Slowly and carefully, doing just a little at a time:
He wanted to rush through the job, but I encouraged him to take it one step at a time.
Martin Luther King Jr
The phrase is often used to encourage patience, persistence, and small, consistent progress toward goals. It’s a reminder that big achievements are built step by step. Also, you don’t have to see the whole staircase to start moving forward.
This mindset applies to personal growth, career goals, and overcoming obstacles. Basically, focusing on the next small action rather than the distant finish line.
Motivational use: A call to focus on small, consistent actions toward a larger goal.
Today I’ll be sharing how I organize my Works in Progress.
I’ve never been one of those writers who can create a full outline, block out scenes, and then stick exactly to it from beginning to end.
No. every time I go to write, I find that I usually keep the major outline points, but zigzag all over the smaller ones until I have to throw out a lot of my outline because it just doesn’t work anymore. That’s why I use a Story Notebook to organize my current novels.
Story Notebook I use a simple spiral notebook and turn it into a scribbly mess with my thoughts and revised outlines as I write every day. Then at night, I work on my Nightly Notes, which is where I organize the jumble into a simple, non-committal outline that reminds me of my big ideas but allows me to think my scenes and chapters through a smaller chunk at a time.
Notetaking The secret of the Story Notebook is that there’s really no secret. It’s pure and simple notetaking, just in the middle of writing. I don’t organize my ideas or even separate them into categories until I’ve completely finished writing for the day (ha!). I simply jot down any ideas I have for scene changes, improved plot lines or anything else I think of. I just take a moment to jot it into the Story Notebook and then hurry back to writing! Starting every day knowing exactly what you want to add, change, or fix makes avoiding dry spells and writer’s block so much easier!
Digital Story Notebooks I love the simplicity of a notebook and a pen, but if you are tech-dependent there are a lot of programs and apps you can use as well. I keep the Novelist app on my phone to organize my ideas on the go.
For me, I keep the notebook as simple and messy as possible. It’s a place to store all my great story ideas the moment they come to me before I get distracted or let the ideas get diluted. I write them down and then look at them later after I’m out of the writing haze and have fresh eyes.
When I finish my first drafts, I switch from a Story Notebook to a Story Binder, which is really when my story note organization goes insane.
When meeting people, there is a number of greetings you can use in English. These depend on whether you are arriving somewhere, leaving, meeting people you already know, or meeting someone for the first time.
Depending on the situation, there are formal and informal ways of greeting each other. However, there is some overlap between the two, and you can almost never go wrong using some of the formal expressions in other settings as well.
Here are 10 strategies to use in a business setting.
10 Strategies for Getting Off on the Right Foot
Stand up when you meet someone
This allows you to engage the person on an equal level – eye to eye. By remaining seated, you send a message that you don’t think the other person is important enough to warrant the effort it takes to stand. If you find yourself in a position where you can’t stand up (such as being trapped behind a potted plant) offer an apology and an explanation. You might say something like, “Please excuse me for not getting up. I can’t seem to get around the foliage.”
Smile when meeting people
Your facial expression says more than your words. Look as if you are pleased to meet the other person regardless of what is on your mind. Put a smile on your face for the person standing before you. A sincere smile sends the message that you are safe and trustworthy.
Make eye contact when greeting people
Looking at the people you meet says you are focused and interested in them. If you are staring off somewhere else, you may appear to be looking for someone more to your liking to come along. When you fail to make consistent, appropriate eye-contact, people find it hard to trust you.
Take the initiative when your meet other people
As soon as you approach people you don’t know or are approached by them, say who you are. Don’t stand around as if someone else is in charge of introductions. Getting off to a great start when meeting and greeting people sometimes means that you must take the initiative.
Include a statement about who you are and what you do
It is not always enough to say, “Hello, I’m Mary Jones.” Give more information. “Hello, I’m Mary Jones. I work for XYZ Corporation.” Be confident about who you are and what you do. This often sparks interest and opens up a fruitful conversation.
Offer a firm handshake as you greet people
Extend your hand as you give your greeting. The person who puts a hand out first comes across as confident and at ease. Make sure that this physical part of your meeting and greeting is professional. Don’t offer bone-crushing grips or wimpy limp-wristed shakes. If you are confused about men and women shaking hands, don’t be. There once was a time when women didn’t shake hands with men. We are past that. Everyone in business shakes hands with everyone else.
Learn how to make smooth introductions
When meeting and greeting – especially in business – you always introduce less important people to more important people. The way to do this is to say the name of the more important person first, followed by the words “I’d like to introduce…” and then give the other person’s name. Be sure to add something about each person so they will know why they are being introduced and will have some information with which to start a conversation.
Focus your attention on the more important person
The client or the business prospect is more important than your boss. This is where you want to focus your attention. When you make other people feel important they’ll want to do business with you. (Just hope your boss agrees.)
Pay attention to names when you are meeting and greeting
When meeting and greeting, especially when things are moving fast or there are multiple people in the conversation, it is easy to forget names. It is all too common to be thinking about what you are going to say next and not focus on the other person. If you concentrate and repeat the name as soon as you hear it, you stand a better chance of remembering it later. Remembering and using names is one of the fastest paths to building new relationships and getting off to a great start.
Use first names of people whom you have just met only after they give you permission
Not everyone wants to be addressed informally on the initial encounter. It is better to err on the side of formality than to offend the other person right off the bat. Respect matters. When you are respectful, you are memorable.
Fear is one of the seven universal emotions experienced by everyone around the world. Fear arises with the threat of harm, either physical, emotional, or psychological, real or imagined. While traditionally considered a “negative” emotion, fear actually serves an important role in keeping us safe as it mobilizes us to cope with potential danger.
People want to have faith in the products they buy, the people they employ, and the information they read. Having a good reputation is a big part of that trust. In the workplace, some professions are more reputable than others. A Gallup Poll gave a rating for 20 occupations in terms of honesty and ethical standards. More than 80 percent of people rated nurses as the professionals they trust most.
This isn’t the first-time nurses topped the poll—in fact, they’ve been consistently ranking at the top for 17 years. Medical professionals are trusted more across the board, Forbes reports. So, the next two most trusted professions are doctors and pharmacists, respectively. The poll asked people to rate all the professions as highly honest and ethical, average, low, or no opinion.
The next most trusted professionals are high school teachers, police officers, accountants, funeral directors, and members of the clergy. The following are journalists, building contractors, bankers, real estate agents, labor union leaders, and lawyers. At the bottom of the pack are business executives, stockbrokers, advertising practitioners, telemarketers, car salespeople, and members of Congress. Only 8 percent of people view car salespeople and members of Congress as honest and ethical.
Although the list changes from year to year, many professions like nurses are regular repeats. In fact, the only time nurses didn’t top this list since their 1999 addition was in 2001. Firefighters topped the list that year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Pharmacists and clergy members were also frequently the most highly rated professionals for their ethics before 1999, per the poll. Some of these rankings make sense, while others might be a bit surprising.
