As I wrote in an email to a friend this morning, “this week’s episode of ‘Nicole’s Life’ has been an interesting one. ” How about yours?
Without getting too juicy (I really wish I could) I’ll say that this week was full of unexpected and exciting surprises at work and in my career beyond my day job. In addition, this week I tried to stay true to my efforts of curing “the pleasing disease” and trusting my gut.
Cheesy Lessons and Quirky Thoughts that were part of my week
- Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting the same results. Apply this to just about anything- dating, relationships, work and your general habits. (Maybe we should substitute this one with the saying, “some things never change.”)
- The principle of “good timing” is a huge lie. There is no such thing.
- Simple changes to diet and exercise have a big impact on my mental clarity and outlook.
- Mint green nail polish is really interesting. I can’t decide if I love it or if it looks more like fungus.
- My iPhone isn’t as magical as I once thought. Apparently others at ihatemyiphone.com and the iPhone critics at the NY Times agree. Just like dating, when the honeymoon stage ends and the rose colored glasses come off, things look a bit different. I’m pretty disappointed and also pretty shocked that I bought into Apple’s iPhone4 marketing as much as I did. In real life, it has been an absolute disaster.
- Every woman should read, “Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office” by Dr. Lois Frankel. It’s shocking how many little habits we women have that give off a totally different impression than we intended. I’ve tried a few of these simple changes already this week. They really did produce results. I wish I could elaborate, but for now let’s leave it at that. I even tried them out on my boyfriend (shhh!).
- When it rains, it pours.
- I really, really love cheese.
- Silence or a pause can change the course of a conversation. I had my mid-year review this week. I did more listening than talking- a change for me in this setting. I felt better about the meeting in the end.
- The Metropolitan Club‘s junior membership is pretty awesome for $100 per month. I’m surprised at all the benefits and opportunities that could be gained through joining a private club like this.
- Thank God for mentors like John Head or I wouldn’t get to go to cool places like The Metropolitan Club. And thank you, John, for introducing me to Christine this week. You both gave me so much to “chew on.”
- 5 inch heels at the office did nothing but solicit comments and make my back hurt the next day.
- You don’t need to smile all the time. In fact, in certain work situations I think it is a bad thing.
- I decided that most women appologize way too much for no reason (both at work and at home). Let’s come together and ban this bad habit.
- A 20″ pizza is HUGE. Katie and I ordered one this week because that was the only size the place had. A pizza that big is pretty funny for only 2 girls.
- If in doubt, 100% authenticty is the way to go. Plus a few “positioning” tactics from Lois Frankel’s book of course.
Your turn.
How was YOUR week? What did you learn? What were you reminded of? What can we learn from you?
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If anyone can relate to where you're at in your career, it's Nicole Crimaldi: Nicole spent 5 years in corporate America, switched career paths, worked at a start-up, survived a layoff and is now self-employed. Nicole believes that career satisfaction is a huge part of overall happiness. Therefore, she started Ms. Career Girl to help other women get off the treadmill and onto a more fulfilling path.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Your most welcome!
These are my favorite types of posts. As far as insanity, I’ve been insane in dating, relationships, and life in general. Glad to be free of that. Sorry to hear about the iphone4 disaster. I’m happy with my 3g, and it sounds like not upgrading was a smart thing for me to do.
Srini,
I’d love to hear what’s up- I’ll try to catch you on Skype.
I actually bought the iPhone 4 for my boyfriend’s birthday and he has been so frustrated with it. It never has a signal and it constantly drops calls- problems he didn’t have with his 3G. The software isn’t much different than my 3Gs now that I upgraded. I bet they will have a way cooler one in the next 6 months- year, but I may not be an Apple customer by then!
Nicole
And, yes, there is such a thing as green nail polish. I saw your inquiry about it on Twitter yesterday.
Good evening, Nicole! First up, I hope you’re review went well. Performance appraisals always make me so nervous. Much more so than interviews, because you often don’t know your interviewer/recruiter beforehand, and if this stranger has a negative reaction towards me, I can process it out. I can choose never to engage this person again. But when someone I know thoroughly is rating me on a scale and raises/promotions can be affected by said scale, it’s hard for me to keep perspective.
Let’s look at some other parts of your provocative post. Re: the green nail polish: Can’t comment pro or con. Need to see what shade of green !
The Apple of 2010 is a much different fruit than the one from five or six years ago, don’t you agree? I think Apple bought themselves about 200 GB of bad karma after they tried to hire Jack Bauer to take out the blogger who discovered a prototype i-Phone left at a bar. It’s really a great lesson for all of us: don’t get too comfortable or complacent. And don’t overreact to bad news (wish Pres. Obama and Tim Vilsack remembered that last week).
That’s great that you’re a member of the Metropolitan Club. My favorite networking group, Young Professionals of Chicago (www.ypchicago.org), have held many events there. You should join YPC if you haven’t already!
It’s never to late to seek out a mentor! I am definitely looking for one or two people in my past career I could comfortably share current dish with, and hopefully learn more from their example.
I tend to get very defensive and “sorry” myself, when confronted with even mild criticism or questions. See, guys have to work on some of the same stuff!
I’ll close with a snarky question, so forgive me, Nicole! I’m curious: did you wear the heals the day of your review?
Nicole, great post.
Nicole!
This post is exactly what’s been on my mind this week. I had a pretty exhausting week personally and professionally and this whole weekend has made me think, “okay what can I learn from this to avoid it happening in the future?” Agree with you on a couple points.
- Avoid heels unless necessary. I about cried on Saturday night from the pain. I avoid wearing them to work, because I’m tall enough that I don’t need the height anyway.
-When it rains, it HURRICANES…but that doesn’t mean I can’t ask to stand under somebody’s metaphorical umbrella/shelter. I need to do a better job of reaching out for help when I need it.
-Yes, you don’t need to smile all the time. I wish my non-smiling moments didn’t illicit “are you okay? WHAT is going on?” reactions. I don’t have to be peppy all the time.
And thanks for the book recommendation. It’s going on my library-list.
Nicole,
I love this post! 5 inch heels? I feel for you!!! I have over 30 heels in my closet that I only wear to family dinners. Walking in Europe and riding a scooter rather than a giant behemoth SUV like I used to drive changes your footwear habit in the professional (and general) world fast!
I love the power of silence. I probably use this tool plus eye contact the most and you’re right, it changes the flow!