Welcome to the latest issue of Write for You News & Notes with some words of wisdom on writing, business, and life. It's possible that the calendar and the weather are finally in sync and it's really spring -- my crocus are blooming and I'm ready for change. If you'd like to share any books or favorite links with our readers, send us an email. And remember -- on paper or on-line, when you need words that work for you, I can write for you! Nancy Passow
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Do You Hear What I Hear?
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How good a listener are you? Try these active listening tips:
- Make eye contact.
- Ask questions for clarification.
- Try to understand the speaker's point of view before giving yours.
- Pay close attention--don't let your mind wander.
- Don't interrupt--let the other person finish talking.
- Respect other people's "personal" space.
- Talk less, listen more (there's a reason we have two ears and one mouth!)
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There is No Normal!
| I give up. For months now I've been saying "When things get back to normal, I will do . . . [fill in the blank]". (For details on what's been making me crazy, see back issues of the e-letter.) But something else always come along. I finally realized, there is no normal.
And it's not just me--there's the weather (snow, again?), recovery from Hurricane Sandy, the global financial melt-down, etc., etc. Everyone talks about the "new" normal, as if the GPS lady is saying "recalculating, recalculating".
What do we do about it? The best thing I can think of is to follow Nike's advice: "Just do it!" If you keep waiting for things to get back to normal to do things, they will never get done. I guess this relates to one of my earlier themes, that perfection is over-rated. Sometimes we want to wait until everything is perfect before we try something--and guess what? Things are never perfect.
So go out there and do things--new things, old things, whatever you've been waiting to do. And just accept that whatever is happening around you is normal.
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Let's Write a Newsletter!
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phone: 201-541-9702 (o)
phone: 201-362-3404 (m)
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Book of the Month . . Amazing Things Will Happen
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C.C. Chapman wrote one of my favorite books, Content Rules. His new book, subtitled A Real-World Guide on Achieving Success & Happiness, is his "how-to manual" for life. It's a small, easy to carry book, with a big message. Near the front is a section called "Short on Time" which distills the whole book down to a chapter, a paragraph, and finally a sentence. " Amazing Things Will Happen is a guide to living a good life" is the sentence. But I think the paragraph really gives you the essence of CC's philosophy: " Amazing Things Will Happen makes it clear that once you figure out what you want out of life, if you work very hard, day in and day out, you can make it happen. But you have to be a good human in addition to doing the work. As you achieve success, never forget to be kind to others. Help those who need it and share everything you've learned with all who ask. Follow these principles in your life, and amazing things will happen." Buy the book. Read it. And amazing things will happen!
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| Quote of the Month | |
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. " -- Desiderata, Max Ehrmann |
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