Best Advice From the Book How I Work 2018
Every week at Lifehacker, we interview successful people about their careers and work habits in the How I Work column. And every week we ask them, “What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?” Here are the best answers our guests gave us in 2018.
Roxanne Gay, author
Every time I share this, I feel embarrassed because the advice is so simple and seems trivial, but it wasn’t trivial, and I am not offering it trivially here.
When I entered the academic job market, worried about interviewing on campus, my friend Matt Seigel advised me to just be myself, because otherwise, if I were hired as the person I was pretending to be, I would have to maintain this pretense. for the rest of my career.
He was absolutely right when he said that I was for the better and for the worse.
Alex Moore, CEO of Boomerang
Rhett and Link, YouTube
In Steve Martin’s book Born Standing Up, he said that he would like to return to his younger self and said, “Everything will be fine.” We talk a lot about this ourselves.
Patrick Moberg, creator of Dots and Two Dots
Morra Aarons-Mel, author of Hiding in the Bathroom
Selling is the solution to problems. Once you understand this, you don’t need to spend hours chatting, chatting, or building a personal brand. Understand what your client needs help with!
Hrishikesh Hirvey, Host of Song Exploder
Maurice Cherry, designer
Sherri Huss, co-founder of Maker Faire
Take control of your morning. You can always determine the time when you start your day, but in the world of events, it is difficult to control when your day ends.
Brittany Luze, co-host of The Nod
Perform a HALT check: Try not to talk, do, or deal with anything long, permanent, or important if you feel hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. As the great Cathy Tu ofNancy always said, “There are no podcast emergencies.”
Michelle Wu, parenting editor at Lifehacker
When young children melt – say, lash out and tend to be terrified – it means they crave connection. Therefore, even if it goes against your instincts, you can kneel down and hug them tightly. Hold them and just breathe.
I try to apply this advice to others in my life (at least in my head – I won’t hug you at random), and it also helps me take care of myself. If I feel moody, depressed, or angry, I need to stop what I am doing, think about what I need, and sometimes ask for help.
Ben Chestnut, co-founder of Mailchimp
My mom used to say, “Become your friends.” It’s true – over time, you start to reflect the people you interact with. This inspired me to choose some really good friends who will be my role models and inspire me.
Adrienne Willis, Executive and Artistic Director, Lumberyard Film and Performing Arts Center
Bobby Mueller (veterans’ rights and peace activist whose organization Vietnam Veterans for America co-founded the International Campaign to Ban Landmines , which won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize) told me, “The moment you stop questioning your own assumptions, you become irrelevant. And nonprofits die when their commitment to a mission fails to account for their relevance. ” He said that leaders must do the same all the time, otherwise they will lose the courage of their own beliefs.