What Do You Wish People Knew About You?

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10 Things

I’ve always thought, for most of my life, that there are very few people who really, truly know me well. The perception of anyone from the outside is always different from their own perception of how they see themselves (just look at the Dove Real Beauty Sketches if you need proof), but how much of it is related to what people notice or intuit, and how much of it is related to how much you let people in?

Some people have more trouble revealing themselves to other people than others do, myself included, but I conducted an exercise in which I charged myself with the task of coming up with 10 things about myself that I think really define me that I wish others knew. I encourage you to try this exercise too. It’s really telling about how we tend to think in moments and instances; it’s also fascinating to think how any one of these single impressions could define me differently when looked at by themselves, but together they form a more complete picture of me.

Here are the 10 things I wish people knew about me:

  • I learned Spanish in school… but I taught myself sign language
  • I have Hamlet’s soliloquy (mostly) memorized
  • Everyone in my phone contacts needs to have a photo—not so I remember who they are, just because I’m a bit OCD that way
  • I once tried to learn French, Hebrew, Esperanto, Elvish, and Atlantean, and have made up my own languages and alphabets as well
  • I once ran half a mile in heels to a work meeting so I could make it on time
  • I have this recurring dream where my teeth fall out (*shudder*)
  • I failed my road test four times (passed on the fifth try, and I really love to drive!)
  • In college I took weekly belly dance lessons and performed in a couple of shows
  • Also in college, I tried to teach myself the entire dance to “Bad Romance.” I didn’t finish learning it, but I still remember the chorus
  • I’m fiercely loyal to the people in my life

Try the exercise, and let me know what you discover about yourself!

Yes, I Believe in the Universe

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The Universe

No one ever gets anything just by wishing for it. Nothing ever happens just because you will it to be, or so I thought.

Last week I was meeting some friends in Times Square after work and decided to kill two birds with one stone by stopping at the Union Square Petco in between. My vet had recommended a new, better brand of litter for my cat (think what you will), and Petco only sold the litter in one size: the 25-pounder.

So I bought it. Because I like to prove I can do things on my own.

If you’ve never met me before, I’m a small person, but I like to think I’m stronger than I look. I lugged the box of litter from Petco to Times Square, but then I had to lug it back home. My friends helped me get the box to the subway station, but it was all me from there. The station has a long underground tunnel which I needed to take to get from one side to the other. It was a long walk with me stopping ever 30 seconds to put down the box and rest, or change hands so I didn’t get blisters.

Then the box handle tore, taking the cardboard top with it, leaving me in the middle of the subway station with a wide-open box of cat litter. Super awkward, and just as desperate. I’d either have to abandon the box in the crowd of people, or think of something quick.

But despite my desperation, I didn’t feel anxious or angry or upset. I felt completely calm. I knew it would be okay. I just need some help right now, I thought.

Not five seconds later I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to stand face-to-face with a man in a green shirt. He had no hair at all, minus a mustache.

“Excuse me, I have packing tape,” he said.

“You’re kidding,” I said.

“No, really. I was using it earlier, but I don’t need it anymore.” He pulled it from a backpack and handed it to me. “It’s yours.”

“Thank you,” I managed to say before he smiled at me and walked away. I packaged up the damaged box—which reminded me of moving again—and made it all the way home like that. 

Looking back, the whole experience was entirely serendipitous and surreal. Just when I had a problem, a solution was handed to me. When I believed everything would work out, everything did. Some people call it The Secret. Some call it believing in The Universe. Whatever you call it, somehow, it happened for me. And trust me, I used to hate those people who got everything in life, the people who just had things fall into their laps. Luck, I thought? 

Not luck. Faith.

I don’t think this has anything to do with religion, though for some, it might. A large part of it has to do with confidence—in yourself, in your future. The belief that everything will work out for the best seemed to me a bit contrived, but maybe it’s the confidence you exude and the lack of anxiety, of pessimism, of negativity, that move everything to work in your favor.

Whatever it is, at least I know now that when life hands me lemons, a bald guy will hand me packing tape.

