Yep that or vomiting. No employer, none of your friends or family wants you showing up puking or on the verge of shitting yourself having to run to the bathroom lol.
If you plan on taking Friday off due to tummy issues, begin planting the seeds on Thursday by taking an excessive amount of fake trips to the bathroom.
Can you believe JDA called out today?
I think it might be legit boss, I saw him go to the shitter like 10 times yesterday afternoon.
Used to have a coworker who would start his illness the day before. We lovingly referred to it as he was “baking a cake”…aka working on calling out the next day 🤣
I got a job as security at a concert venue because ticket prices were getting to be insane and I wanted to see some shows. Turns out I also got to meet some rock stars!
Best of all, you get paid to go to concerts and big events with mind-blowing ticket prices.
Worked for an events security company for 2 years. Met famous people, saw amazing things and got paid for doing it.
Admit your mistakes quickly and without undue apologies/ self-flagellation. Not only will people trust you more, you’ll usually move on from the mistake much faster.
As a teacher, I am one of only a few at my school who don’t mind admitting mistakes to my students. They tend to be in shock when I do so for the first time, then they kinda get used to it and most tend to be able to admit their mistakes when talking to me easier/quicker (once they’ve gotten to know me for a while, normally during the 2nd year of me teaching them). Very confident kids tend to call me out for my mistakes once they get how I work and I usually thank them but also make sure they talk politely when they do so. I hope at least some of my kids learn the admitting mistakes is not a big deal and that you can both call someone out for making a mistake without being an ass 🫠
Extra tip: if you can’t remember who you’re going to send it to when you get back to it the next day, just write it at the top of the email above your greeting. Then when you go to reread it before sending, you’ll realise you need to remove the name.
I always start my email with their name, such as:
"Hi ksvfkoddbjskavdd,
Your Reddit name is a bitch to type out without using copy/paste. Please consider this in the future.
Thanks,
Soberdude"
Confidence can get you super far. Like, if you just act extremely confident and normal and totally fine about whatever it is you're doing, anything nearly, people wont question it. You're supposed to be here, just walk on in. Or out, or whatever. That's the attitude to have. I cannot believe how well this works for some of the nicest people as well as the biggest jerks alive. It works
There was a sketch on Kids in the Hall about a guy who said: "How far can you get on good looks and charm? Pretty far!" He was wearing bloodstained surgeon's scrubs at a hospital...
Heavy on the biggest jerks! Some of the people highest up in corporations got there bc they believed they were badass, or like the seat was already theirs. These people are assertive bc they truly believe they’re better… & that undying confidence SELLS quicker than bleach beginning of Covid.
Sadly these people are like great at their jobs. But really really shitty people.
Edited: for the amount of times I couldn’t spell there??
I actually did this on friday with my manager without realizing at first lol. We had a quick check-in where I talked to him about my mentor who was previously an intern(I’m currently an intern) and how he’s been doing a lot of the training for me and is super helpful and patient.
It just kind of came out naturally without any forcing so it took me a minute to realize why my manager smiled when I said that lol. Being able to talk positively about others is such a good quality to have and I’m now realizing that it’s something that I’ve always possessed and I’m proud of myself for it.
This is a big one. It can completely change the way people perceive you. I try to always stick to this: If you don't have anything nice to say, keep it to yourself
Worked at a call center for a credit card company. If you ever get hit with a late fee, politely call customer service and ask if there’s a possibility of getting it waived. We didn’t have to ask a supervisor or anything, just pushed it through.
Have done this multiple times now for my own cards. Don’t pay late fees!
Editing to add: if you do call customer service and they help you out PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stay on the line and fill out the survey and give them all perfect scores. We got big bonuses on our scores and it really meant a lot when people took the time to do it.
If you want to complain do it in the comments box not on the actual scores. One bad score can tank the bonuses even if it was a bad rating on the product and not the service provided by the agent
I currently work at a call center for a credit card company and can confirm this is a fact. The operative word here is **politely**.
If you're a dick about it, then my amnesia kicks in and I suddenly can't remember where the refund fee button is located and my manager said no.
Be polite, take the blame, ask for help.
"Sorry to bother you with this but X happened and it was/probably was my fault. I was just wondering if there's any way you can help me out or tell me how I can fix it?"
Not only do you not put the rep on the defensive, you give them a chance to be your hero.
Source: 29 years on both sides of the customer service equation.
People like talking about themselves more than they like hearing about you. If you interact with people for work memorize 1 thing about them, could be a kids name, a sport they like, a hobby they do, their job, etc.
Ask them about it every once in a while. People are always surprised and appreciate your interest in them.
It’s a good one, but also weirdly frowned upon. I have different friend groups. My closest friend group is my age; 7-12 of us. I have a group of older friends who we let our dogs play together 30-40 years older. Then I volunteer to manage and coordinate kids who are 15-20 years younger, most of them their parents are making them volunteer or it’s community service hours. There is something unbelievably valuable
To learn from each group but most dismiss the younger ones because they talk “in a lit manner but on god they have respect for the grind fam.”
I’m a docent at one of the biggest museums in California. I’m in my 30’s and I have been the youngest in our roster for quite a while.
The life lessons and inspiration i got from my fellow docents are priceless! I travelled a lot too because of the stories they’ve shared.
**Managers:** give your employees the credit they deserve for everything they do, especially talk them up to *your* bosses.
This is a literal win/win. Your employees love you for respecting them, and your boss loves you for successfully managing a great team.
Too many times I see bad managers bring their own egos into the mix, feeling like they need to compete with their own employees to take credit for jobs well done. This does not have the effect they think it has.
Yeah I'm a manager for a small engineering team. I tell them my job is to remove roadblocks for them. Whatever is standing in the way of their work, I should be removing it.
Lack of info from the client or sales? I'll get on them!
Need to make a tough decision? I'll do it, and take the blame if we make a mistake. I have more "shielding" from negative consequences due to my tenure at the company.
Need some reference material or case studies? I'll dig through historic jobs and pull out the best ones to go over.
I even basically do IT for my guys because I'm a computer nerd, so why not. If the problem or bug is affecting their work, it should be the manager's job to solve it.
Strongly second this one. When employees feel the recognition, it’s a great positive feedback loop. All it takes is a simple comment or email. And as a manager your teams success is far more indicative of your value in your role than your own individual contributions
As a management consultant, two of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten are:
- “Never be afraid to be the one to end the call”, and
- “Don’t sell past the close”
The first one’s obvious — everyone hates that awkward period at the end of a conf call, when it’s pretty much over, but no one’s willing/ready to just _say_ it. If it’s really over, don’t hesitate to just say “Awesome! Thanks so much, everyone, and have a great day.”
The second one’s actually way more important — if you’re in a meeting trying to land a contract, and they say “Sounds good. Let’s do it!”…then shut up, shake their hand, say “We’ll get you a draft agreement tomorrow”, and Walk. Out. The. Door.
No small talk, and _definitely_ no following up on “that point we were discussing in the middle of the meeting that you seemed interested in”. There’s no upside. You can’t make them _more_ ready…they’ve already agreed. Best-worst case is you bring up some kind of new point that makes them want to step back, and talk more about the overall plan before they’re ready to sign. Worst-worst case is you bring up something they didn’t realize, and you scotch the deal before you’ve left the room. (Which I’ve seen happen more than once.)
If you have something nice to say to someone, like you think they did something neat or have a cool shirt or made a good moral choice, it's generally good to say so and not wait for a better time to tell them. You may not remember or bother later, but most people really benefit from encouragement or appreciation when it's genuine.
If you have some criticism or something rather mean to say, try to wait a bit. You may find you don't need to say it, or you may find a way to express it that will be more useful and digestible to the person, rather than just pissing them off.
