How to be Smarter: Do not make one thing (one job, one relationship, one hobby) your only thing. Diversify your interests; there is room in your life to find and cultivate many wonderful things that will bring you happiness.

How to be Prettier: “If someone stops by unannounced and you only have a few minutes to tidy up, focus on the bathroom. It’s the only room where a guest will spend time alone, and consequently they’ll pay more attention to their surroundings.” — Cleaning tip from Cup of Jo.

How to be (less) Awkward: Cute quiz: Are You A Good Texter?

How to be Smarter: A good book recommendation engine: What Should I Read Next?.

How to be Prettier: Making it a habit to always add ice cubes to your drinks is an easy way to work on increasing your water intake.

How to be (less) Awkward: To keep conversation flowing, replace “did” for “what.” For example, instead of asking “did anything happen today?,”  ask “what happened today?” When asking the first question, people usually assume you are asking if something big or exciting happened, which if it didn’t, they usually respond with “no.” But when asked the second way, the door is opened for mentioning anything that happened, big or small.

How to be Smarter: Be accessible, be easily reachable, be welcoming. Keep the door to your life open so new breezes bringing new ideas and new people can enter and enrich it.

How to be Prettier: Popular colors for holiday dresses are usually black, red or metallic shades, but a nice, deep shade of green is equally as festive, and slightly unexpected.

How to be (less) Awkward: If you are watching your wallet, be the first to suggest ideas for locations for a girls’ night or a dinner, keeping the suggestions within your budget. It makes it easier to begin by suggesting places that work for you, rather than having to explain why someone else’s choice is out of your financial reach right now.

How to be Smarter: To make putting aside money easier, name the savings account with what you are saving for, i.e. a “New Apartment Fund,” “Grad School Fund,” “Business Idea Fund,” etc. The idea of saving for something specific you will enjoy later makes it easier to put a little aside each month into savings.

How to be Prettier: If you already use whitening toothpaste, I think whitening floss can also be a valuable part of your beauty routine; this is the brand I use and like. [The price looks high because Amazon sells it as a pack of 8, but the local drugstore should have it in single package].

How to be (less) Awkward: Everyone had a Day One. A Day One of their first yoga class, a Day One of their being single again, a Day One at their new job. No matter how weird or self-conscious you feel, any type of Day One you are having, other people have also had and gotten through. And after Day One, usually comes a much easier, less worrisome Day Two.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you have a million and one reasons to be thankful.

Love,

Molly

How to be Smarter: 40 Things to Say Before You Die. [I really love these, especially #8].

How to be Prettier: Usually, if a glass of water is in front of you, you will drink it absent-mindedly. So to get more water into your body, focus on always having a glass of water near you: sitting on your desk, on your nightstand, in front of you at dinner. Just the availability of water close to you will probably get you drinking more.

How to be (less) Awkward: Not awkward, just cute: Cat-Friend vs. Dog-Friend. [A tiny bit of profanity].

How to be Smarter: It usually makes people feel really good to be helpful to others. So do not feel shy or embarrassed about asking for a little help, because two great things will happen: you will get the help you need, and someone will get the wonderful feeling of being helpful to another person.

How to be Prettier: The key when shopping is to try to find comfortable and practical options that you also feel good about wearing, because in some situations the importance of having clothes be comfortable or practical overrules other apparel attributes. But just because you need a warm coat for winter or a pair of heels you can walk in, does not mean that you need to settle for something you do not enjoy or feel good about wearing. Take the time to find items that fit your needs and that you like to wear.

How to be (less) Awkward: If a friend shows you an email or text message she has already sent, there is no point in correcting grammar or word choice. The message has been sent, so focus your attention or advice on how she could better frame or word the next one.

How to be Smarter: Great advice about both blogging and life.

How to be Prettier: Spray sparkly shoes with hairspray to keep the sequins or sparkles from shedding off. [Source].

How to be (less) Awkward: At a house party with an animal, look for the pet for an easy conversation-starter. People tend to group around animals, and petting or asking questions about someone’s dog, cat, bird, or other animal is a great small-talk starter with new people.

