Throughout our personal and professional lives, we continually encounter individuals who believe they’re better than we are. One would think such a competition would cease once we all graduated from high school. But the game continues – though the rules adjust accordingly – known in the psychological community as the “better-than-average-effect” or BTAE. In short, the better-than-average-effect is the tendency for individuals to perceive that their abilities, behaviors, physical attributes and personality traits are far superior when compared to those who are deemed simply “average” among them. I think it’s important to define what it means to be average, though that in and of itself is challenging. Why? Because the internet has labeled “average” people as something bad. According to several misguided posts, average people are lazy, unaccomplished, irresponsible time…
“The only permission, the only validation, and the only opinion that matters in our quest for greatness is our own.” ― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience We all seek some sort of validation for the things we do in life. Linda Sapadin, Ph.D on validation, “It’s getting feedback from others that what I do and what I say matters to you. You hear me. You see me. You think of me. You thank me. You acknowledge my accomplishments. You appreciate my efforts.” It typically stems from our childhood, as we often look to our parents for validation when we accomplish something we’re proud of. But as we grow older, the cycle seems to persist throughout our adult lives – in our relationships and even in our…
A Giving Tree is a popular charitable initiative during the holiday season. For those unaware of the concept, a Giving Tree is essentially a Christmas tree decorated with gift tags dangling from branches by festive colored ribbon. These tags are not blank however, for they have a very important job - carrying the holiday wishes of children and teenagers with limited resources. They’re typically found in shopping malls, religious institutions, schools, hospitals, and most recently, virtually online in order to reach as many charitable givers as possible. During this celebrated time of year, children of all ages are anxiously compiling their Christmas lists and sending them to the North Pole (or to Santa’s helpers, also known as “parents”). Like the Giving Tree, these lists are comprised of wishes, but that’s…
John Legend and Kelly Clarkson have remade a holiday classic - Baby, It’s Cold Outside. What’s so newsworthy about that you might be asking? Well, apparently some members of the #MeToo movement have issues with the song’s lyrics, claiming they sound too “date-rapey”. They’ve even gone so far as to petition radio stations to have the song pulled from holiday rotation - successfully in some cases I might add. Here are some of the revised lyrics to Baby, It’s Cold Outside: Clarkson: "What will my friends think..."Legend: "I think they should rejoice"Clarkson: "...if I have one more drink?"Legend: "It's your body, and your choice." There is a long list of well-known crooners who have sung Baby, It’s Cold Outside over the years. Highly admired and respected names such as Dean…
The other day I realized that we all learned reading, writing and arithmetic from our wonderful teachers across the United States. But when were we ever taught email etiquette? If you can believe it, the very first network email was sent back in 1971 – invented by American computer programmer Ray Tomlinson. It’s been almost 50 years and the technology has revolutionized the way in which we interact, both professionally and personally. Admittedly, email etiquette (as it pertains to business) is nothing more than common sense. Keep your tone professional, practice proper grammar and punctuation, make subject lines clear, re-read before hitting send, and the list goes on and on. Honestly, I’ll forgive bad grammar and even vague subject lines in favor of what I believe is the number one…