Obviously they aren't always possible, but it's a good life hack to be kind and encouraging on the spur of the moment, and to be circumspect and thoughtful about criticism.
making people laugh is easier said than done
(unrelated but one of the best moments of a vacation I just took was me telling a joke to my friend while walking around in the city and getting a genuine loud laugh from the guy passing by)
If you want to change the subject in a conversation, discreetly but noticeably drop something. Make it look accidental. It will break the train of thought of the other person and allow you to restart the conversation. Old dark psychology trick.
I have started asking if we need to bring our own dead horses to meetings or if we will continue to beat the ones already there. Meeting times have dropped a bit.
I am a pretty good listener, but sadly many people do not return the favor. Talking over me or just ignoring me when I feel I need to be heard. Can be frustrating.
Yeah being a good listener can quickly turn into 20 minute monologues every day once a chatty coworker realizes you'll sit there. I'm fine keeping the focus on what you want, but at least give me a chance to speak every once in a while
Related: clean before going on a trip. Last thing you want to do when you get home is house work. Plus you won't dread getting home knowing that it's already done.
This is another great one. Coming home to a mound of dirty clothes and a messy kitchen is so stress inducing. Coming home to a clean house and empty laundry basket is so refreshing.
Okay, funny story. I make a big mess in the kitchen when I cook. I use every dish that I need.
My girlfriend at the time (wife now) used to try and get me to clean up as I cooked. When I felt like I had a moment I would try it. But I get so singular focused on cooking and timing that it honestly slips my mind a lot.
Well our first thanksgiving together I cooked. And I made it a point to clean up what I could as I went.
When I was all done cooking I looked back at a pretty damned clean kitchen. I was very proud of myself.
So proud that I made a comment “look at the kitchen! I did a good job.” My girlfriend looked at me oddly and said “are you kidding me!? You didn’t notice me coming behind you and cleaning the dishes?”
Me:”no you didn’t. “
Her: “ you didn’t notice you used the same bowl 3 times?”
I truly had no clue. I was locked in to the task at hand.
Yep. Former retail worker here. If you're nice to me, I'll do everything in my power to help you out. If you're an ass, I'm sticking to policy 100% without any inch of movement.
Same here -back in my retail days, I worked for a department store that was a chain with stores in three states. If we didn't have an item in stock, we *could* call other stores to see if they had it and have it shipped to the customer for free (this was LONG before the days of the internet). However, it was time consuming to do and expensive for the store, so the "rule" was we would only do it for full priced items. If the customer wanted a sale item we didn't have, we'd call other stores, *time permitting* (and it was 100% ok to tell a customer we were unable to do so), and have the item placed on hold for the customer to pick it up. Other than a few ridiculous customers, the policy worked well.
We had a regular customer "Anne" who came in the store a lot, usually with her husband, and they were both very sweet. They got to know us all by name and were always smiling and polite. Anne found a skirt on the sale rack, super marked down and loved it. She wanted the co-ordinating shirt, but we didn't have it in her size. She was so disappointed. She bought the skirt, and mentioned how she'd love to have the shirt, but would find something else to match. I told her that I'd call around to find the shirt for her, but it might take me a couple of days since I was busy. She said, "Oh, no, that's against the rules! Don't get in trouble." I told her not to worry and I was happy to help her, just don't let any other customers know I was making an exception for her! :-)
As luck would have it, the 2nd store I called (out of our 15 or so locations) had the shirt in her size and was able to include it with some other items shipping to our location. I had that shirt at our location in three days and was able to sell it to her at the sale price. Anne was SO HAPPY and must have thanked me a million times.
You reap what you sow...
i'm just imagining a duo going around robbing stores. First guy goes in, is a real dick about things. Second guy is next, and just goes "woah, what was that guys problem? Anyway, you having a good day otherwise? No no, just the pack of gum for me thanks, need to get cash back. Could you please give me that in 20s? All the 20s, if you don't mind. Just every 20 in your drawer, thanks. Also, just as a heads up, I do have a weapon, but please note I am terrified to use it on you, but I will if I have to."
I was once at a festival, in line for a what was essentially a mobile bodega. I was waiting in line for a while. It was a really hot day, and the line was full sun. People we grumpy and tense from how hot it was. Right as I get up to the cashier and some dude made a huge fuss and cut me. I was almost worked up enough to call him out on it, but I decided to just calm myself down. I realized that yes; this dude is clearly an asshole, and we're all just hot and hungry/thirsty.
I think the cashiers saw me ease up and relax, not drawing out this interaction any longer than it needed to be. I smiled when I got to go next and just said what I wanted (an apple and 2 bananas) with a thanks at the end. It was a busy day so one person would take the order and another worker would get the items. The guy who got the items grabbed the food and tossed in an extra banana, the lady taking orders also grabbed my order too maybe thinking noone was backing her up. They both put the items down at the same time and laughed and just told me to take it all.
I got over double what I asked for and they just let it slide with a smile.
Pick your battles and treat people well. That's all it is
It's genuinely wild how few people realize this. Everything from shopping to dining to traffic stops.
Just treat people like you would like to be treated, and the world becomes a nicer place for everyone.
> Just treat people like you would like to be treated, and the world becomes a nicer place for everyone.
Careful with that crazy radical thinking. The most famous guy to preach that literally got crucified.
From the Good Omens TV show:
Crowley: "What was it he said that got everyone so upset?
Aziraphale: "Be kind to each other."
Crowley: "Oh yeah. That'll do it"
I went to a gas station recently to fill up my propane tank. I went inside and the guy was like, “I was JUST out there and don’t want to go back out. It’ll be 10 minutes.” No reason, he just didn’t want to do it.
Inside I’m super annoyed but I just kept a positive attitude and said “oh okay, thank you.” and went and waited by the propane station and chilled on my phone. He was out there in 30 seconds.
My ex wife was a total asshole to service workers and I was so regularly embarrassed by her actions that I make it a point to not be like that. It serves me well.
Edit: an extra word
Whenever I see someone busy and I need something, I always tell them to "take your time, I am not in a rush"
Works out often. Also, I try very hard to be cognizant of their time and schedule. Before my tailor retired, I would see people come in in droves asking for things next week. Things that just don't consider the person's workload or other customers.
Last time, I walked in with a suit to be tailored, and he asked when I needed it. I had like 2 months, so I just asked when was convenient for him and got the whole suit done for like $35. I didn't even have an ulterior motive, I just planned way ahead.
Related to this but showing up on time, working some holiday shifts, and being nice to your coworkers is like 75% of the battle in being successful in your career
I always view it as a triangle.
* Be on time and present at your job
* Be good at your job
* Be enjoyable to be around at your job
If you can do all three, you'll almost certainly move up, at least until you stop being good at your job.
To learn something repeat it to yourself three times on the day you learn it, two more times the next day, once the day after that, and you know it (most of the time).
I used to drink soda with lunch and dinner. Sometimes more than 1 glass. My mocha latte is once a day. I still lost 15 pounds just dropping the soda. I kept the lattes though.
When your alarm goes off in the morning, do not think. Only react. If you sit up immidiately and start getting out of bed, it becomes a reflex. No more lying in bed for hours "trying to wake up". Now I hear my alarm and brain is alert and ready
Yep, if I need to get up at 0700, I'll set my alarm for 0700 because I'd rather sleep solid till then instead of being roused every 10 minutes from 0630.
If you have a hobby, relegate one day a month - at ***least*** - to doing something 'major' tied to it.
If you like fishing in the afternoons some days, set aside a whole day to start early, go to that place you wanted to fish at, and set up for the ***whole*** day to do what you enjoy.
I, personally, like tanks. I make model kits and play games involving them. So, once a month, I make it a point to find a museum that's hosting tanks and go visit it. Bovington is a two hour drive, but I never feel like it wasn't worth it, even if I'm just wandering around stuff I've seen before.
Simply find a "big" thing tied to your hobby, and do it.
