A New Look at an Old Favorite...

Today I learned that the method my best friend's mom used to save money thirty years ago still works...coupons. I don't mean buying something you don't want or need because you have a coupon. I mean clipping coupons and tracking sales at the stores you frequent (for me, Harris Teeter, Target, and CVS) and getting the products you use over and over at the best price possible. Saving money in ways like this is like getting an untaxed raise! As a federal employee, I don't get a raise this year or next and my bills have not declared a similar freeze so anything that helps reduce costs is a huge bonus for me.

How do you reduce costs when you need to save up for something new?

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Receiving Feedback

We've all read lots of books and articles on giving feedback, but what is the best way to receive feedback? My default response used to be to explain my position, show how I do what the person is asking, or show how I wanted to but someone else prevented me. If I am caught off guard or stressed, these are still my gut instincts. However, I have learned two much more constructive ways to respond to feedback that I strive to use more often. The first started as I became more self-aware and felt comfortable and safe acknowledging and working on my weaknesses. If someone points something I am aware of and I feel safe (i.e., it is pointed out in a private forum versus a public forum) the best thing I can do is say "I know, do you have any suggestions or advice that will help me?" If someone has the courage to step out of their comfort zone to point out a way I can improve, it is a safe bet they've thought about it beforehand. The second way to handle...

Stationery card

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What an Extraverted Intuitive Needs to be Productive

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is based on the work of Swiss psychiatrist Carl G. Jung. Jung observed that people have inborn preferences for gathering information and making decisions and that these preferences guide an individual’s behavior. The mother/daughter team of Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers expanded on Jung’s theories and created an assessment to make the combined work accessible to all individuals. Today, the assessment is used by most Fortune 100 companies and over two million people worldwide, annually. The assessment identifies an individual’s inborn preferences on four dichotomous scales: where you focus your energy, how you prefer to take in information, how you make decisions, and how you deal with the outer world. Type is best used to understand other people, improve communication, and develop individual skills. The first dichotomy is Extraversion (gets energy from other people) and Introversion (gets energy from reflection). The second...

Strategic Serendipity

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