How to be Smarter: We all know how embarrassing it feels to make a big statement about our future to our friends and family, and then have what we were hoping for fall through. So when the same thing happens to someone you love–they made a grand plan for their future, shared it with everyone, and then things didn’t work out–show them compassion, remind them reorganizing a dream isn’t failure, and keep being their biggest cheerleader.

How to be Prettier: A great blog about fashion trends and confidence.

How to be (less) Awkward: Everyone once in a while, I think it’s fun to send a scrambled text to a signficant other or a crush asking them to unscramble the letters, i.e. “Unscramble please: w?dnthhcaaoig”. A playful text can break up a boring work day or a long afternoon for them, as well as show off your fun side.

How to be Smarter: How does Facebook make you feel?

How to be Prettier: Sweetheart necklines are incredibly flattering on lots of different figures: here, here and here.

How to be (less) Awkward: Usually at parties, if you act genuinely excited to see someone, they will  be excited to see you as well.

How to be Smarter: Even if you are getting accolades from others, you are not truly winning (in athletics, exams, or the rat race) if you spend the whole time wishing you were quitting.

How to be Prettier: If you go clothes shopping and accidentally buy too many things, when you get home put most of the bags away. Then each week, you can choose one or two items that you bought to take out and wear, but the rest have to stay put away. By metering out when you get the new clothes, the rush of shopping stays with you longer (bonus: you also usually become more skilled at integrating items into your wardrobe–instead of putting all the pieces you bought together as just one new outfit, you are forced to think outside the box to wear the new pieces with your old ones).

How to be (less) Awkward: During a manicure, once the nail technician starts applying polish, you won’t be able to use your hands. So before she starts applying polish, turn to a really big article in the magazine you are reading so you have something to read the whole time without needing to flip the page with wet nails.

How to be Smarter: Feeling better is a snowball. Sometimes, when the day is going bad it helps to just say, ‘what can I do in five minutes that will make me feel the tinest bit better?’ After you spend five minutes working to feel better, springboard off that good feeling, and spend the next five minutes again working to feel just a tinge better. Building on incremental levels of happiness helps big positive changes come.

How to be Prettier: If you are in the market for buying online, I just discovered this list of promotions and offers across different brands on ShopStyle.

How to be (less) Awkward: Adults can be cute, too.

How to be Smarter: When a pen stops writing, you have two options: throw it out, or scribble it around on the paper until the ink appears again. When something stops working, whether it’s a job, your academic major, or a relationship, you have a choice whether to move on or to try hard to make the broken item fixed. But like a pen that has been scribbled back to life, a job/college major/relationship that has stopped meeting your needs before will probably stop meeting them again, no matter how hard you frantically scribble to bring it back to life.

How to be Prettier: A fun Valentines Day gift for a girlfriend to hold her jewelry in (and you can feel good about the sustainable nonprofit your purchase is supporting).

How to be (less) Awkward: This  nervous little penguin made me smile.

How to be Smarter: There is always enough time in the day if you have the courage to cut out the things that waste time.

How to be Prettier: Floor-length skirts are popular this season, but instead of spending money on a new one, get your maxi dress from last summer and layer a long-sleeved shirt with a vest over it for the winter months.

How to be (less) Awkward: Keep this site on your Favorites, and when your To-Do list gets too long and life seems crazy, head to the site to quickly recharge.

How to be Smarter: Bestselling books from the day you were born.

How to be Prettier: Because everyone is swooning over swans these days: makeup, skirts, and shoes.

How to be (less) Awkward: A nice round-up of 2010, in baby animal form. #3 and #4 melted me.

How to be Smarter: Jokes are funniest when you say the same phase in different ways throughout the story. I.e., instead of emailing your friends a funny story about “a guy with a cat,” use that phrase once and then during the rest of the story call him ‘the dude with the feline,’ ‘the man with the baby Simba-lookalike,’ or the ‘bloke with the tabby.’ The more outlandish the vocabulary get as the story reaches its climax, the funnier the story becomes.

How to be Prettier: I’m not sure if it is scientific, but I like to give my eyelashes a break from mascara a few times a week as I think it is good for them to breathe a bit without makeup.

How to be (less) Awkward: If you accidentally get one boot wet while walking in rainy weather, have the wet foot be the tester foot for all puddles so the other foot doesn’t accidentally get wet too.

Happy MLK Day!

How to be Smarter: It can seem important to do something the “best way,” but it’s actually more important to do it the “best way for you.”

How to be Prettier: I really disliked the winter months until my best friend recommended this coat, which she also owns. It was an investment, but it has changed my feelings towards winter completely. I wear it daily to work and to run errands, and I feel so warm in it (the comment everyone makes when they see me in it: “you look bundled!”).