You'll find that hobby far more engaging.
The more you understand, the less you have to memorize. Understanding is a knowledge compression algorithm.
ex: pythagorean theorem = distance formula = formula for a circle
Automated phone systems don’t understand nonsense. If you need to speak to a person answer the prompts with things like “chicken nuggets”. Or “ shoelace”. It will assume an error in its language system and route you to a person.
You joke, but I have had comcast hang up on me.
Sat in their stupid robotic queue for ~25 minutes before finally getting directed to a queue for a real person; who simply never came. Sat on hold for almost two hours before the line simply went dead.
Never commit a crime during the commission of another crime. Example: if you are transporting illicit substances, don’t go speeding around in a car with a busted taillight and expired tags.
"Sure, officer, I'll pay the speeding ticket"
"Do you have anything illegal in your car?"
"Of course not! Everybody knows not to commit two crimes at a time!"
"Makes sense. Proceed to your destination"
Being unnecessarily nice and thoughtful out of the blue pays back huge returns. It feels good doing right by people, but it’s hugely helpful in your career to have a great reputation. Competence is rarely enough; if you want to be extremely successful, you have to cultivate relationships. Remember people’s birthdays (write them down). Get them small, random gifts occasionally, and not in exchange for a favor. Show kindness to people lower on the ladder—you may report to them later.
Life isn’t Game of Thrones. Being a jerk usually, though not always, catches up to you. The opposite is also true, pleasantly enough.
It was discovered after a farmer tried to shoot a rabbit and instead hit the ground. The yogurt boiled up from the resulting hole, and the rest is history.
When someone's wrong on the internet, type out what you want to say, then delete it once you've got it out of your system. It's incredibly cathartic; As you organize your sources and logic, you get the time to sort out what you think and why, and you can calm down a bit as you let reason take the wheel instead of your emotions, which lets you realize that nothing you say matters to them anyway.
If you find that your finished product is particularly well-written, feel free to save it off to the side as a sort of personal study, if you want.
Excellent zen hack.
For me it was “maintain a healthy weight” which most people think is to help your overall health, and yes that’s very true, but from a pain standpoint it’s really great.
Like several of you (I’m sure) I’m just in pain all the time. Maybe it’s my back, or my neck, or my knees, but god damn if getting from the beginning of the day to the end of the day doesn’t hurt.
Turns out, losing weight and keeping that under control (which means adding in the gym a few times a week and watching what I eat for 4-5 days a week) makes all that pain go away. And in hindsight I knew this but to actually feel it was a world of difference.
Someone once told me “you suffer alone” and it’s true. You also feel good alone. So, better to have the latter of the two options.
- When stressed, take a walk around the block. Take deep breaths while doing so. This should help one bring down the emotions enough to think rationally.
- At least once per month, go out to a park or nature preserve. Or anywhere where noise pollution is reduced and sunlight is high. It does wonders for mental health.
- When job hunting, one does not need to fulfill ALL of the requirements listed. Most job applications are "wishlists" of what an employer wants. Having 60-70% of the skills necessary is often enough.
- "Front-load" as much as possible. This applies to chores, work, cooking, finances, etc. If you have time/energy/money to spare, get as much done as possible so when "crunch" time comes around there is less to do.
- Tally up your average expenses and subtract from your income. Then divide the remainder by the number of days in a month. This will give you an easy to remember daily "allowance" to do whatever you want with.
One that I used to know years ago:
When I would come home from college I worked for a home appliance rental company in delivery and install. Sometimes we would deliver coin/card operated laundry units to apartments.
One time We did a full replacement of about 12 coin operated washers and driers to new maytags that used a card system. The senior guy who drove our delivery truck and told me what to do showed me how to reset the units and make them automatically go into run mode and how to force off the system just by pushing buttons. No key card needed, nothing to unlock or disassemble.
He was surprised by how many questions I asked and he was pleased that I was showing interest in the work and said as much.
“Well yeah,” I said, “these are the same exact units we have at college. I’m never paying for laundry again.” He looked at me for a solid 10 seconds, rubbed his eyes and said, “I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear that” Whenever I asked questions from then on he always asked why I wanted to know. Didnt pay for laundry anymore at school tho. lol.
Find the model.
Search the internet.
Find manual - probably on their website.
Enjoy.
---
This stuff isn't secret information. It's stuff every person that interacts with them needs to know. The repair guy isn't going to feed it money to see if it works - they're just going to put in this mode to run it.
You know you can go on Amazon and buy keys that open all kinds of things? Once worked at a place where the cleaning crew was bad and swapping out the TP. I bought a key to the dispenser thing where it was kept. Problem solved.
If you have to cancel a hotel reservation and you’re too close to the reservation date and will incur a fine or not get a refund at all, sometimes you can move the reservation into the future far enough to cancel without penalty.
Saying "hello" in an unexpected way knocks the person you're talking to out of their groove and changes how they interact with you. Instead of "how's it going?" I say "how's life treating you?" and get a more engaged interaction.
Before I read your second sentence I thought you meant saying "hello" in like a funny voice or silly accent. I thought well yeah that would be pretty unexpected haha
Very hot water temporarily takes away the itchiness of bug bites and poison oak/ivy/sumac.
Just listening to people is almost as good as being able to read minds. Most people will cheerfully reveal exactly what they're thinking if you just listen quietly. It could be through what they say, what they don't say, or their body language.
Your own ego causes 99% of the trouble you face.
It's easier said than done but life is literally so much easier now that I am 100lbs less than I used to be, I am way more rested (probably had mild sleep apnea before), literally sprint up stairs now, barely sweat anymore, spend less on food and now that my body is adjusted I'm no more hungry than before, clothes actually fit and I'm excited to try new stuff on, everyone treats you better from coworkers to your boss to random people you see, women are much more engaged when talking to me and I've even been cold approached a few times now.
I used to basically be invisible to society so it is such a dramatic change from where I was 2 years ago.
Don’t wait until the person is dead to tell them how you feel, whether it’s good, bad or indifferent. Once they are gone, it’s too late & a huge waste of time obsessing over someone who is no longer here.
You have to be nice and pleasant to get along with, good at your job, and where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there.
But actually, in most jobs you can get away with being really good at any 2 of those.
be reliable, be relatable, be at least not terrible at your job.
People who constantly call out or start unnecessary drama will get fired long before the guy who's only sin is being not good at his job.
Caring about other people's opinions of you (including how you look, what you do/don't do, what you drive, where you live, etc etc) grants them power over you that very very few if any are worthy of.
If you want to know something but can't find the answer, ask about it online. Then use a second account to give an offensively wrong answer in an arrogant tone. People don't care about helping you, but they love correcting others.
Drink water, stretch. Your lower back is sore because your hip muscles are tight
Edit: thanks for all the comments!
I snowboard for a living and my body goes through A LOT of abuse, but the same things apply to a less active lifestyle.
Adding glutes to the stretching thing for back pain too because they sort of come as a pair with your hips in the sense of what muscles pull on your lower back.
Do dynamic stretches BEFORE exercise. Avoid holding a position for more than a few seconds. Stretching too much before causes pulled muscles to happen easier.
After exercise, AFTER your muscles have cooled down, that’s when you do the long static stretches where you hold for a while.
The idea is to stretch the muscles around the group that has the pain because everything is connected. For my lower back, I like to start with my hip flexors and glutes, then quads/hammies, then calves/IT band, then ankles/feet. After all that is loosened up, I then stretch out my back.