3 Easily-made Money Mistakes, and How to Recover

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Money JarLast month I promised a cards-on-the-table truthful recap of my financial problems. Let me preface by saying that I’m not writing this for pity. This is my honest account of how anyone, even the most careful person, can get into the red, but there’s a way to recover.

I’m always careful. I track my expenses, maintain separate checking and savings accounts and pay off my credit card balance at the end of every month. Despite all that, I still have money troubles.

I made three big money mistakes in 2012. They didn’t seem like mistakes at the time, but now I’m a little wiser and I’m taking action to put myself back on the right track. Here’s what happened, what I did, and what I learned.

1. I didn’t think about my taxes.

The mistake: In September I quit my full-time job as a paralegal to pursue my passion of becoming an editor, so I took on a paid internship to get my foot in the door. The thing about paid internships is that they’re not paid very much, and for six months I budgeted, hard, in order to live off exactly $400 a week. I knew that I was being paid as an independent contractor, meaning there were no taxes being deducted from my checks and that I’d have to pay those back. I just didn’t realize at the time how much I’d have to pay back. In January, when I received my W2s, I logged on to Turbotax to calculate my tax return. But my tax return ended up being a negative return; it turned out I owed the government just over $1,500 back on my taxes—waaaaay more than I expected to pay.

The recovery: In hindsight, I’m really glad I tried to calculate my return in January, because it allowed me three months to save up the money I would need to pay back my taxes. So I made myself a deal: Any money that I may have spent on clothes, shoes, jewelry, or accessories in those three months was going to go to the side to pay my taxes. Monday is tax day, and I’m ready to pay off that debt.

2. I didn’t read my health insurance statement of coverage.

The mistake: Back in June I went to the doctor for an annual exam. I got checked out and had some blood work done, handed my insurance card to the receptionist, and thought I was all set. A couple of months ago I got a bill, not just from my doctor, but from the lab that processed my blood work as well. And it was a huge bill: I owed almost $2,600. I called my doctor, I called my insurance provider, and I argued until I was blue in the face about why these things weren’t covered under my plan. I thought they were routine procedures, but it turns out they weren’t.

The recovery: When you go to the doctor, they may ask you if you want this test done, or this preventative measure taken. If you know your body, and you know you’re healthy, don’t let your doctor scare you into something that you may not need right now. When I went to the doctor, I only asked for services that were covered by my insurance. But the thing is, everyone’s insurance plan is different, and your doctor isn’t obligated to know exactly what’s in your individual plan. Read your plan before you go to the doctor so you know what’s covered and what isn’t. I know I certainly will the next time I go to the doctor, but in the mean time, I was stuck with bills from my doctor and the lab. I called each one and told them I didn’t have the money to pay the bills right now. They worked out a reasonable monthly payment plan with me, so the payments are more manageable each month rather than potentially debilitating up front.

3. I didn’t plan on saving for the future.

The mistake: Even though I wasn’t happy there, my paralegal job gave me one thing that my current job (and most startups, really) doesn’t: a 401(k) matching program. In my time there I’d accumulated just over $300 and then, when I quit, I let it sit there. Since leaving that job, I hadn’t thought about saving anything for the future. Now there’s talk about the end of Social Security, and I can’t allow myself to sit and hope for the best.

The recovery: It’s time to take care of myself! Almost all financial institutions have online access these days, so I pulled out my 401(k) paperwork and registered my online account on TIAA CREF. You can’t contribute to a 401(k) at a former workplace, but you can roll it over into an IRA and contribute there, so that’s what I did. I set up a traditional IRA and rolled over my previous contributions, and can now contribute my own money to it, even if my current employer can’t.

The other thing I learned from these mistakes? Always, always, always have a budget! You can make it on a simple Excel spreadsheet and keep track of your income, expenses, and savings, or use sites like LearnVest or Mint and have it all done automatically.

Any tips for planning your financial present and future? I’d love to hear them!

Moving Day

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Moving Day IMG

There were so many boxes. If there’s one thing I’ll remember about our move, it’ll be all those boxes. I’ve never moved with someone else before, so I’ve only ever had to move my own things. But my boyfriend Josh and I are two people, so naturally that would probably mean that there’s twice as much stuff to move.

