How to be Smarter: Sometimes announcing publicly your goal can help you stay more motivated to reach it. A simple way to do this is to write your objective down and put it on the refrigerator of your house. Then looking at the refrigerator serves as both a reminder to you to stay on-track, and is a [...]

How to be Smarter: Everyone has two or three female celebrities they always pay special attention to when they see their pictures in magazines or see them mentioned in an article online. But try to also have a few powerful females in the business or political sectors you follow as well—it’s important to reinforce to yourself, daily, [...]

How to be Smarter: Everything has a benefit, but sometimes you don’t realize what the benefit is until long after the event is over. How to be Prettier: 100% silk wrinkles a lot less over the course of a day than a silk-blend. How to be (less) Awkward: Just adding a “thanks” to the end [...]

How to be Smarter: You are always in a position to negotiate. Never believe that what someone else says absolutely goes–there is always a middle to be met at, and concessions to be made on both sides. If you think there is no room to negotiate, the other side has already won. How to be Prettier: Shake up [...]

How to be Smarter: A nice post about four characteristics of a successful relationship. How to be Prettier: When going to a work happy hour, dress for work, not for happy hour. How to be (less) Awkward: When sending pictures as attachments, rename the file so instead of a string of numbers, the picture is [...]

How to be Smarter: There are two times a boy can bring you flowers: for no reason at all, and to say he is sorry. But if he brings flowers for no reason at all, he will rarely have to say he is sorry. There are two times you can be a great student: all semester [...]

How to be Smarter: Take a piece of paper, and follow it in half down the middle. On the top of one side put “Love,” and at the top of the other column put “Don’t Love.” Write down all the things you are loving about your life in the first column,  and on the other [...]

How to be Smarter: If you unsubscribed from an organization’s list server after the second email they sent you, the organization would probably assume you weren’t that engaged in their cause anyways and move on. So if someone unsubscribes from your life after the second date, count your blessings and move on –they weren’t going to [...]

How to be Smarter: If you must order food from a questionable restaurant, order the pancakes: they are hard for any cook to mess up.  How to be Prettier: Halloween is in less than one week. This is the time to be rummaging through your closet or jewelry box to find something orange-hued that you [...]

How to be Smarter: Anyone part of the online community, or who wants to know more about social media to distinguish their resume, should read Tara Hunt’s The Whuffie Factor. How to be Prettier: Perfume is an investment. A nice perfume can be expensive, but a good bottle will become both your signature scent and [...]

How to be Smarter: If you want to stand out in a room, be different than everyone else in the room. How to be Prettier: JewelMint (Kate Bosworth’s jewelry site) is offering SP&A readers 50% off with the code BOCT50 at checkout. I’m pleased to offer that discount code, as I have been trying out JewelMint for the last [...]

How to be Smarter: When going in for an interview, have a list of questions about the position written down in your notebook. When the interviewer asks if you have any questions, you will look thoughtful and prepared as you pull out your list. How to be Prettier: When speaking in front of a group, [...]

How to be Smarter: When discussing a topic you’re not familiar with, and a colleague, boss or date corrects something you’ve said, respond with a thoughtful question as opposed to “really?” or “are you sure?”. A smart question keeps the conversation going, and helps you to still look engaged even if the topic is not one you know [...]

How to be Smarter: Just because you are afraid of the unknown doesn’t mean you need to resign yourself to the fact that your life must stay the same forever. (The Smarter here is applicable to that statement, and one of my favorite posts, ever). How to be Prettier: An ease way to winterize almost [...]

How to be Smarter: I think the happiest people continually create their own options and choices, and I think the unhappiest people are the ones that feel unable to do that and so they are stuck in their situation. You have to practice being proactive about finding ways to make your life better, and you might [...]

How to be Smarter: A really inspirational blog I enjoy reading: Life After College. How to be Prettier: Your choice in footwear is extremely important at large crowd events, like concerts. To avoid your toes getting squashed, wear closed-toed shoes that you have worn before and are broken-in so you know they don’t pinch. Also, [...]

How to be Smarter: You have to reliable to be successful. You can have the best ideas in the world, but if no one trusts you to actually carry them out, it doesn’t matter–no one will invest in your business idea, no one will sponsor your road race, no one will date a flake. It’s okay [...]

How to be Smarter: The same way people don’t like to get a trim when they just really want to grow their hair long, sometimes people are slow to cut off bad romantic matches when they just really want a relationship. But a trim of things that aren’t working, whether it’s dead ends or go-nowhere match-ups, [...]

How to be Smarter: Using Technology to Ease Transitions. How to be Prettier: If you are heading out for the night and you know your picture will be taken, take a few quick camera shots at home so you can double-check that your clothes look okay when the flash goes off (and to find the [...]