Is anyone in your life, to put it mildly, a pain in the rear end? Maybe it's your stubborn boss, narrow-minded neighbor, or obstinate father-in-law. The reason many people tend to be difficult is because they have trouble seeing things from a point of view that diverges from their own. To them, the sky is blue and can never be gray. Open-mindedness is simply not in their vocabulary, let alone their repertoire. What's worse, these very individuals are often reluctant to concede they're wrong even after realizing it. Egocentricity often goes hand-in-hand with intransigence. So what is one to do about people who have such a hard time being flexible in their views and opinions? All we can really do is make an entreaty for them to consider our perspective. If, however, it goes in one ear and out the other, then nothing will change until they come to the realization that others have a right to differ in their outlook -- and that their take merits consideration a...

Today I'd like to share a quote from John Wooden (1910-2010), an American basketball player and coach: "Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be." - John Wooden This reminds of another quote that is often bounced around in work and school settings: "To be insane is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result." To be successful in life, you have to be receptive to change -- there's no way around it. I started college as an accounting major and excelled greatly at it. About halfway into the program, though, I realized accounting wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, so I switched to a major that not only afforded me the opportunity to be more creative, but harnessed my passion for the written word and made use of my writing and editing skills: marketing.  I now have ample marketing communications/copywriting experience under my belt. But making the switch wasn't easy. I had my sights set on accoun...