Josh and I found our new place back in mid-February some time. We’d been batting the idea back and forth of getting a place together, but it had to be a place we’d both love in a location convenient for both of our commutes. We found that place in Long Island City—a quaint little one-bedroom apartment with beautiful, high windows facing Manhattan. We were sold.

20130330_142147

We moved in on March 30 after practically taking a city-wide tour. To cut costs we rented a U-Haul truck for the day and decided to move ourselves. From Josh’s old place in Midtown East to mine in Upper Harlem and then out to Long Island City, Queens, we dealt with fears of tickets for double parking and lugging furniture down three flights of stairs. Word to the wise: If you ever find yourself moving in New York City, whether by yourself or with others, bite the bullet and hire some movers, seriously. It’s not worth the hassle of doing it yourself (or the pain that results, ouch).

I’m proud to say that we’re almost all the way moved in, after a little over a week! Only a handful of boxes left to unpack, and a couple of rooms to paint. As I said before, I’m hoping to make some changes in my life, both professional and financial (and maybe some personal, too), and I like to think that a new apartment, a new start, a new home with someone I care deeply about will be the perfect beginning to making progress on all of these changes!

Ready to Take on the World

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Ready to Take on the World

You know when you wake up in the morning and feel like you can do anything? That’s how I feel right now.

Maybe it’s because so many new, take-on-able things are happening these days: I’m in a new job, I’m moving tomorrow, and I’m brushing up on some basic skills, like how to manage my personal finances and how to cook real food.

Today is one of those days when you know you’re crushing it, when you’re completely unstoppable.

It’s almost the end of March. In January I’d thought to myself, “2013 is going to be my year.” It hasn’t been so far, what with money troubles (I promised to go more into this soon, and plan on being very open and honest about it, because I’ve learned a lot as a result) and difficulty getting into a rhythm of work-life balance (there will be more on this too).

I started this blog almost a year ago, and at the time I thought I wanted to go in a completely different direction than I do now. So here’s to changes, taking on the world, and being unstoppable.

Do Brands Benefit From Being Sassy on Social Media?

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Brands Benefit from Being Sassy on Social Media

In terms of advertising, companies have come a long way since “please don’t squeeze the Charmin.”  Fast-forward a few decades: With the introduction of social media to the internet, brands have found a whole new way to market their products to a wide margin of potential buyers.  A smart, computer-savvy—and, therefore, hip—crowd of consumers waits at the end of the digital ether, ready to be dazzled into buying things they need.  But when most Facebook and Twitter pages are surrounded by ads, how does one climb above all the rest?  What’s a brand to do?

Advertising is not the same, or as effective, as creating a more personal and unique name for your brand. And lately, the way many brands have been doing the latter is by showing off sassier sides of themselves by means of various social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.). The question is whether or not this is a better way to sell than strict professionalism in the traditional sense.

My go-to example would be the Old Spice “Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign (I know you’ve seen it), which went viral when the ad launched during the 2010 Superbowl. After the commercial aired, Old Spice took the idea to the internet; the campaign, and the brand, took on a distinct and feisty persona. Old Spice showed increased numbers of YouTube channel subscribers, Twitter followers, and Facebook fans by upwards of 100 percent. Sounds great, but does the popularity of the campaign guarantee success as reflected in the company’s revenues?

Some reports of a decrease in Old Spice sales after the 2010 Superbowl may indicate otherwise; however, these reports only point to a decrease in sales of Old Spice Red Zone products, while total sales dramatically increased for the company. Old Spice’s ad agency believes the “MYMCSL” campaign has fortified Old Spice as the number one body wash for men.

It seems the boldness Old Spice employed in this kind of marketing accomplished some very big things. The first, and maybe the most obvious, is that the ads are funny, and humor is a proven seller. Second, it gave the brand an attitude, a personality: manly men wear Old Spice. Potential consumers, especially men, are more likely to remember the brand’s name in the future. Third, the company’s daring and willingness to be sassy shows consumers that they don’t have to resort to professionalism in the traditional sense because they are confident in their own products. The added benefit of being able to do all this in social media allows for greater crowdsourcing than, say, TV alone.

Sources: Mashable (1); Mashable (2); iMediaConnection; The Urbn; CBS