My favorite Thus Far.....

When I accepted my first job after college with Direct Care Home Health, I was full of every emotion that a college student entering their first "real" job should be. I was excited to start my life and have homework and classes behind me. I was excited to move out of the small/cold town of Rexburg, Idaho and move to the warm developed state of Florida. I have always been blessed with confidence in my ability to work and perform but I have always struggled with having the same confidence in my ability to entertain and make small talk with others. Interesting enough I accepted a job that depended on making and keeping relationships with others. So my last semester I spent a lot of time reading books on how to connect better with others, how to make small talk, etc! My absolute favorite is the book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

 

I keep this book in my car and when I am having a bad day I just start reading. Not only does it teach you how to deal with people in all aspects of your life but... it also has the ability to lift you up (well at least it does that for me)!

Here is just a small sample of the great quotes in this book:

1. Control your temper. Remember, you can measure the size of a person by what makes him or her angry.
   
2. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
   
   
3. The unvarnished truth is that almost all the people you meet feel themselves superior to you in some way, and a sure way to their hearts is to let them realize in some subtle way that you recognize their importance, and recognize it sincerely.
   
   
4. Whenever you go out-of-doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost; drink in the sunshine; greet your friends with a smile, and put soul into every handclasp. Do not fear being misunderstood and do not waste a minute thinking about your enemies. Try to fix firmly in your mind what you would like to do; and then, without veering off direction, you will move straight to the goal. Keep your mind on the great and splendid things you would like to do, and then, as the days go gliding away, you will find yourself unconsciously seizing upon the opportunities that are required for the fulfillment of your desire. (Advice from Elbert Hubbard)
   
   
5. Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.
   
   
6. The world is full of people who are grabbing and self-seeking. So the rare individual who unselfishly tries to serve others has an enormous advantage. He has little competition.
   
   
7. Do you know someone you would like to change and regulate and improve? Good! That is fine. I am all in favor of it, But why not begin on yourself? From a purely selfish standpoint, that is a lot more profitable than trying to improve others - yes, and a lot less dangerous.
   
   
8. The expression one wears on one's face is far more important than the clothes one wears on one's back.
   
   
9. The difference between appreciation and flattery? That is simple. One is sincere and the other insincere. One comes from the heart out; the other from the teeth out. One is unselfish; the other selfish. One is universally admired; the other universally condemned.
   
   
10. You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.

Just a few of my favorites.... If you can't tell.... I LOVE THIS BOOK!

Smartphone= Personal Assistant

Ok, so smartphones have become pretty standard when it comes to the modern working woman. They have become an accessory just like wearing earrings or your favorite pair of pumps.Whether you have an iphone, blackberry, android, or other PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) there are so many tools within these smart little computers that can really help keep your life organized. There are so many choices now when it comes to different smartphones and their features. Personally I prefer the iphone. Whether you're managing projects, clients, or your time, the iphone makes the perfect business partner. Here are my top eleven apps for productivity. Some I use to manage my own life, some are just really cool, and others that I don't use but would if I owned a business. Hopefully they can help keep your life a little less chaotic & manage your world, whether it be personal or business.

11. Dragon Dictation $Free Dragon Dictation is an easy-to-use voice recognition application powered by Dragon® NaturallySpeaking® that allows you to easily speak and instantly see your text or email messages. In fact, it’s up to five (5) times faster than typing on the keyboard.

10. MyFitnessPal $Free MyFitnessPal is a diet and fitness community built with one purpose in mind: providing you with the tools and support you need to achieve your weight loss goals.

9. Fooducate $Free Scan and choose healthy groceries. Scans on iPhone 4, 3GS. Manual entry on iPhone 3, iPod, iPad. Over 200,000 unique UPCs! As featured in USAToday, NYTimes, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, FOX, NBC. Do you want your family to eat better food? Are you confused by ingredient lists, nutrition labels, health claims, and marketing hype?
Use your iphone to
★ Automatically scan a product barcode
★ See product highlights (both good & bad)
★ Compare products
★ Select better alternatives

8. World Card Mobile $5.99 World Card Mobile, the leading business card scanning  application for iphone, uses OCR technology to instantly transfer info from business cards to the user's native contacts. With a simple click of the camera, you no longer have to manually input contact info from business cards or email signatures.