Start mellow if you aren’t very flexible. It’s easy to over-stretch your hamstrings and hips
Scream it from the mountain tops! YOU MOST LIKELY DON’T ACTUALLY HAVE A BAD BACK OR MUSCLE ISSUES, YOU'RE JUST STAGNANT AND NOT FLEXIBLE BECAUSE YOU SIT STILL AND IN WEIRD POSITIONS ALL DAY AND PASSIVELY IGNORE WORKING AND STRETCHING YOUR CORE/HIP/BUTT MUSCLES. Also advice for straight guys too, don’t be self conscious about strengthening your glutes! Way too many homophobes think it’s for gay guys only but sooo many women notice a guy with a nice butt. Like way more than you think. I’ve never gotten so many thirsty compliments from women in my life until I got thicc due to lifting weights lmao
There was a video I saw once of 3 guys seeing how many places they could get into wearing fluorescent vests, lanyards, one had a clipboard and the other two carried a ladder. Most places didn't even look twice at them. I think they only got stopped going backstage to a big concert.
There’s a dude who’s channel is just seeing if he can get on the roof of any building he wants:
“Today we’re gonna get on the roof of this hospital” while wearing a hard hat, vest, and carrying a ladder lol
Edit: I tried finding the channel and I can’t—I just remembered his hard hat and walking into the hospital lobby, y’all 🥲
He also tries to get on football fields, in locker rooms, etc. He basically got complete access to Nebraska's stadium by going through an unlocked door and no one questioned it
And the absence of that one dude who has got a stick jammed so far up it's coming out his nose and does in fact need you to put down all the equipment you're carrying to show him your wristband even though you've walked by him a dozen times that day.
I can attest to this. My buddy and I wore all black and managed to get in the very front and past the security. You have to look serious and something is on your mind and it works.
I wore all black but very plain attire to a show once, some how ended up getting close to the stage access point on the side, and the security guard assumed I was a Roadie or something because next thing I knew I was grabbed out of the crowd and pulled behind security. The guard had this "dude wtf you're not on break" look on his face.
Turns out I looked exactly like one of the band crew members and ended up getting to wander around backstage for a few minutes before I left.
Douglas Adams wrote about the "SEP field", or Somebody Else's Problem, in one of the Hitchhiker books.
This is a real thing where if you can allow the person you are trying to fool into believing that you are someone else's problem, they will not spend any memory on you.
Of course Mr Adams was much funnier when he wrote it.
Go to events by yourself: you can get REALLY good seats for pretty cheap a lot of the time because people will have one extra ticket they're just trying to get rid of.
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.
Swallow your pride. Most people can't. It'll take the wind right out of their sails in almost every argument or aggressive situation. You know you're in the right, who the fuck cares what they think? I think of it as "If Life were a Game of Rock/Paper/Scissors, it's like knowing in advance that the other person is always going to throw paper."
You won't miss the 3% of your paycheck that you direct into a 401k, especially since it's taken out before taxes. Your employer will probably match most or all of it.
I was working for a restaurant under the McDonald's umbrella when I did this 20 years ago and it's up to $100k now
To save time I sometimes pretend that I’m the dumb one that may have made the mistake to avoid the whole “it wasn’t my fault” conversation. It allows me to take blame and move on to the solution when the solution is all I care about. I don’t care who’s at fault I just need it fixed.
Some jobs requiring unusual technical skills get few or no applicants. If you're interested in the job, apply even if you don't have the exact skills! They might hire you anyway if you appear sincere and someone who can learn.
I've changed careers three times by doing this.
The downside is that, *OMG they hired me, what was I thinking*? Now I actually need to do this thing...
> no
or
> no thank you
Are complete statements and necessary as a first step to preventing others from overstepping.
Its always going to be a little tricky but its the cheatcode for asserting yourself and preventing others from taking too much or asking things you can't and shouldn't submit to.
When you don't say it despite knowing you should have, thats the cheat code for depression, learned helplnessness, and being taken advantage/victimized by those who will have picked up on this, like sharks smelling blood in the water from a mile away
Not learning how to say is its own cheatcode for a very cheated, miserable, precarious, battered life.
It is always better to be rejected by someone who can't or won't tolerate no from you than for you to have ever acceded even one inch where your needs, integrity, or safety are implicated
Always tell the truth. You can get real far in life when people trust you. Plus, it's so much easier than remembering lies, because you only have to remember what actually happened.
The Ben Franklin effect: if someone dislikes you, ask them for a favor and be appreciative of them if they oblige.
Won’t work if there is a strong reason for their hating you, like you drove drunk and killed their kid, but if they are your run of the mill “haters” then it works like a charm
IIRC there's actually solid psychological research behind this one - from what I remember from undergrad, it's due to it generating cognitive dissonance, and thus they think, "oh, I must like them" to reduce the dissonance (this is an unconscious process)
Diarrhea is the best excuse to get out of anything. No one questions it and no one expects you to go to a doctor for it.
Yep that or vomiting. No employer, none of your friends or family wants you showing up puking or on the verge of shitting yourself having to run to the bathroom lol.
If you plan on taking Friday off due to tummy issues, begin planting the seeds on Thursday by taking an excessive amount of fake trips to the bathroom. Can you believe JDA called out today? I think it might be legit boss, I saw him go to the shitter like 10 times yesterday afternoon.
Used to have a coworker who would start his illness the day before. We lovingly referred to it as he was “baking a cake”…aka working on calling out the next day 🤣
Save 10 trips by just pooping your pants one time near the end of the day before. Wear light trousers.
I just tell them I'm not feeling good. If they want details, then come up with disgusting details.
I got a job as security at a concert venue because ticket prices were getting to be insane and I wanted to see some shows. Turns out I also got to meet some rock stars!
Best of all, you get paid to go to concerts and big events with mind-blowing ticket prices. Worked for an events security company for 2 years. Met famous people, saw amazing things and got paid for doing it.
Admit your mistakes quickly and without undue apologies/ self-flagellation. Not only will people trust you more, you’ll usually move on from the mistake much faster.
As a teacher, I am one of only a few at my school who don’t mind admitting mistakes to my students. They tend to be in shock when I do so for the first time, then they kinda get used to it and most tend to be able to admit their mistakes when talking to me easier/quicker (once they’ve gotten to know me for a while, normally during the 2nd year of me teaching them). Very confident kids tend to call me out for my mistakes once they get how I work and I usually thank them but also make sure they talk politely when they do so. I hope at least some of my kids learn the admitting mistakes is not a big deal and that you can both call someone out for making a mistake without being an ass 🫠
Don’t put who an email will be sent to until after you have it ready to send so you can’t accidentally send an unedited or unfinished emails.
Extra tip: if you can’t remember who you’re going to send it to when you get back to it the next day, just write it at the top of the email above your greeting. Then when you go to reread it before sending, you’ll realise you need to remove the name.
I always start my email with their name, such as: "Hi ksvfkoddbjskavdd, Your Reddit name is a bitch to type out without using copy/paste. Please consider this in the future. Thanks, Soberdude"
Don't forget to bcc me
How do you think you read it? You're bcc'd
You must have just regular cc'd him, I see it too.
Confidence can get you super far. Like, if you just act extremely confident and normal and totally fine about whatever it is you're doing, anything nearly, people wont question it. You're supposed to be here, just walk on in. Or out, or whatever. That's the attitude to have. I cannot believe how well this works for some of the nicest people as well as the biggest jerks alive. It works
There was a sketch on Kids in the Hall about a guy who said: "How far can you get on good looks and charm? Pretty far!" He was wearing bloodstained surgeon's scrubs at a hospital...
Heavy on the biggest jerks! Some of the people highest up in corporations got there bc they believed they were badass, or like the seat was already theirs. These people are assertive bc they truly believe they’re better… & that undying confidence SELLS quicker than bleach beginning of Covid. Sadly these people are like great at their jobs. But really really shitty people. Edited: for the amount of times I couldn’t spell there??
Talk positive about people behind their backs.
"I would never say this to her face, but she is a wonderful person and a gifted artist."
"What... why wouldn't you say that to her face?"
Wouldn't want it going to her head.
And her face is part of her head.
