Month: December 2010

Never write an email when you’re mad or upset The Internet – specifically, e-mail—has done wonders to increase our capacity to communicate. With lightening speed, we can now write letters, share ideas and even close deals. The benefits are astonishing. There’s a downside to e-mail, however, that’s important to be aware of. The problem is,…

Avoid the trap of reaction spirals It’s a rare person who can avoid the trap of reaction spirals. This is the dangerous tendency to overreact to something – and then compound the problem by over analyzing it. Here is a typical example: someone criticizes some aspect of your work. You overreact to the criticism and…

Express your gratitude toward others The people we remember to thank, in person, with a thoughtful note or gesture, or a phone call, are infinitely more likely to help us again than those we take for granted or neglect to thank. It’s so obvious, yet so few people really understand how this works. People love…

You know how clothes wear out over time and we have to get new ones? Well, our bodies are kind of like that. They change a lot as we grow up – from being a baby to a kid, then to a grown-up, and eventually to an old person. But there’s something inside us called…

Never talk behind someone’s back! Talking bad about someone when they’re not around is called backstabbing, and it’s a really mean thing to do. It makes you look bad, not the person you’re talking about. Imagine if someone talked about you behind your back – you wouldn’t like it, right? People who backstab often pretend…

Once, there was a man who wanted a job at a big company called Microsoft. When he went for an interview, the manager asked for his email. But the man didn’t have one. The manager said, “If you don’t have an email, you can’t get the job.” Feeling sad, the man left. With only $10,…