
* Bloomfire, a knowledge sharing tool for the modern workforce that surrounds content with social engagement functionality
* Lynda.com with a large library of course content (note Koreen is a Senior Product Manager at lynda.com)
Koreen blogged about her presentation here and included her slides. I won’t rehash it all, but highlight these thoughts:
* What is the business problem you’re trying to solve? I know, right?
* Who is driving the need for training?
* Do they need coaching or feedback?
* Immersive learning is practice with feedback
* Virtual practice is as effective as, or better than, real-life practice
* Design for practice. Focus. Analyze. Iterate. Boom.
The question was then posed to the room: what happens if they don’t do the pre-work? This precipitated an interesting discussion with the audience, which seemed eager to tackle the subject. Koreen suggests simply have them sit out. Go do the work now. They don’t participate until prepared. It’s important to stop thinking about training as an event and more as a process (see Bob Pike above); we do our pre-work, others should too. Communicate the WHY of the pre-work. Give participants a scenario or a problem to think about before coming to class.
“Good tools allow participants multiple ways to engage in the context (around) the content.”
“One challenge in flipped training is you don’t see participants’ faces while they’re interacting with material. Add a forum for people to ask questions.”
All three of these speakers walk the talk of the process, rather than the event, of training.
Thanks for reading!
@tomspiglanin
Fourteen ways to please the patriarch in your life, all for under (or around) a single Benjamin
Brit + Co. is the leading community for creative living, making, and doing in the digital age. Browse the site for new apps, DIY projects, and hand-picked products to live a simpler, more beautiful life.
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THE volatility of living in New York City on a shoestring visited Clara Jimenz early. Having just graduated from Barnard College and being determined to live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Ms. Jimenz moved last summer into a co-op with a 38-year-old nurse who was renting out her bedroom for $500 a month and sleeping in the living room.
''When she interviewed me, she told me she had a handyman who stopped by the apartment sometimes,'' recalled Ms. Jimenz, 22 years old. ''All I asked was, 'Look, does he live here?' And she said 'No.' I moved in only to realize that he was sleeping on the living-room couch every single night. I loved the neighborhood, but the share situation was ridiculous, and I only lasted five months.''
Sometimes in New York City, it seems that young adults take their cue from the lightning pace of the streets as they move from one neighborhood to another.
The reasons for their transience are many, and the consequences are far-reaching, touching tenants and landlords alike. New York is a powerful magnet for those entering ''the real world'' after college. Where else can they find graffiti art and 10-story neon signs, Thai food and power breakfasts, punk rock and opera, Joyce Brown and Leona Helmsley, all on a 22-square-mile island? To feel the full wallop of the city, the young usually lean toward Manhattan, and to appease parents they often prefer safe, respectable neighborhoods.
But low vacancy rates in regulated apartments and high rents in the available free-market units conspire to force many new arrivals into ad hoc living arrangements that typically involve sharing. And few situations are as fragile as living with roommates: personalities clash, a better apartment opens up, one roommate gets married, another leaves to attend graduate school. The result is a city where many young men and women become nomads and there is a dizzying turnover of apartments.
For most, the process of lugging bed, books and boxes from one neighborhood to another is exasperating. ''Let's not even talk about physically moving - packing everything in boxes and hiring a moving van,'' said Ms. Jimenz, who is now sharing a two-bedroom on 106th Street off Amsterdam Avenue with two others. ''It's being unsettled that bothers me most. It takes so much out of you. I just want to be in one place and build an identity.''
Then there is Jim Gandolfini, who seems to thrive on the apartment-hopping life. Since moving to New York City four years ago, Mr. Gandolfini, 26 years old, has never had his name on a lease, never paid more than $400 a month in rent and never lived in one place more than 10 months. His wanderer's existence has given him sojourns, some as brief as two months, in Hoboken, N.J.; Astoria, Queens; Clinton and the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and Park Slope and Flatbush in Brooklyn.
''MOVING, to me, is no big deal,'' said Mr. Gandolfini, whose calling is the theater but whose living comes mostly from bartending and construction. ''I have a system down. I throw everything in plastic garbage bags and can be situated in my new place in minutes. Without my name on a lease, I'm in and out. I have no responsibilities.''
High turnover is especially common among the young, because in most cases they do not yet earn enough to buy an apartment, which can serve as an anchor to a piece of real estate. But their views on having a lease vary widely.