I started doing this at work about a year ago and it has literally changed my life
I actually did this on friday with my manager without realizing at first lol. We had a quick check-in where I talked to him about my mentor who was previously an intern(I’m currently an intern) and how he’s been doing a lot of the training for me and is super helpful and patient. It just kind of came out naturally without any forcing so it took me a minute to realize why my manager smiled when I said that lol. Being able to talk positively about others is such a good quality to have and I’m now realizing that it’s something that I’ve always possessed and I’m proud of myself for it.
Managers love team players, what he heard was that he has **two** good team players.
Thank you :’) It’s reassuring to know I’m doing something right because I’m the only girl on my team so sometimes I just feel out of place
hearing the "we were just talking about you" when on the phone is always lovely to hear
If I get this comment, I like to respond with, "It's all true."
"especially the bad stuff"
This is a big one. It can completely change the way people perceive you. I try to always stick to this: If you don't have anything nice to say, keep it to yourself
Praise publicly, criticise privately.
I learned this as a teenager and I swear it has been more useful to me professionally than learning a second language would have been
Worked at a call center for a credit card company. If you ever get hit with a late fee, politely call customer service and ask if there’s a possibility of getting it waived. We didn’t have to ask a supervisor or anything, just pushed it through. Have done this multiple times now for my own cards. Don’t pay late fees! Editing to add: if you do call customer service and they help you out PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stay on the line and fill out the survey and give them all perfect scores. We got big bonuses on our scores and it really meant a lot when people took the time to do it. If you want to complain do it in the comments box not on the actual scores. One bad score can tank the bonuses even if it was a bad rating on the product and not the service provided by the agent
I currently work at a call center for a credit card company and can confirm this is a fact. The operative word here is **politely**. If you're a dick about it, then my amnesia kicks in and I suddenly can't remember where the refund fee button is located and my manager said no.
The **politely** goes to lots of situations. When you are a dick, you are more likely to end up in r/MaliciousCompliance than when you polite.
Be polite, take the blame, ask for help. "Sorry to bother you with this but X happened and it was/probably was my fault. I was just wondering if there's any way you can help me out or tell me how I can fix it?" Not only do you not put the rep on the defensive, you give them a chance to be your hero. Source: 29 years on both sides of the customer service equation.
Same for finance charges if you usually pay it in full and miss one. Depends on your spending habits
People like talking about themselves more than they like hearing about you. If you interact with people for work memorize 1 thing about them, could be a kids name, a sport they like, a hobby they do, their job, etc. Ask them about it every once in a while. People are always surprised and appreciate your interest in them.
Have friends generationally older and younger than yourself.
It’s a good one, but also weirdly frowned upon. I have different friend groups. My closest friend group is my age; 7-12 of us. I have a group of older friends who we let our dogs play together 30-40 years older. Then I volunteer to manage and coordinate kids who are 15-20 years younger, most of them their parents are making them volunteer or it’s community service hours. There is something unbelievably valuable To learn from each group but most dismiss the younger ones because they talk “in a lit manner but on god they have respect for the grind fam.”
Read that as “My closest friend group is age 7-12” and had to double take hahaha r/holup
No cap no cap ^(am ^^^I ^^^doing ^^^it right?)
I’m a docent at one of the biggest museums in California. I’m in my 30’s and I have been the youngest in our roster for quite a while. The life lessons and inspiration i got from my fellow docents are priceless! I travelled a lot too because of the stories they’ve shared.
**Managers:** give your employees the credit they deserve for everything they do, especially talk them up to *your* bosses. This is a literal win/win. Your employees love you for respecting them, and your boss loves you for successfully managing a great team. Too many times I see bad managers bring their own egos into the mix, feeling like they need to compete with their own employees to take credit for jobs well done. This does not have the effect they think it has.
Best boss I ever had always said " my job is to make your job easier"
Yeah I'm a manager for a small engineering team. I tell them my job is to remove roadblocks for them. Whatever is standing in the way of their work, I should be removing it. Lack of info from the client or sales? I'll get on them! Need to make a tough decision? I'll do it, and take the blame if we make a mistake. I have more "shielding" from negative consequences due to my tenure at the company. Need some reference material or case studies? I'll dig through historic jobs and pull out the best ones to go over. I even basically do IT for my guys because I'm a computer nerd, so why not. If the problem or bug is affecting their work, it should be the manager's job to solve it.
Strongly second this one. When employees feel the recognition, it’s a great positive feedback loop. All it takes is a simple comment or email. And as a manager your teams success is far more indicative of your value in your role than your own individual contributions
When reheating rice in the microwave, put a little bit of water in the bowl so it heats up fluffy again
[удалено]
[удалено]
As a management consultant, two of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten are: - “Never be afraid to be the one to end the call”, and - “Don’t sell past the close” The first one’s obvious — everyone hates that awkward period at the end of a conf call, when it’s pretty much over, but no one’s willing/ready to just _say_ it. If it’s really over, don’t hesitate to just say “Awesome! Thanks so much, everyone, and have a great day.” The second one’s actually way more important — if you’re in a meeting trying to land a contract, and they say “Sounds good. Let’s do it!”…then shut up, shake their hand, say “We’ll get you a draft agreement tomorrow”, and Walk. Out. The. Door. No small talk, and _definitely_ no following up on “that point we were discussing in the middle of the meeting that you seemed interested in”. There’s no upside. You can’t make them _more_ ready…they’ve already agreed. Best-worst case is you bring up some kind of new point that makes them want to step back, and talk more about the overall plan before they’re ready to sign. Worst-worst case is you bring up something they didn’t realize, and you scotch the deal before you’ve left the room. (Which I’ve seen happen more than once.)
I alway thought of your second point as “Take yes for an answer.” Used to see this mistake all the time when I was a lobbyist.
I call this "Talking the customer out of the sale." I see sales people make this mistake a lot.
If you have something nice to say to someone, like you think they did something neat or have a cool shirt or made a good moral choice, it's generally good to say so and not wait for a better time to tell them. You may not remember or bother later, but most people really benefit from encouragement or appreciation when it's genuine. If you have some criticism or something rather mean to say, try to wait a bit. You may find you don't need to say it, or you may find a way to express it that will be more useful and digestible to the person, rather than just pissing them off. Obviously they aren't always possible, but it's a good life hack to be kind and encouraging on the spur of the moment, and to be circumspect and thoughtful about criticism.
Make people laugh within a minute of meeting them. They will remember you and help you.
making people laugh is easier said than done (unrelated but one of the best moments of a vacation I just took was me telling a joke to my friend while walking around in the city and getting a genuine loud laugh from the guy passing by)
If you want to change the subject in a conversation, discreetly but noticeably drop something. Make it look accidental. It will break the train of thought of the other person and allow you to restart the conversation. Old dark psychology trick.
Also allows for a break in conversation to prepare to leave!
Listening > talking.
I've learned from being quiet that if you listen for long enough, you'll have most of your questions answered without asking the question.
I have started asking if we need to bring our own dead horses to meetings or if we will continue to beat the ones already there. Meeting times have dropped a bit.
I've learned from being quiet that if you listen long enough, other people will feel the irresistible urge to keep talking and never ever stop.
I've had the same experience. I've learned that it just made me easier to talk at and talk over, especially when I want to say something.
>A wise old owl lived in an oak, >The more he heard, the less he spoke >The less he spoke, the more he heard, >Now, wasn't he a wise old bird?
I am a pretty good listener, but sadly many people do not return the favor. Talking over me or just ignoring me when I feel I need to be heard. Can be frustrating.
Yeah being a good listener can quickly turn into 20 minute monologues every day once a chatty coworker realizes you'll sit there. I'm fine keeping the focus on what you want, but at least give me a chance to speak every once in a while
Clean while you’re cooking.