How to be (less) Awkward: You may never know what issues others are facing, and many people struggle with body image distortions. By keeping your own comments about your body positive, you are both reminding and reinforcing to yourself what a beautiful person you are, and serving as a role model to those who may be silently struggling to see their own beauty.

How to be Smarter: Every event you go to represents possibilities: trying a new food, meeting a new friend, starting a new relationship, finding out about a new job, being introduced to a different way of thinking. If you want more possibilities in your life, go to more events. The term ‘events’ includes but is not limited to: career fairs, plays, movies, dates, parties, networking events, store openings, charity events, fundraisers, and a million more.

How to be Prettier: After applying chapstick to your lips, do one final dot of it in the middle of your bottom lip to make your lips look bigger.

How to be (less) Awkward: If you feel nervous during conversations with new people, first work on becoming comfortable speaking with someone new. Once you become comfortable, and the anxiety goes down, the ability to be good and then great at new conversations will come much more naturally.

How to be Smarter: You can have natural talent without trying; but if you want a skill, you need to practice. Find your talent and turn in into a skill you can use to open doors.

How to be Prettier: Everyone I know that has this brand of flat irons really speaks highly of the product (I’ve been a Chi devotee for years). If you straighten your hair often, it might be worth the investment.

How to be (less) Awkward: When leaving a play, whether it is a college play or a Broadway one, no negative words about the performance until out of the theater. The chance is just too great someone who knows someone in the play overhears you, even if you think you are just talking quietly to your friends post-show.

How to be Smarter: Set your location on this sunrise/sunset calendar, and notice the times of the sunrise and sunset each day. Everyday it stays brighter a little longer

How to be Prettier: Sunny yellow spring skirts are year round: for post-sunrise at work and post-sundown for play.

How to be (less) Awkward: If there is only one pair of sunglasses able to be found in the car, the driver gets them.

How to be Smarter: Everything you want in a significant other (ambition, kindness, nice to family) is something you must also expect and cultivate in yourself.

How to be Prettier: I love the look of this shirt with a low side braid. (I saw a girl in the village wearing that style of top with a braid over the weekend, and I thought she looked gorgeous).

How to be (less) Awkward: Even if the class is boring and you are counting down the minutes until the bell rings, once the bell does finally go off, wait until the professor finishes his sentence before bolting from his room. Staying for one more minute while he finishes his thought is a gesture of respect.

How to be Smarter: You always, always, always have more options than you think. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. (Even if the person telling you you are stuck where you are is yourself).

How to be Prettier: Striped shirts are going to be a big part of fashion in early 2011. I like these: here, here and here.

How to be (less) Awkward: If you are a social confident person, either from birth or because you worked at it, you have a responsibility to make others that are shy or nervous feel welcomed.

How to be Smarter: Quiz on Finding a Passion to Lead to a Hobby.

How to be Prettier: Lulu’s has a great affordable shoe selection in general, but I’m especially impressed with their Vegan Shoe selection  (like this pair here).

How to be (less) Awkward: Introduce people as “This is my friend Molly,” not “This is Molly.” It’s just a subtle change, but everyone likes being called your friend. You would probably introduce your boyfriend as “This is boyfriend Sam,” so be sure to give Molly the same type of introduction.

How to be Smarter: Only focusing on a tiny brushstroke of your life, whether it be ‘do I have a boyfriend?,’ “is my job high-paying?’, or ‘am I thinner than her?’ makes you lose appreciation for the entire painting. Brushstrokes work together to form a complete beautiful painting; different parts of your life work together to form a complete beautiful life. And an incomplete or unfinished brushstroke doesn’t make the painting ugly.

How to be Prettier: Being photographed against snow makes you look tanner (to illustrate this point: my photo in this interview).

How to be (less) Awkward: If you wouldn’t be sassy with a perfect stranger, then there is certainly no reason to be fresh or harsh to a significant other.

How to be Smarter: Stop pressing snooze; when the alarm goes off for the day you are up. Discipline in the morning breeds discipline for the day.

How to be Prettier: Winter is the time to try new pedicure colors; if you don’t like the results, no one will see your toes hidden in your boots.

How to be (less) Awkward: Laughing Alone with Salads.

How to be Smarter: Growing up, when adults tell kids everyone is a star, they are not sugarcoating life–it is the truth. Every person starts out an undiscovered star–you just need to find the right sky for you to shine in. Find the job, the school, the relationship, and/or the hobby that you are a success at (however you measure that), and watch your star rise and life expand is wonderful ways.

How to be Prettier: A LBD that does sheer tastefully.

How to be (less) Awkward: When shaking someone’s hand, stand up to show your respect for them.