Some are reluctant to put their names on a lease with others, for fear of being personally responsible for upwards of $1,500-a-month payments in the event that their apartment-mates suddenly leave. Others, however, want the security a lease confers, lest they have to live, and move, at the whim of landlords and roommates.
FBI director Robert Mueller said Wednesday that the nation's top law enforcement bureau uses drones to conduct surveillance on U.S. soil, though only on a "very, very minimal basis."
Mueller, the FBI director since 2001 who is set to retire this year, acknowledged that his agency uses drones in its investigative and law enforcement practices, and is further working to establish better guidelines for the use of drones.
"We are in the early stages of doing that, and I will tell you that our footprint is very small, we have very few, and have limited use. And we're exploring not only the use, but the necessary guidelines for that use," Mueller told senators at a hearing this morning when asked about the use of drones.
FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies about the domestic use of drones during a hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday.
The government's use of drones on U.S. soil has been well-documented. The Department of Homeland Security, for instance, employs aerial drones to help police the United States border with Mexico.
Mueller said that drones are used for surveillance, though, only on a "seldom" basis.
The FBI director's words come amid a simmering national debate in recent months about what limits should be placed on the government in its law enforcement and anti-terrorism activities.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for instance, waged a filibuster challenging President Barack Obama's use of drones in pursuing terrorist suspects. Paul won an affirmation from the administration that it was their thought that it would be illegal for the government to use a drone strike against a U.S. citizen on American soil.
The drones that have come into practice in the United States, though, are different from the armed, militarized drones used in military operations.
Still, the exchange reflects broader concerns about the scope of government power, represented most recently and most vividly by revelations about the National Security Agency's collection of phone and internet "meta-data" for analysis.
Mueller, like virtually every other administration official and senior lawmaker who has spoken about the NSA practices in recent weeks, defended the NSA's activities as an invaluable tool in the government's pursuit of terrorist suspects.
"If we're going to prevent terrorist attacks, we have to be on their communications," Mueller said during his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "You never know which dot will be critical. You need as many as you can get. Let there be no mistake, there would be fewer dots to connect if you don't have a data base that retains those records."
As to the prosecution of Edward Snowden, the self-admitted leaker of information about NSA monitoring, Mueller said the leak had done legitimate harm to U.S. safety, and vowed to pursue Snowden.
"As to the person who has admitted to making these disclosures, he is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation," Mueller said. "These disclosures have caused significant harm to our nation and to our safety, and we are taking all necessary steps to hold accountable that person for these disclosures."
NBC's Pete Williams contributed to this report.
Are you tired of settling for just being content? Here is how really happy people stay that way. How do they do it, these happy people? How do they let troubles bounce off them and make the best of every struggle? Do they choose to be this way? Many believe a constant state of happiness is in the category of mermaids and unicorns. But there are people in this world who, short of major unexpected trauma, have figured out how to be truly happy most of the time. These people have mastered a perspective worthy of imitation. Here are some common traits for you to emulate in your pursuit of happiness.
1. They clearly define happiness.
I have heard many people claim happiness comes from people or children or community or work, etc. Each one may be true for some and not true for others. Happiness is a personal objective only reached by knowing what it looks like for you. Happy people understand what makes them happy and are therefore able to make changes in their life to eliminate unhappiness. They don't hope for happiness, they decide to make it happen. Try keeping a journal listing the things that make you happy and those that don't. Then focus on making the happy list happen.
2. They find pleasure in the little things.
Many people are waiting for happiness to come from a major event like a promotion, wedding, or winning the lottery. Truly happy people find joy in simple things like accomplishing tasks, pleasant conversation, beautiful images, or nice weather. Those tiny bits of joy add up--like manufactured runs in baseball--to a winning disposition. Open your eyes and ears to seemingly inconsequential items and events around you. Be a curious observer and enjoy the wonder of small detail in this amazing world.
3. They believe in their own self-worth.
So much unhappiness comes from personal insecurity. Anxiety can be a good motivator for success, but too much will suck the joy out of accomplishment. Happy people choose to be confident so they can focus their time and energy on opportunity and relationships. Cultivate your self-confidence so you can enjoy the journey to success as much as the end result.
4. They take continuous action for self-improvement.
Happy people love to grow. They commit to constant learning and personal development. When they feel themselves becoming stagnant they actively pursue new opportunities to discover and challenge themselves. Set yourself a regimen for learning. Books, classes and clubs will not only make you smarter, but you'll meet like-minded learners to add to your personal circle and help you be a better person.