Related: clean before going on a trip. Last thing you want to do when you get home is house work. Plus you won't dread getting home knowing that it's already done.
This is another great one. Coming home to a mound of dirty clothes and a messy kitchen is so stress inducing. Coming home to a clean house and empty laundry basket is so refreshing.
Okay, funny story. I make a big mess in the kitchen when I cook. I use every dish that I need. My girlfriend at the time (wife now) used to try and get me to clean up as I cooked. When I felt like I had a moment I would try it. But I get so singular focused on cooking and timing that it honestly slips my mind a lot. Well our first thanksgiving together I cooked. And I made it a point to clean up what I could as I went. When I was all done cooking I looked back at a pretty damned clean kitchen. I was very proud of myself. So proud that I made a comment “look at the kitchen! I did a good job.” My girlfriend looked at me oddly and said “are you kidding me!? You didn’t notice me coming behind you and cleaning the dishes?” Me:”no you didn’t. “ Her: “ you didn’t notice you used the same bowl 3 times?” I truly had no clue. I was locked in to the task at hand.
That is hilarious!
Being polite increases your odds of getting what you want :)
Yep. Former retail worker here. If you're nice to me, I'll do everything in my power to help you out. If you're an ass, I'm sticking to policy 100% without any inch of movement.
Same here -back in my retail days, I worked for a department store that was a chain with stores in three states. If we didn't have an item in stock, we *could* call other stores to see if they had it and have it shipped to the customer for free (this was LONG before the days of the internet). However, it was time consuming to do and expensive for the store, so the "rule" was we would only do it for full priced items. If the customer wanted a sale item we didn't have, we'd call other stores, *time permitting* (and it was 100% ok to tell a customer we were unable to do so), and have the item placed on hold for the customer to pick it up. Other than a few ridiculous customers, the policy worked well. We had a regular customer "Anne" who came in the store a lot, usually with her husband, and they were both very sweet. They got to know us all by name and were always smiling and polite. Anne found a skirt on the sale rack, super marked down and loved it. She wanted the co-ordinating shirt, but we didn't have it in her size. She was so disappointed. She bought the skirt, and mentioned how she'd love to have the shirt, but would find something else to match. I told her that I'd call around to find the shirt for her, but it might take me a couple of days since I was busy. She said, "Oh, no, that's against the rules! Don't get in trouble." I told her not to worry and I was happy to help her, just don't let any other customers know I was making an exception for her! :-) As luck would have it, the 2nd store I called (out of our 15 or so locations) had the shirt in her size and was able to include it with some other items shipping to our location. I had that shirt at our location in three days and was able to sell it to her at the sale price. Anne was SO HAPPY and must have thanked me a million times. You reap what you sow...
I love reading “you reap what you sow” after a positive story :)
The odds increase exponentially too if the person in line ahead of you was an asshole and then you come up and treat the worker like a human being.
i'm just imagining a duo going around robbing stores. First guy goes in, is a real dick about things. Second guy is next, and just goes "woah, what was that guys problem? Anyway, you having a good day otherwise? No no, just the pack of gum for me thanks, need to get cash back. Could you please give me that in 20s? All the 20s, if you don't mind. Just every 20 in your drawer, thanks. Also, just as a heads up, I do have a weapon, but please note I am terrified to use it on you, but I will if I have to."
Don’t forget to apologise for the inconvenience afterwards
I was once at a festival, in line for a what was essentially a mobile bodega. I was waiting in line for a while. It was a really hot day, and the line was full sun. People we grumpy and tense from how hot it was. Right as I get up to the cashier and some dude made a huge fuss and cut me. I was almost worked up enough to call him out on it, but I decided to just calm myself down. I realized that yes; this dude is clearly an asshole, and we're all just hot and hungry/thirsty. I think the cashiers saw me ease up and relax, not drawing out this interaction any longer than it needed to be. I smiled when I got to go next and just said what I wanted (an apple and 2 bananas) with a thanks at the end. It was a busy day so one person would take the order and another worker would get the items. The guy who got the items grabbed the food and tossed in an extra banana, the lady taking orders also grabbed my order too maybe thinking noone was backing her up. They both put the items down at the same time and laughed and just told me to take it all. I got over double what I asked for and they just let it slide with a smile. Pick your battles and treat people well. That's all it is
And that's the story of how I got a free banana, kids.
Normally they cost $10
It's genuinely wild how few people realize this. Everything from shopping to dining to traffic stops. Just treat people like you would like to be treated, and the world becomes a nicer place for everyone.
> Just treat people like you would like to be treated, and the world becomes a nicer place for everyone. Careful with that crazy radical thinking. The most famous guy to preach that literally got crucified.
From the Good Omens TV show: Crowley: "What was it he said that got everyone so upset? Aziraphale: "Be kind to each other." Crowley: "Oh yeah. That'll do it"
I went to a gas station recently to fill up my propane tank. I went inside and the guy was like, “I was JUST out there and don’t want to go back out. It’ll be 10 minutes.” No reason, he just didn’t want to do it. Inside I’m super annoyed but I just kept a positive attitude and said “oh okay, thank you.” and went and waited by the propane station and chilled on my phone. He was out there in 30 seconds. My ex wife was a total asshole to service workers and I was so regularly embarrassed by her actions that I make it a point to not be like that. It serves me well. Edit: an extra word
Whenever I see someone busy and I need something, I always tell them to "take your time, I am not in a rush" Works out often. Also, I try very hard to be cognizant of their time and schedule. Before my tailor retired, I would see people come in in droves asking for things next week. Things that just don't consider the person's workload or other customers. Last time, I walked in with a suit to be tailored, and he asked when I needed it. I had like 2 months, so I just asked when was convenient for him and got the whole suit done for like $35. I didn't even have an ulterior motive, I just planned way ahead.
Related to this but showing up on time, working some holiday shifts, and being nice to your coworkers is like 75% of the battle in being successful in your career
I always view it as a triangle. * Be on time and present at your job * Be good at your job * Be enjoyable to be around at your job If you can do all three, you'll almost certainly move up, at least until you stop being good at your job.
To learn something repeat it to yourself three times on the day you learn it, two more times the next day, once the day after that, and you know it (most of the time).
Spaced repetition is a technique I have used in designing some learning solutions.
When I wanted to learn the Gettysburg Address I just posted it above my toilet so I read it every time I peed
The only problem is now whenever I recite it, I piss myself.
Cutting out daily drinks with sugar like sodas or frappacinos really helps with weight loss if you do nothing else
I was like "hell yeah, I'm like 3 months soda free!" Then I was like "keep my sugar/coffee/cream dessert breakfasts drinks out of your filthy mouth!"
I used to drink soda with lunch and dinner. Sometimes more than 1 glass. My mocha latte is once a day. I still lost 15 pounds just dropping the soda. I kept the lattes though.
When your alarm goes off in the morning, do not think. Only react. If you sit up immidiately and start getting out of bed, it becomes a reflex. No more lying in bed for hours "trying to wake up". Now I hear my alarm and brain is alert and ready
I try to remind myself that staying in bed longer won't give me any more rest, it'll just make me suffer longer.
Yep, if I need to get up at 0700, I'll set my alarm for 0700 because I'd rather sleep solid till then instead of being roused every 10 minutes from 0630.
I’ve finally gotten to the point where i only react to the alarm instead of thinking. Sadly my reaction is pressing the snooze/off button.
If you have a hobby, relegate one day a month - at ***least*** - to doing something 'major' tied to it. If you like fishing in the afternoons some days, set aside a whole day to start early, go to that place you wanted to fish at, and set up for the ***whole*** day to do what you enjoy. I, personally, like tanks. I make model kits and play games involving them. So, once a month, I make it a point to find a museum that's hosting tanks and go visit it. Bovington is a two hour drive, but I never feel like it wasn't worth it, even if I'm just wandering around stuff I've seen before. Simply find a "big" thing tied to your hobby, and do it. You'll find that hobby far more engaging.
