Life Rules

1. Never leave home if you aren’t packing resumes and business cards.

2. Practice your e-pitch when you are on the treadmill.

3. Find yourself a role model or mentor. A mentor would be better, because then you will have the opportunity to talk to them about their life choices and road to success. However, just having a role model who doesn’t even know you works too. Picking a person or persons who exemplify the person you want to be will help you stay on track. I know it sounds corny, but when facing small (should I eat that brownie? Or brown or black slacks?) and big decisions (Boston or NYC? Marketing or oceanography?) ask yourself what person X would do. Pick and choose virtues though—don’t say you are going to be the next Madonna without considering Britney’s dance moves.

4. Create a Power Book. Include photocopies of awards you have earned, great pictures of yourself, quotes from mentors and friends and other self-esteem boosting materials. Before a big meeting or event, take a sneak peak at it. Repeat after me: “I am a powerful woman, and Ideserve this. These people are going to see the real me, and they are going to love her!”

5. The week before a test, interview, presentation or whatever, think long-term. Put in the effort that will propel you into your desired future. Think about everything from the salary increase, the townhouse on Beacon Hill you’ve always wanted, or the man you want to share your hotness with. The night before the biggie, as well as the day of, think short-term. You have prepared as much as you can, and it’s in the receptors’ hands now. Focus on going in and doing a kick-ass job, and forget the long term implications. Think only on the task at hand.

6. Keep your best friend on speed dial, no matter how distant she becomes. Regardless of how you might drift away, at some point, you will need her. If not to cry and lament, then to laugh and share in your triumphs.

7. Don’t forget your past. It doesn’t matter how bad it is—you need something to compare your new successes to.

8. Essentials for work:

a. Big purse with room for flip flops/flats (don’t be that woman with the chic skirt and running shoes)

b. Breath mints

c. Small bottle of perfume (you will not smell good after the train)

d. Massive sunglasses (moonlight as a disguise, something to cry behind on the way home from a bad day, and helps with hangovers)

e. Small bills (you never know! And you don’t want to be stuck in the city with 50s)

f. Powder and maybe some mascara

g. Small vial of ibuprofen

h. Band-Aids & tissues

i . A Hershey’s Kiss—for extreme situations

j. USB flash drive—with a copy of your resume on it!

9. Invest in a gym on the way home from work—and then buy a lock and key to leave a week’s worth of gym clothes there. If you go home to pick up your running regalia, you run the risk of flopping on the couch and never getting up.

10. Adhere to the following diet mini-rules

a. Have a cup of coffee and a granola on the way from work to the gym to recharge.

b. Make your dinner the night before. Chances are that you will be starving once you get home from the gym. Knowing that there is a healthy meal waiting for you when you get home will decrease the chances of you pulling into McDonalds. Stick it in the oven/microwave/whatever when you are showering.

c. Splurge on a really advanced water bottle AND maintain it—nothing is better than water, but nothing is worse than a yucky water bottle.

d. Also, buy a travel mug. If this is out of the question (it shouldn’t be), at least reuse coffee cups—save the damn earth!

11. Commit yourself to the fifteen-minute rule. Arrive fifteen minutes early for everything and camp out. It may seem extreme, but resolving to arrive “on-time” involves the risk of running late, and no one likes a sweaty girl. Arriving early can be tricky—you don’t want to look like a crazy standing outside the door of wherever you are going. My tip: use Google Maps’ street view. A nearby coffee shop would be ideal, but bookstores, music stores, supermarkets and even hotel lobbies are ok too. Spend your extra fifteen minutes there, find a bathroom to freshen up and then glide into your destination looking HOT.

12. Go to Franklin Covey (http://www.franklinplanner.com/fc/content.jsp?id=5&c=0610-locatestorern) and buy a planner! My planner is my life—without it, I am literally nothing. I named it Napoleon (I read somewhere that naming it gives it a new level of endearment, and Ialways believe what I read in blogs). It will keep it you grounded and organized. Here’s my tip: spend some time after dinner sitting comfortably on your big couch to pick your mind and write down everything you need to do the following day. Make sure to update everything you accomplished that day as well!

13. Schedule time for yourself everyday—no matter what. Whether it’s a bath or a long phone call to your friend, it’s important to remain you throughout your busy lifestyle. Connect to the things that you love—and although I will be the first to admit that one of the things I love is my career life, there are other things you crave. Have a bag of chips, watch a TV show, or read a gossip magazine. All in moderation, of course.

14. Turn your personal life and professional life into a double helix. While you don’t want the two to be exactly the same, you do want a connection. You won’t be able to fully commit to and grow in one if the other doesn’t complement it. In other words, you are going to have a hard time being a young executive at a high-power law firm in NYC while dating an Eskimo. Find the balance—your boyfriend should know the details of your work life so he can understand and empathize, and your boss should know about your boyfriend so you don’t get roped into living at the office. This rule doesn’t have to apply only to your love life; display your goddamn personality. You have a greater to be liked if your co-workers know about your passion for gardening or snow-shoeing (unless your passion is something really kinky, just keep that to yourself). An undecorated cubical makes for a boring person, and a boring person won’t be able to develop the relationships she needs. I’m all for becoming an invaluable member of team who is respected and idolized, but I also think that being a friend can take you that extra mile.

15. Don’t forget your goals. Don’t get stuck in middle management if you dreamed about being CEO every night throughout college. Don’t ever tell yourself that you will settle for less. Write your goals down in your planner and make a conscious effort to meet them.