5. They graciously impact others.
Those who are happy have a positive effect on the people around them. Some generate a happy atmosphere just by their presence. But many constantly make an effort to brighten the days of other people. These people inspire others by engaging them in entertaining activity and conversation, but never in an overbearing way. Be an instigator and a leader. Create opportunities for others to share in your love of life. Give selflessly of your time and joy so others can draw from your happiness and energy.
6. They live in a constant state of gratitude.
Happy people consciously recognize the many blessings they receive. They are truly appreciative of the people and opportunities that come their way and they demonstrate their gratitude generously and unabashedly. Make a habit of outwardly showing your thankfulness every day. It may feel awkward at first, but many people around you will recognize your love for life and may discover they also have much for which to be grateful.
Of course I recognize that being truly happy is not easy. People will spend a fortune on therapy, pharmaceuticals, and self-help to get to a happy state of mind. But all efforts are worthwhile even when the path is slow. It took me a fair amount of trauma and several decades of struggle to make changes necessary for a happy life. But I can't imagine a single reason to revert to the alternative, so come join me on the happy side.
Used to be a fashion commandment: "No brown in town." And so businessmen would robotically wear gray or navy every day. Well, that rule, like a lot of rules, has been wadded up and tossed out the office window. Here, Danish badass Mads Mikkelsen shows why a suit in tobacco, copper, or coffee has gone from kinda stuffy to totally cutting-edge.
Have We All Gone Mads?
Mads Mikkelsen has a different take on Hannibal Lecter than the rest of us. Whereas we see a sociopath who, you know, eats people, he just sees a sophisticated dude living his best life. "He's actually one of the more positive characters I've ever played," says Mikkelsen, the latest actor to portray the iconic killer, this time for NBC's lush, surprisingly well-done drama series Hannibal. "He's not haunted by anything. He loves everything that's beautiful about life—food, wine, fine art." It's not that Mikkelsen likes Lecter—he just thinks it's his actorly duty "to find the good in a bad guy."
Mikkelsen has had a lot of practice at that. Here in America, his very Scandinavian features—icy gaze, preposterous cheekbones—make "scary guy" job offers fall from the sky. (He was the bloody-teardrop villain in Casino Royale.) But back home in Denmark, Mikkelsen (his first name, a variation on Matthew, is pronounced mahs) tends to get cast as an Everyman, like the kindergarten teacher wrongly accused of pedophilia whom he plays in The Hunt. Over there, women's magazines have repeatedly crowned him the country's sexiest man. Why do they see killer looks and we just see a killer? "Let's attribute it to the funny accent," he says. Oh yeah, sure, it's totally the accent.—Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Your Gray Suit Should Watch Its Back
...because brown has a lot to recommend it, from its Continental airs (in Europe, this color never went out of style) to the freshness of its appeal (not every Tom, Dick, and Harry has one just yet).
Read More http://www.gq.com/style/wear-it-now/201307/mads-mikkelsen-in-the-new-brown-suit#ixzz2Wft6MI3M
Summer Fashion 2013: Cute ways to cover up, star-inspired looks, bikinis and more
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to make drastic changes in order to notice an improvement in the quality of your life. At the same time, you don’t need to wait a long time in order to see the measurable results that come from taking positive action. All you have to do is take small steps, and take them consistently, for a period of 100 days. Below you’ll find 60 small ways to improve all areas of your life in the next 100 days. Home
1. Create a “100 Days to Conquer Clutter Calendar” by penciling in one group of items you plan to declutter every day, for the next 100 days. Here’s an example: Day 1: Declutter Magazines
Day 2: Declutter DVD’s
Day 3: Declutter books
Day 4: Declutter kitchen appliances
2. Live by the mantra: a place for everything and everything in its place. For the next 100 days follow these four rules to keep your house in order:
If you take it out, put it back.
If you open it, close it.
If you throw it down, pick it up.
If you take it off, hang it up.
3. Walk around your home and identify 100 things you’ve been tolerating; fix one each day. Here are some examples:
A burnt light bulb that needs to be changed.
A button that’s missing on your favorite shirt.
