What do a Labrador Retriever, a poor Southern tobacco farmer, and a World War II survivor[1] have in common? If you guessed nothing, you’d be wrong. In fact, each was the basis of a best-selling book. Two of them even went on to become Hollywood box office smashes. The world we live in is a fascinating place, filled with thousands of entertaining stories. Some, like those of World War II survivors, will soon be gone—lost forever. Wouldn’t you like to make sure that your story isn’t? If so, you need to write a book! “Sure,” you say. “It’s easy for you to say. You’ve written books and know how to…
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Putting Lipstick on a Pig* How to avoid getting thrown under the bus while getting your ducks in a row
As someone who’s written professionally for a number of years, I always try to avoid euphemisms, choosing vernacular the average businessman or woman understands. Instead of going back to the drawing board for each game plan, I like to hit the ground running by thinking outside of the box. I’ll usually begin by going after customer-centric, low-hanging fruit, getting my manager’s blessing with the subject matter, to avoid getting thrown under the bus. After years of working with difficult editors, I’ve found drilling down and touching base with management helps deliver more bang for the buck when the marketing department keeps moving the goal posts. For instance, last week, I…
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I’m 70 Years Old, Unemployed and a Complete Success Success usually has little to do with how much money you make
“Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.” — Zig Ziglar I’ll never forget the beginning of Jack Nicholson’s award-winning film, “About Schmidt.” It opened with a hideous shot of Warren Schmidt cramming his belongings into a box on his final day of work. After a lifetime as a life insurance actuary, Schmidt was finally packing it in. My mouth dropped to the floor. An entire life spent as an insurance actuary? What a depressing thought. The…
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What’s Gone Wrong with Our Hiring Practices And what we can do to fix them
Two years ago, I decided to make a bold move: I attempted to switch from the competitive world of freelance writing to an in-house writing position. Who knows? Maybe the Atlantic or the New Yorker were looking for another polished writer to wow their readers. After years of beating the bushes and competing with other cutthroat freelancers who undercut each other’s fees, I thought it would be a refreshing change to show up at 8:00 in the morning, put in my 8 hours, then collect a check every other Friday. The results weren’t pretty. The History of Looking for Work Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past…
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Are You Feeling Lucky? 13 ways to improve your chances of enjoying good luck
One of the most infamous scenes in cinematic history belongs to Clint Eastwood in the 1971 blockbuster, Dirty Harry. Who can forget the smarmy, squirming silhouette of Andrew Robinson facing down the barrel of Eastwood’s 44 magnum as Dirty Harry utters, “You’ve got to ask yourself a question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” While few of us have ever had the misfortune of staring down the barrel of a menacing handgun, we’ve all struggled with life, cognizant of the blessed lives other people seem to live. “Why did she get the promotion?” you complain. “I have more experience than her.” It seems like some people just have…