How to be Smarter: Innovation is not just a business or tech buzzword; innovation is a process that can be applied to all parts of your own life. How can you innovate your morning routine to make it more streamlined? How can you innovate your lunch break to make it more fun? How can you innovate your closet, your job, your commute? Innovation is not just conceiving a huge idea to change the world, it can also be conceiving ideas to improve tasks or events that simply help your daily life get closer to your ideal life.

How to be Prettier: End headband headaches by stretching tight pieces around a large roll of paper towels. [Source].

How to be (less) Awkward: Topics to avoid mentioning at a wedding.

How to be Smarter: Do not let what you want out of life be limited by what others around you have chosen out of life.

How to be Prettier: A deep purple shade is a nice alternative to black; like black, it is a dark shade that looks great with a huge variety of colors.

How to be (less) Awkward: Six valuable dating/relationship tips [I especially love #3, #4 and #6].

Hello!

Here is the latest Why Don’t You Ask Molly Ford? column, with advice on how to handle a phone interview.

xo, Molly

[Past columns here].

How to be Smarter: Book Recommendation: The First 90 Days is a great read for anyone transitioning into a new role at work. It is an easy-to-follow business book written within the framework of a blueprint for the first 90 days of the new position, whether the position is within the current company or at a new one. [I was so enthralled I read it in an afternoon].

How to be Prettier: Fun graphic: famous websites re-imagined as dresses.

How to be (less) Awkward: Public humiliation is one of the fastest ways to alienate someone; nothing is ever gained by embarrassing someone in front of a crowd. Privacy should be given to everyone involved in a sensitive topic–whether the sensitive topic is a disagreement with a significant other, a child misbehaving, or a friend with food in her teeth.

How to be Smarter: Seven practical rules for growing leadership skills (love #3 and #5).

How to be Prettier: This season, a popular design pattern for apparel and accessories is polka dots. Polka dots are generally seen as a fun pattern, and in general the brighter the colors are in the pattern, the more whimsical the design looks. (I.e. black with white polka dots is seen as more office-appropriate than yellow with pink polka dots).

How to be (less) Awkward: As a presenter, act the way you want the audience to feel; the audience acts as a mirror of your mood. If you are relaxed and having fun sharing your information, they are relaxed and having fun learning your information.

How to be Smarter: Motivation gets the running shoes on, determination gets you through the last lap. Motivation gets you to sit down at the computer, determination gets you through the writer’s block. Motivation is needed to start planning, determination is needed to finish executing.

How to be Prettier: If you are doing an at-home manicure and then planning to put on tights, put the tights on before the manicure (pulling on tights usually ruins nail polish that is not 100% dry).

How to be (less) Awkward:  Not awkward, just awesome: down the Internet rabbit hole.

How to be Smarter: In small actions, be kind; in big actions, be brave.

How to be Prettier:  A winter trend this year is toe cap shoes: essentially, shoes that have a toe that is a different color than the rest of the shoe (examples here, here and here).

How to be (less) Awkward: If you are not sure whether you should send a potentially upsetting email or text, just pause and ask yourself the question: “how would I feel if this popped up in my inbox?” If the answer is not how you want the receiver to feel, go back and reword passages to take a slightly different tone.

How to be Smarter: Book Recommendation: Seriously…I’m Kidding is a fun, lighthearted read. (It would be a great choice to read before you fall asleep to clear your mind of the day’s stresses, or to read on a plane if you are a nervous flyer).

How to be Prettier: A cool inspiration blog about repurposing vintage clothes.

How to be (less) Awkward: Keeping a receipt in your wallet from a special day is more discrete than carrying someone’s picture, and whenever you see the receipt as you are hunting for coins or your driver’s license, you are reminded of a fun memory.

How to be Smarter: “If you knew you were going to meet the love of your life in one year, how different would that year be?” — Excellent quote from A Cup of Jo.

How to be Prettier: How to take care of your feet in cold weather.

How to be (less) Awkward: If you always share the credit when things go well, usually others will help share the blame if something goes poorly.

How to be Smarter: I’ve referenced this article, about the three main paths most careers fall into, in two separate conversations I had recently–lots of interesting data points to discuss.

How to be Prettier: An easy way to incorporate the burgundy fall trend into your look is to use it as a nail color. [These are my fingers currently].

How to be (less) Awkward: Sweet things to say to anyone. [A really happy, nice article].