The fact that every time you open your top kitchen cabinet all of the plastic food containers fall out. Happiness 4. Follow the advice proffered by positive psychologists and write down 5 to 10 things that you’re grateful for, every day. 5. Make a list of 20 small things that you enjoy doing, and make sure that you do at least one of these things every day for the next 100 days. Your list can include things such as the following: Eating your lunch outside.
Calling your best friend to chat.
Taking the time to sit down and read a novel by your favorite author for a few minutes.
6. Keep a log of your mental chatter, both positive and negative, for ten days. Be as specific as possible:
How many times do you beat yourself up during the day?
Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
Are you constantly thinking critical thoughts of others?
How many positive thoughts do you have during the day?
Also, make a note of the emotions that accompany these thoughts. Then, for the next 90 days, begin changing your emotions for the better by modifying your mental chatter. 7. For the next 100 days, have a good laugh at least once a day: get one of those calendars that has a different joke for every day of the year, or stop by a web site that features your favorite cartoons. Learning/Personal Development
8. Choose a book that requires effort and concentration and read a little of it every day, so that you read it from cover to cover in 100 days. 9. Make it a point to learn at least one new thing each day: the name of a flower that grows in your garden, the capital of a far-off country, or the name of a piece of classical music you hear playing in your favorite clothing boutique as you shop. If it’s time for bed and you can’t identify anything you’ve learned that day, take out your dictionary and learn a new word. 10. Stop complaining for the next 100 days. A couple of years back, Will Bowen gave a purple rubber bracelet to each person in his congregation to remind them to stop complaining. “Negative talk produces negative thoughts; negative thoughts produce negative results”, says Bowen. For the next 100 days, whenever you catch yourself complaining about anything, stop yourself. 11. Set your alarm a minute earlier every day for the next 100 days. Then make sure that you get out of bed as soon as your alarm rings, open the windows to let in some sunlight, and do some light stretching. In 100 days you’ll be waking up an hour and forty minutes earlier than you’re waking up now. 12. For the next 100 days, keep Morning Pages, which is a tool suggested by Julia Cameron. Morning Pages are simply three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. 13. For the next 100 days make it a point to feed your mind with the thoughts, words, and images that are most consistent with who you want to be, what you want to have, and what you want to achieve. Finances
14. Create a spending plan (also known as a budget). Track every cent that you spend for the next 100 days to make sure that you’re sticking to your spending plan. 15. Scour the internet for frugality tips, choose ten of the tips that you find, and apply them for the next 100 days. Here are some possibilities: Go to the grocery store with cash and a calculator instead of using your debit card.
Take inventory before going to the grocery store to avoid buying repeat items.
Scale back the cable.
Ask yourself if you really need a landline telephone.
Consolidate errands into one trip to save on gas.
Keep track of how much money you save over the next 100 days by applying these tips. 16. For the next 100 days, pay for everything with paper money and keep any change that you receive. Then, put all of your change in a jar and see how much money you can accumulate in 100 days. 17. Don’t buy anything that you don’t absolutely need for 100 days. Use any money you save by doing this to do one of the following: Pay down your debt, if you have any.
Put it toward your six month emergency fund.
Start setting aside money to invest.
18. Set an hour aside every day for the next 100 days to devote to creating one source of passive income.
Time Management
19. For the next 100 days, take a notebook with you everywhere in order to keep your mind decluttered. Record everything, so that it’s safely stored in one place—out of your head—where you can decide what to do with it later. Include things such as the following: Ideas for writing assignments.
Appointment dates.
To Do list items
20. Track how you spend your time for 5 days. Use the information that you gather in order to create a time budget: the percentage of your time that you want to devote to each activity that you engage in on a regular basis. This can include things such as:
Transportation
Housework
Leisure
Income-Generating Activities
Make sure that you stick to your time budget for the remaining 95 days. 21. Identify one low-priority activity which you can stop doing for the next 100 days, and devote that time to a high priority task instead. 22. Identify five ways in which you regularly waste time, and limit the time that you’re going to spend on these activities each day, for the next 100 days. Here are three examples: Watch no more than half-an-hour of television a day.
Spend no more than half-an-hour each day on social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Stumbleupon.
Spend no more than twenty minutes a day playing video games. 23. For the next 100 days, stop multi-tasking; do one thing at a time without distractions. 24. For the next 100 days, plan your day the night before. 25. For the next 100 days, do the most important thing on your To-Do list first, before you do anything else. 26. For the next 14 weeks, conduct a review of each week. During your weekly review, answer the following: What did you accomplish?
