holiday gift guide series: the blogger

welcome to this year’s gift guide series! we’re starting today with the blogger. these picks would also be great for the best friend, too! stay tuned over the next few days for gift guides from the best friend, to the men, to the grandparents to the pets!

have a gift guide idea? want to guest post? drop me a line here.

holiday gift guide: blogger

lessons learned: devil wears prada

in the aftermath of sandy, i’ve been fortunate enough to have power. the lack of cable and internet has been lending itself to me watching dvd’s repeatedly. i’ve watched and rewatched devil wears prada a few times, mostly in the background as i do other things, and reflected a little bit on the practical work life lessons we could all benefit from. so if you are entering one of your first jobs and need a quickie “best practices” or you are entering your fifth job and need a refresher, read on.

1. “i bet a million girls would kill for that job.”

for most of your career you are going to be a dime a dozen – just the hard truth that you are replaceable. you should always be fighting for your job because there is always someone right behind you who may want it more.

2. what you wear is a reflection of you – or – dress the part

at the beginning of the movie, andy doesn’t dress for the job. granted, she likely just doesn’t get it (it being fashion). that’s alright. as you grow up, your style becomes more a part of you and you take it on in a different way. but you need to recognize that what you wear is a reflection of you and you should always dress the part (or dress for the job you want – whichever bit of advice you prefer). if you are a manager, you need to dress like one. figure out a way to pull your hair back but still look put together. figure out a way to do your makeup in 3 minutes. looking polished is employment 101.

3. always bring a notebook – and use it!devil wears prada

remember this look on andy’s face when miranda starts rattling off tasks to andy? seriously – this reallyis 101 – always carry a notebook into someone’s office. day 1. day 1,000. it says you are professional. you are listening. you are intent on doing a good job. ask questions to clarify and note the answers.

4. commit to sticking to it for one year & make career decisions

jumping around never looks great on a resume. you should be making a career decision when you change jobs not just because you are bored. what does this position add to your resume? where do you need to go next to achieve the next step that you want? in devil wears prada, andy says she just has to work at runway for one year – just one year and she can go any where she wants. keep that in mind – stick it out, learn a thing or two, develop some new skills, climb the corporate ladder.

5. never say no & never make excuses

perhaps the biggest lesson a newbie could learn is to never say no to a task and never make excuses. whatever it is, take it on. if devil wears prada you mess up, take ownership. andy never said no to a task given to her. and when her boss thought she messed up (when she needed to get miranda out of miami during a hurricane) she took ownership and let her boss know she did everything she could think of to get the task done.

6. whatever your job is, strive to be the best at it

if you are a ditch digger, you go out there and be the best ditch digger. if you are a cleaning lady, be the best cleaning lady. if you are a baker, make the best cupcakes. by the end of the movie, andy becomes the best assistant – more than miranda could have ever asked for. strive for that greatness and leave your mark on this world.

thoughts provoked

one of the songs i posted in my october playlist over the weekend, brandi carlile’s that wasn’t me, has been stuck in my head all week. there’s this one line – do i make myself a blessing to everyone i meet? – that is resonating with me. it’s such a great perspective to take on your life and who you want to become.

i think when you’re in your 20’s, and i’m just days away from my late 20’s (which i think starts at 27 so this is the BIG ONE), that you really blossom into the woman you are going to be. there are of course traces of her throughout the years and at certain milestones, but now it’s becoming set in stone.

when i went away to college, my mother said to me, if you’re not having fun you’re not doing it right. i sort of internalized that at 17 and have always carried that with me until now. i vowed to tell my children the same, but i think someday this line is going to have to be added to the list of things i want to bestow upon my children – be a blessing to every one you meet. you dedicate yourself, your life, to being someone who is kind and generous and loving. what could be better than that?

karma

i wanted to write a post about karma as bad karma has been wished upon me recently, and it got me thinking. yes, i absolutely believe in karma because energy is neither created nor destroyed. when you put good energy out into the universe, it comes back to you, and when you put the negative energy out there, it comes back to you too.

like they say, what goes around comes around.

this is my theory though. when you’re putting love out into the universe and cutting appropriate ties, your karma is just fine. because at the end of the day, this life is all about love – it is far too short for anything else.

and all i have to say to the haters, is you worry about your karma and i’ll worry about mine.