One of the surest ways to have people to step all over you is to always wear your heart on your sleeve and not think things through rationally. Some people go to great lengths to avoid conflict and confrontation -- so much so that they'll acquiesce to others' every desire. Being too much of a people pleaser, ironically, will hurt you in the end -- the exact scenario you're aiming to avoid in the first place --because someone will eventually exploit your generous nature to get as much out of you as they can. Yes, you should try to do favors for others and lend a hand when it's needed. But you shouldn't be afraid to say no to someone for fear of disappointing them or causing a rift in the relationship. A relationship built on fear is no relationship at all. If something so minute can lead to tensions in the relationship, it begs the question: Is this the kind of person you want to be around? You can be nice without being a doormat. It may sound counterintu...

One of the surest ways to get hurt by other people is by getting emotional over every little thing they say and do . But you should never do this! I realize that human beings have feelings and emotions that they can't simply trap in a bottle. However, you can prevent getting hurt by approaching things in a more rational manner. When you feel deeply affected by someone's words or actions, stop and ask yourself the following: Why has what this individual said or done affected me so much? Is it really worth letting this individual change my mood? In what ways can I prevent myself from investing my emotions in this person? Far too often, we let other people have their way with our emotions. Luckily, there's a way to prevent such a scenario, and that's by taking a more rational stance as I've suggested above.  Wearing your heart on your sleeve is a recipe for heartbreak. If you must express your emotions, try to do in private if at all possible. The rea...

Whether it's on TV or in the workplace, the general consensus seems to be that women gossip, backstab, and stir up more conflict than men do. But, as with every other topic, I thought it only fair to put this so-called stereotype under the microscope. If you watch reality shows like Celebrity Apprentice, you'll notice it's the women who spend far more time bickering. While the men do at times become embroiled in tit for tat, it's the women who are portrayed as meaner and more hostile. In the workplace, I have noticed that women seem to gossip far more than their male counterparts. I haven't really seen any cases where a person blatantly backstabs the other, but I have caught both men and women in little white lies. If it is true that women are generally more into backstabbing and gossiping than men, why is this the case? I believe that it isn't fair to make a blanket statement like "all women play these games while all men keep to themselves and pre...

I know this is another one of those things I write about that is largely subjective. However, you'd be surprised at the number of women I've met who've admitted to preferring men to women when it comes to friendships. These women say that they prefer making friends with men because guys are more rational and far less dramatic. Women like to fuss over the smallest details, they say, while men are simpler and easier to please. Below are some observations I've made, and I want to preface this by saying that they are general observations. I know all men and women are different. It's true that women generally gossip more than men. I've especially found this to be the case in the workplace.  Women get more easily excited or worked up over things that most men might find to be trivial (e.g. who is attending the holiday party, the hideous shirt that someone in Accounting wore yesterday, something that a neighbor's friend bought recently, etc.)  Women tend t...