What went wrong?
What went right? 27. For the next 100 days, spend a few minutes at the end of each day organizing your desk, filing papers, and making sure that your work area is clean and orderly, so that you can walk in to a neat desk the next day. 28. Make a list of all of the commitments and social obligations that you have in the next 100 days. Then, take out a red pen and cross out anything that does not truly bring you joy or help move you along the path to achieving your main life goals. 29. For the next 100 days, every time that you switch to a new activity throughout the day stop and ask yourself, “Is this the best use of my time at this moment?” Health 30. Losing a pound of fat requires burning 3500 calories. If you reduce your caloric intake by 175 calories a day for the next 100 days, you’ll have lost 5 pounds in the next 100 days. 31. For the next 100 days, eat five servings of vegetables every day. 32. For the next 100 days, eat three servings of fruit of every day. 33. Choose one food that constantly sabotages your efforts to eat healthier—whether it’s the decadent cheesecake from the bakery around the corner, deep-dish pizza, or your favorite potato chips—and go cold turkey for the next 100 days... * Click on the image or tile above to view full, original post.
If you were offered a job in another city—or your current employer asked you to relocate—would you make the move? Here are some things to consider before you make that decision.
Want a competitive edge? The key is all about the way a company manages change. Today, there are two competencies for managing change effectively. "Once a company knows that change is necessary, it comes down to how they spend their time. Does it wait for change to arrive and gripe the entire time about how it’s going to wreck their business? Or is the time spent putting a plan in place to potentially mitigate any losses and possibly benefit from the change? Because if your competitive set is busy grousing then it only makes good business sense to set yourself apart by embracing the change.
One way a company can really benefit is when their employees are capable of being agile in preparing for change. That means having a well-defined and executed strategy where your employees are concerned. The i4cp report shares several indicators for evaluating your talent management strategy. Here are a couple things that caught my eye:
* Leadership development plays a huge role in high-performing workplaces, especially when management is held accountable for their performance.
* Goal setting and performance management has a clear purpose and is connected to organizational objectives.
It comes down to hiring the right people and giving them the tools to succeed. This includes communicating expectations, training where appropriate and developing individuals for future needs.
Want a competitive edge? Develop the best darn group of employees you can. They’ll make sure managing change is a no-brainer."
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” –Eleanor Roosevelt
In my last column I shared the seven simple principles that have transformed me, my company, and a growing number of people throughout the world. They are also the focus of my book, The 7 Non-Negotiables of Winning: Tying Soft Traits To Hard Results, due from Wiley Publishing on July 29.
Today I’d like to take the discussion further by telling you about the keystone of the 7 Non-Negotiables: Respect.
As you may be aware, the “keystone” is the central stone at the summit of an arch that locks the structure together. It is also the term to describe the central principle or part of a policy or system on which all else depends, and without which the 7 Non-Negotiables structure would collapse.
Respect must play the most important role in any personal or working relationship. One of our most important statements at our company, Fishbowl, is, “I’ve got your back.” This single phrase carries all of the Non-Negotiables with it. We are not perfect. No one is. But we hone the skills to get any situation, no matter how difficult, back on track – to course correct and move forward.
The Start: Empathic Listening Skills
Part of the building blocks of respect at Fishbowl is the importance of listening to each other empathically. This doesn’t mean listening until someone is done speaking. It requires that you listen with your eyes directed at them. It is listening to what they are saying without judging, or expending our mental focus on how we intend to respond while the other individual is speaking.
Here are a few suggestions for developing good listening skills: Make authentic eye contact and turn towards the individual who is speaking. Sit up straight, not slouched down or leaning back, and even lean slightly towards the individual so they know you’re listening to them. Nod and let them know you are with them. This doesn’t mean you are agreeing, necessarily. This physical attention lets the other person know you’re not engaged in anything else, such as looking around, typing, texting, or anything besides listening fully.
"I've got your back." David Williams with Fishbowl Controller Chris Mitton
This lets a speaker know that you are respecting them, which is then reflected back. This kind of reciprocal engagement always strengthens relationships. Another part of empathic listening is waiting until the person is finished speaking to begin sharing your thoughts, which can be difficult if the individual talks a lot. It’s not necessarily a bad idea to say something like, “Can we stop here and take a little break?” or, “Let me try to understand what you’re saying” to get the conversation back on track. That’s a part of empathic listening as well, and it is respectful when done properly. Repeat back what you think you heard the person say to be sure you interpreted their message correctly. It’s okay if you don’t interpret perfectly. You will be corrected, if necessary, and can respectfully thank the individual for helping to clarify the areas you may have misunderstood.