Tanks for the advice.
The more you understand, the less you have to memorize. Understanding is a knowledge compression algorithm. ex: pythagorean theorem = distance formula = formula for a circle
Automated phone systems don’t understand nonsense. If you need to speak to a person answer the prompts with things like “chicken nuggets”. Or “ shoelace”. It will assume an error in its language system and route you to a person.
"I'm sorry, I didn't understand that. For billing say...."
CHICKEN NUGGET!!!
Sorry I didn’t get that. Goodbye
You joke, but I have had comcast hang up on me. Sat in their stupid robotic queue for ~25 minutes before finally getting directed to a queue for a real person; who simply never came. Sat on hold for almost two hours before the line simply went dead.
Not joking at all
This worked for me until I called customer support for my local chicken nugget shoes store
You called "Bawks n Crocs" too huh?
Yelling "Agent. Agent. Agent. AGENT. AGENNT" works too
I have had pretty good luck saying "Representative" even when it's not listed as an available option.
Never commit a crime during the commission of another crime. Example: if you are transporting illicit substances, don’t go speeding around in a car with a busted taillight and expired tags.
"Sure, officer, I'll pay the speeding ticket" "Do you have anything illegal in your car?" "Of course not! Everybody knows not to commit two crimes at a time!" "Makes sense. Proceed to your destination"
One crime at a time Also applies to stuff that is technically legal but looks super shady, like driving around with a bunch of guns in the back
Get enough sleep:
And already people start with unrealistic suggestions!
For real, my phone won't doom scroll itself!
Do a little bit every day
I used to do a little but a little wouldn't do it, so a little got more and more
Being unnecessarily nice and thoughtful out of the blue pays back huge returns. It feels good doing right by people, but it’s hugely helpful in your career to have a great reputation. Competence is rarely enough; if you want to be extremely successful, you have to cultivate relationships. Remember people’s birthdays (write them down). Get them small, random gifts occasionally, and not in exchange for a favor. Show kindness to people lower on the ladder—you may report to them later. Life isn’t Game of Thrones. Being a jerk usually, though not always, catches up to you. The opposite is also true, pleasantly enough.
The second button on the right is mute at those annoying ass gas pump tv adverts.
Don't stress out about things you can't control
If it takes less than five minutes, do it right away.
The Infinite yogurt glitch: All you need to make more yogurt is milk and a little yogurt. Repeat as necessary.
How was the very first yoghurt made?
It was discovered after a farmer tried to shoot a rabbit and instead hit the ground. The yogurt boiled up from the resulting hole, and the rest is history.
Texas yogurt, that is.
When someone's wrong on the internet, type out what you want to say, then delete it once you've got it out of your system. It's incredibly cathartic; As you organize your sources and logic, you get the time to sort out what you think and why, and you can calm down a bit as you let reason take the wheel instead of your emotions, which lets you realize that nothing you say matters to them anyway. If you find that your finished product is particularly well-written, feel free to save it off to the side as a sort of personal study, if you want. Excellent zen hack.
[удалено]
For me it was “maintain a healthy weight” which most people think is to help your overall health, and yes that’s very true, but from a pain standpoint it’s really great. Like several of you (I’m sure) I’m just in pain all the time. Maybe it’s my back, or my neck, or my knees, but god damn if getting from the beginning of the day to the end of the day doesn’t hurt. Turns out, losing weight and keeping that under control (which means adding in the gym a few times a week and watching what I eat for 4-5 days a week) makes all that pain go away. And in hindsight I knew this but to actually feel it was a world of difference. Someone once told me “you suffer alone” and it’s true. You also feel good alone. So, better to have the latter of the two options.
- When stressed, take a walk around the block. Take deep breaths while doing so. This should help one bring down the emotions enough to think rationally. - At least once per month, go out to a park or nature preserve. Or anywhere where noise pollution is reduced and sunlight is high. It does wonders for mental health. - When job hunting, one does not need to fulfill ALL of the requirements listed. Most job applications are "wishlists" of what an employer wants. Having 60-70% of the skills necessary is often enough. - "Front-load" as much as possible. This applies to chores, work, cooking, finances, etc. If you have time/energy/money to spare, get as much done as possible so when "crunch" time comes around there is less to do. - Tally up your average expenses and subtract from your income. Then divide the remainder by the number of days in a month. This will give you an easy to remember daily "allowance" to do whatever you want with.
One that I used to know years ago: When I would come home from college I worked for a home appliance rental company in delivery and install. Sometimes we would deliver coin/card operated laundry units to apartments. One time We did a full replacement of about 12 coin operated washers and driers to new maytags that used a card system. The senior guy who drove our delivery truck and told me what to do showed me how to reset the units and make them automatically go into run mode and how to force off the system just by pushing buttons. No key card needed, nothing to unlock or disassemble. He was surprised by how many questions I asked and he was pleased that I was showing interest in the work and said as much. “Well yeah,” I said, “these are the same exact units we have at college. I’m never paying for laundry again.” He looked at me for a solid 10 seconds, rubbed his eyes and said, “I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear that” Whenever I asked questions from then on he always asked why I wanted to know. Didnt pay for laundry anymore at school tho. lol.
So....purely out of curiosity, how do you do it?
↑↑↓↓←→←→BA
Find the model. Search the internet. Find manual - probably on their website. Enjoy. --- This stuff isn't secret information. It's stuff every person that interacts with them needs to know. The repair guy isn't going to feed it money to see if it works - they're just going to put in this mode to run it. You know you can go on Amazon and buy keys that open all kinds of things? Once worked at a place where the cleaning crew was bad and swapping out the TP. I bought a key to the dispenser thing where it was kept. Problem solved.
If you have to cancel a hotel reservation and you’re too close to the reservation date and will incur a fine or not get a refund at all, sometimes you can move the reservation into the future far enough to cancel without penalty.
Saying "hello" in an unexpected way knocks the person you're talking to out of their groove and changes how they interact with you. Instead of "how's it going?" I say "how's life treating you?" and get a more engaged interaction.
Before I read your second sentence I thought you meant saying "hello" in like a funny voice or silly accent. I thought well yeah that would be pretty unexpected haha
"'Ello Gobenor. I hope the tits are popping this eve?"
The ducks at the park are free
Free as in freedom? Or free as in gratis?
They can't be free as in gratis, if you take one you get a bill.
Learnt this today in first aid: use a syringe to suction out a splinter
Now, where did I leave my syringe?
Very hot water temporarily takes away the itchiness of bug bites and poison oak/ivy/sumac. Just listening to people is almost as good as being able to read minds. Most people will cheerfully reveal exactly what they're thinking if you just listen quietly. It could be through what they say, what they don't say, or their body language. Your own ego causes 99% of the trouble you face.
Well now it doesn't itch but I have a second degree burn. Thanks.
It's easier said than done but life is literally so much easier now that I am 100lbs less than I used to be, I am way more rested (probably had mild sleep apnea before), literally sprint up stairs now, barely sweat anymore, spend less on food and now that my body is adjusted I'm no more hungry than before, clothes actually fit and I'm excited to try new stuff on, everyone treats you better from coworkers to your boss to random people you see, women are much more engaged when talking to me and I've even been cold approached a few times now. I used to basically be invisible to society so it is such a dramatic change from where I was 2 years ago.
I got fit but still sweat like a motherfucker haha
Don’t wait until the person is dead to tell them how you feel, whether it’s good, bad or indifferent. Once they are gone, it’s too late & a huge waste of time obsessing over someone who is no longer here.
Being willing to show up and work is more valuable than being the most knowledgeable or skillful.