7. Cash Trails $Free With Cash Trails, users can easily add expense items with a single tap. Further customize your entries with the ability to assign groups, tags, and even make notes. Users can also quickly view expense history, by daily, weekly, or monthly filtering and you can export expense data over wi-fi. There are several features that make Cash Trails an excellent option for a variety of users, including support of different currencies, password protection, and the ability to track separate expenses for work, home, and hobbies. Cash Trails allows you track expenses in contrast with income, but even if you prefer to track expenses only, you aren’t limited. By ignoring the + and – features, you can simply track your expenses and quickly see where your money is going. The user interface is friendly and allows you to quickly input notes for later clarification and you can go back and edit or delete entries at any time.

6. Square $Free Accept credit cards on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with no contract, monthly fees or merchant account required. Every user receives a free Square credit card reader in the mail. Within minutes of downloading the app, you’re ready to take payments.

5. Bento $4.99  It’s never been easier to organize all the details of your busy life – in one iPhone application! Manage contacts and club members, coordinate projects and parties - even track vet bills and vehicle maintenance in one, easy-to-use application. Bento® for iPhone is the portable version of the popular personal database from FileMaker® that’s as easy to use as your iPhone!

4. 1 Password $9.99 1Password is an award-winning password and identity manager with more than 1 million users worldwide. This is a special edition of 1Password *just* for iPhone and iPod touch. If you own an iPad, check out 1Password Pro—our universal app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch!

3. Budget Planner $2.99 Budget Planner is a brand new and innovative financial application for the Iphone/Ipod. It is packed with several practical tools such as budget forecasting, exportable reports, auto login, filterable summary, and a multiple profile handler. Budget Planner distinguishes itself from other financial applications because of its unique forecasting system and the ability to know in advance the amount of money you will have available in a particular day, month or year.

2. Siri Assistant $Free Think of Siri as your personal assistant who knows how to use the Internet to help you get things done. You tell Siri what you want to do, in English, and Siri will try to help. For example, you can ask Siri, "Book me at table at an Italian restaurant for two people at 8." And Siri will find the nearby Italian restaurants that have open tables at 8pm. Instead of making you search a lot of web sites, Siri helps you complete your task in the simplest way possible.
Today Siri "knows" how to help you and find and plan things to do. Siri can book restaurants, movies, events, help you find local businesses, call a cab and check the weather. We expect that Siri will learn new things quickly and become an even more skilled personal assistant over time.

1. ReQall $Free ReQall for iPhone is a free, downloadable application that makes your iPhone the true hub of your digital life. reQall captures tasks and ideas using your voice, automatically organizes your information, integrates with your Outlook or Google Calendar, shares reminders with others and reminds you of what you need Here and Now.

Off We Go!!!

I have been thinking a lot about what I want my first post on this blog to be. To start I thought I would just do a quick post about a few women who have inspired me in one way or another. 

Here goes nothing…  

Adrienne Maloof - Co-owner of The Palm Casino Resort in Las Vegas, The Sacramento Kings, The Sacramento Monarchs, Maloof Productions, Maloof Music, and Maloof Money Cup (HOLY COW!)

 Bethany Frankel - Owner of Skinny Girl

Like many girls that I know, watching the Real Housewives is one of my guilty pleasures.  I love the episodes with Bethany Frankel and Adrienne Maloof. I think these women do a great job of balancing both their social and professional lives. Both run very successful businesses while balancing friends, family and fun. 

Kim Kardashian. You might be thinking WHAT THE HECK?!? I know that Kim is not the perfect role model. However, I think she is a pure genius at branding herself. Did you know that companies pay her $25,000 just to mention their name on her twitter??? Even better did you know that she is payed $100,000 to $250,000 just to make an appearance. She has successfully started 27 companies. That is not bad!  

Selena Gomez.Yes she has stars on a Disney Show and is about to release her second album... but did you know she is also the face of sears AND has her own production company at the age of 18? Yep it's called July Moon Productions.