These actions often take a conversation to a deeper level because they help people clarify information, send the right messages, and provide another perspective. An engaging, respectful conversation involves seeking to understand first before being understood. That is a “Covey-ism.” Stephen Covey taught us much about empathic listening. We may not be as efficient when we take the time to understand others fully, but we will be more effective.
The Essential Step: Pressing Pause
Another tool that helps to foster respect is to place a gap of time between the stimulus that comes from someone or something, and your response to the stimulus. Sometimes it only takes a few seconds; other times it can take a day or even a week to defuse the emotions. For example, let’s say I’m driving down the road and I get cut off. My natural tendency is to get upset at the person who is being so disrespectful while driving. However, I notice that if I just breathe deeply for a moment and ignore the person, the stressful emotion passes. But if I engage in a reaction immediately, I want to do something I may regret later, such as press on the gas, accelerate and pass the car, or look over at the driver and give them a glare – all of which are immature and sophomoric (or even dangerous, if the other person escalates the emotion as well).
Think about how many times we do something similar at work. We get angry at a coworker over something small and let it ruin our entire day. Someone may say something that we choose to let hurt or offend us. However, if you simply put some time and distance between your initial reaction and your decision to do something about it, you’ll be far more prepared to respond in a way that is professional, mature, optimistic, and respectful. That doesn’t mean you avoid the issue; it simply means that you air out a little bit before you say or do anything.
Be sure that what you say and do is uplifting. You may have misunderstood someone else’s emotions or reacted inappropriately because what you thought you heard is not really what they meant.Once you put some time between the stimulus and the response, the next step is to make an effort to seek to understand that person. This has always been a positive experience for me. Failing to go to the source and get to the bottom of things, however, usually does more harm than good. If you hold the negative emotions inside, you harbor ill will against that person that will drive a wedge in your organization, hurting not only you and perhaps the individual, but also everyone around you. It is a form of emotional cancer that can spread into behavior and output.
Though it’s difficult, you must have the courage to share your thoughts and feelings directly. Approach the misunderstanding as a subject matter or an issue rather than as a challenge to the individual. This approach will bring great things into a relationship. These principles are timeless and universal. They’re not complicated or difficult to grasp. Most of us practice them outside of work every day. Seek to understand the individuals who bring up issues, and take the emotion out of it.
Jobs in the hidden market are much better than the jobs listed in the public market.The point of this article is to strongly suggest that job-seekers should only spend 20% of their time working the...
Get ready to have your minds blown, StyleWatchers. Salma Hayek is… 47! Now, once you pick your jaws off the floor, check out how amazing the actress looks on the July cover of InStyle magazine, where she opens up about dressing to impress her French husband, François-Henri Pinault.
“I actually wear a lot of leather on the red carpet,” the actress shares. “My husband loves when I wear it.” (We bet François really loved when his wife stepped out in this Bottega Venetta leather dress last week!)
Hayek also reveals that even though she’s in her forties, there are certain styles she won’t give up.
“When I turned 40, I started thinking, ‘This is the last year,’ whenever I’d wear a strapless dress,” she says. “I always thought you can’t wear them after a certain age, but I’m still getting away with it.”
PHOTOS: See more bold star style in Last Night’s Look
And despite all the haute couture looks she’s stepped out in over the years, the hot Hollywood mom isn’t looking for validation from the fashion community, just her husband.
“I’m not really a fashionista,” she shares. “I have an eye. I can pull it together, but a lot of the effort I make is for my husband, because I want him to be attracted to me.”
For more from Hayek, check out InStyle.com and the July issue, on stands June 14, and tell us: What do you think of her fashion outlook?
–Brittany Talarico
Isabel Marant is the latest high-end fashion designer to collaborate with H&M. So what can we expect from the most influential woman in fashion right now? Isabel Marant: her collaboration for H&M reflects the fact that, partly thanks to the Parisian designer, Frenchness is cool again. Photograph: H&M/company handout
The moment when H&M announces a new designer collaboration is the fashion industry equivalent of Glastonbury divulging its headline acts. The statement tells you whose year this is, pop-culturally speaking. So the news that Isabel Marant, queen of Parisian haute-boho chic, has joined a roll-call that includes Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Marni, Versace, Lanvin and Martin Margiela puts an official seal on a title she has unofficially held for some time: the Most Influential Woman in Fashion.