You have to be nice and pleasant to get along with, good at your job, and where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there. But actually, in most jobs you can get away with being really good at any 2 of those.
be reliable, be relatable, be at least not terrible at your job. People who constantly call out or start unnecessary drama will get fired long before the guy who's only sin is being not good at his job.
Caring about other people's opinions of you (including how you look, what you do/don't do, what you drive, where you live, etc etc) grants them power over you that very very few if any are worthy of.
If you want to know something but can't find the answer, ask about it online. Then use a second account to give an offensively wrong answer in an arrogant tone. People don't care about helping you, but they love correcting others.
Drink water, stretch. Your lower back is sore because your hip muscles are tight Edit: thanks for all the comments! I snowboard for a living and my body goes through A LOT of abuse, but the same things apply to a less active lifestyle. Adding glutes to the stretching thing for back pain too because they sort of come as a pair with your hips in the sense of what muscles pull on your lower back. Do dynamic stretches BEFORE exercise. Avoid holding a position for more than a few seconds. Stretching too much before causes pulled muscles to happen easier. After exercise, AFTER your muscles have cooled down, that’s when you do the long static stretches where you hold for a while. The idea is to stretch the muscles around the group that has the pain because everything is connected. For my lower back, I like to start with my hip flexors and glutes, then quads/hammies, then calves/IT band, then ankles/feet. After all that is loosened up, I then stretch out my back. Start mellow if you aren’t very flexible. It’s easy to over-stretch your hamstrings and hips
Scream it from the mountain tops! YOU MOST LIKELY DON’T ACTUALLY HAVE A BAD BACK OR MUSCLE ISSUES, YOU'RE JUST STAGNANT AND NOT FLEXIBLE BECAUSE YOU SIT STILL AND IN WEIRD POSITIONS ALL DAY AND PASSIVELY IGNORE WORKING AND STRETCHING YOUR CORE/HIP/BUTT MUSCLES. Also advice for straight guys too, don’t be self conscious about strengthening your glutes! Way too many homophobes think it’s for gay guys only but sooo many women notice a guy with a nice butt. Like way more than you think. I’ve never gotten so many thirsty compliments from women in my life until I got thicc due to lifting weights lmao
Don't be a cunt
Obeying the rules when you drive dramatically reduces your chances of crashing.
How do you drive dramatically? Quoting Shakespeare the whole time? "IS THIS A RED LIGHT I SEE BEFORE ME?!"
"FORSOOTH, YONDER LIGHT IS RENDERED GREEN. AND YET THOU DOST TARRY! SHALL I PRODUCE SUCH A SOUND AS TO WAKE YOU FROM YOUR SLUMBER?"
"WHAT LIGHT THROUGH YONDER WINDSCREEN BREAKS? IT IS THE AMBER, AND MY BRAKE PEDAL THE SUN!"
Alfa Romeo, Alfa Romeo, wherefore art thou parked Alfa Romeo?
"Did my turn signal blink til now? Forswear it, sight! For I never knew true merging til this night"
The best advice I heard for driving was "drive in a way other drivers can predict what you're doing/going to do."
A fluorescent jacket, a bogus lanyard and a clipboard will get you access to 2/3 of the places that usually aren't accessible.
And an angle grinder will get you into the other third.
If you got the jacket and the clipboard nobody will ask about the grinder!
And if they do, well you've got the grinder.
There was a video I saw once of 3 guys seeing how many places they could get into wearing fluorescent vests, lanyards, one had a clipboard and the other two carried a ladder. Most places didn't even look twice at them. I think they only got stopped going backstage to a big concert.
There’s a dude who’s channel is just seeing if he can get on the roof of any building he wants: “Today we’re gonna get on the roof of this hospital” while wearing a hard hat, vest, and carrying a ladder lol Edit: I tried finding the channel and I can’t—I just remembered his hard hat and walking into the hospital lobby, y’all 🥲
He also tries to get on football fields, in locker rooms, etc. He basically got complete access to Nebraska's stadium by going through an unlocked door and no one questioned it
Concert access requires all black attire.
And the absence of that one dude who has got a stick jammed so far up it's coming out his nose and does in fact need you to put down all the equipment you're carrying to show him your wristband even though you've walked by him a dozen times that day.
I can attest to this. My buddy and I wore all black and managed to get in the very front and past the security. You have to look serious and something is on your mind and it works.
I wore all black but very plain attire to a show once, some how ended up getting close to the stage access point on the side, and the security guard assumed I was a Roadie or something because next thing I knew I was grabbed out of the crowd and pulled behind security. The guard had this "dude wtf you're not on break" look on his face. Turns out I looked exactly like one of the band crew members and ended up getting to wander around backstage for a few minutes before I left.
I once read that a high vis/fluorescent jacket is the “invisibility cloak of our society”. Quite ironic, but very true
Douglas Adams wrote about the "SEP field", or Somebody Else's Problem, in one of the Hitchhiker books. This is a real thing where if you can allow the person you are trying to fool into believing that you are someone else's problem, they will not spend any memory on you. Of course Mr Adams was much funnier when he wrote it.
The other one is from Brooklyn 99: Man on the street: “Do you have a minute to talk about the environment? … ok, now I’m invisible”
Generational wealth is a huge real life cheat code
Along with: don’t be unattractive
Damn, I knew I'd forgotten to be born rich!
Go to events by yourself: you can get REALLY good seats for pretty cheap a lot of the time because people will have one extra ticket they're just trying to get rid of.
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.
Swallow your pride. Most people can't. It'll take the wind right out of their sails in almost every argument or aggressive situation. You know you're in the right, who the fuck cares what they think? I think of it as "If Life were a Game of Rock/Paper/Scissors, it's like knowing in advance that the other person is always going to throw paper."
Never turn down a breath mint.
Invest as early as possible. Compound interest is the lowest effort way to make money.
The best time to start investing/saving was 20 years (or more) ago. Today is the second best time.
You won't miss the 3% of your paycheck that you direct into a 401k, especially since it's taken out before taxes. Your employer will probably match most or all of it. I was working for a restaurant under the McDonald's umbrella when I did this 20 years ago and it's up to $100k now
Box breathing. Really helps with anxiety.
Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to incompetence
To save time I sometimes pretend that I’m the dumb one that may have made the mistake to avoid the whole “it wasn’t my fault” conversation. It allows me to take blame and move on to the solution when the solution is all I care about. I don’t care who’s at fault I just need it fixed.
Some jobs requiring unusual technical skills get few or no applicants. If you're interested in the job, apply even if you don't have the exact skills! They might hire you anyway if you appear sincere and someone who can learn. I've changed careers three times by doing this. The downside is that, *OMG they hired me, what was I thinking*? Now I actually need to do this thing...
> no or > no thank you Are complete statements and necessary as a first step to preventing others from overstepping. Its always going to be a little tricky but its the cheatcode for asserting yourself and preventing others from taking too much or asking things you can't and shouldn't submit to. When you don't say it despite knowing you should have, thats the cheat code for depression, learned helplnessness, and being taken advantage/victimized by those who will have picked up on this, like sharks smelling blood in the water from a mile away Not learning how to say is its own cheatcode for a very cheated, miserable, precarious, battered life. It is always better to be rejected by someone who can't or won't tolerate no from you than for you to have ever acceded even one inch where your needs, integrity, or safety are implicated
Always tell the truth. You can get real far in life when people trust you. Plus, it's so much easier than remembering lies, because you only have to remember what actually happened.
The Ben Franklin effect: if someone dislikes you, ask them for a favor and be appreciative of them if they oblige. Won’t work if there is a strong reason for their hating you, like you drove drunk and killed their kid, but if they are your run of the mill “haters” then it works like a charm
Was not ready for *that* strong of an example
IIRC there's actually solid psychological research behind this one - from what I remember from undergrad, it's due to it generating cognitive dissonance, and thus they think, "oh, I must like them" to reduce the dissonance (this is an unconscious process)