The fashion obsessives who set their alarms for pre-dawn on 14 November, when the H&M collection goes on sale, won't be buying into a brand whose insignia is recognisable to remote rainforest tribes (Versace) or demonstrating their fashion nous by declaring allegiance to one that is traditionally challenging (Margiela). The appeal of the Isabel Marant brand right now is that it marks you out as in tune with the times. The Isabel Marant look is the wardrobe we want for now. In other words: for a piece of the zeitgeist, at £29.99, join the queue.
Marant, 46, is the woman behind the off-duty-model/actress uniform that wallpapers the pages of Grazia. The look is bohemian and ethnic but done in a simple, chic way that says Parisian fashion insider rather than Edina from Ab Fab. It is cut to flatter – slim jeans, T-shirts with just the right amount of slouch, sweatshirts that finish at just the right point on the hips – but never body-conscious in a try-hard way. It is day-to-night dressing for women who would much rather head out for a casual glass of wine after work than lose hours to the Spanx-and-Carmen-rollers school of event-dressing. Show me any paparazzi shot of the beautiful people looking fabulous at Coachella, or touching down at JFK, or yacht-hopping in Ibiza, and I'll show you a game of spot-the-Marant.
Details of the collection have not been revealed yet, but a greatest-hits collection has become an H&M tradition. The fashionista's fantasy Marant-for-a-song range would have to include peasant blouses with ethnic detailing, cowboy shirts, and bomber jackets in oriental embroidered silk. Cropped skinny jeans and slouchy ankle boots are Marant mainstays likely to be included, while the hidden-wedge hi-top trainer, now much copied, was an original Marant piece and is likely to make a comeback. On the accessories stand, a Navajo-style belt and/or perhaps a fringed cross-body bag seem highly probable.
On a micro level, this Marant moment is about drawstrings, ethnic detailing and all the insignia of urban bohemia. But on a macro level, it represents the return of Frenchness as an aspirational look in youth culture, for the first time since the 1970s. French labels have never lost their allure – Chanel and YSL have been the gold standard of designer names for decades – but for decades, until recently, there was a disconnect between those lofty names and style as it happens on the street. The Isabel Marant girl is the spiritual heir to a youthful Jane Birkin in the early 1970s, when she was hanging out on the Rive Gauche and wearing cute summer dresses on holiday in the South of France. Frenchness – which was always chic, but for a generation was lacking in youthful edge – is cool again, and Marant is one of the reasons why. (Note that H&M's press release announcing the collection was titled: "Isabel Marant brings her French touch to H&M.")
Marant has been a slowburn success story. For the first 15 years, her label enjoyed respect and modest sales, but it was when French Vogue's Emanuelle Alt, a childhood friend, collaborated with Marant in styling the clothes that the look caught the public imagination. These days, Kate Moss, Alexa Chung and every cool girl in Paris describe themselves as diehard Marant fans. Marant herself says she is "a representative French girl … my clothes say more about me than anything else". She wears little makeup, smokes roll-up cigarettes, and has a 10-year-old son with her partner of 16 years; she says they may marry when they retire and have more time. There is a pleasing mix of free-spirit and practicality in her clothes, which are head-turning without looking overdone. She has said that when a design turns out too spectacular or delicate she tends to go back to the drawing board, preferring to make something that is useful as well as glamorous. Her aim, she says, is to create "an ideal wardrobe, that you can do a lot with".
Marant has been a vociferous opponent of high-street copies of her designs, calling the phenomenon "disgusting" and "vulgar". Her decision to join forces with the high street suggests that she recognises that the oxygen of publicity given by making your fashion accessible is hugely valuable to high-end brands. And in a funny way, the very existence of Isabel Marant for H&M is a testament to the enduring importance of designer labels. After all, Marant-"inspired" peasant blouses, bomber jackets, cropped jeans and wedge trainers are all available on the high street right now. H&M's versions will likely be crisper, cleaner and punchier – and, if past collections are our guide, far better quality than your average fast-fashion rip off. But above all, the reward for queueing in November will be the Isabel Marant name in the label.
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Scoop.it!
Even better than the first vid! Namaste. ~ V.B.