Erika Femrite

Today I realized I live by some invisible scripts in my head left there by good advice givers. Thought I’d share in case you need some wisdom.

1. You’re not eating enough vegetables/drinking enough water. This is kind of a 2 parter. My friend Graham believes every fad diet was designed to trick you into eating more veggies. As far as water goes, my friend Stephen got me on a habit I would never want to break – drinking 2 glasses of water before bed. He also drinks a gallon of water a day, which I think is the best possible thing you can do to feel better.

2. Nothing good happens after midnight. This is something my uncle taught me long before I dictated my own bedtime. Sure, there’s nights where you stay up all night chatting with friends, or when you finally complete that huge project you’ve been working on; but usually after midnight is when there’s a crying girl in the corner, and you’ve decided to start a conga line. If I’m up at midnight, I always try to at least analyze the situation.

3. Step away. Yes, this applies to a fight, but more often I use it for projects. My ability to get work done increases significantly when (counter-intuitively) I make myself go outside for 10 minutes of fresh air.

4. Everything worth having is hard to get. You wont lose weight by buying a pill; randomly blanketing the city with uniform resumes wont get you a job; going to yoga once a week isn’t going to get you a flat stomach; and if you want a nice/funny/smart partner, you have to be nice/funny/smart. And don’t let screwing up one day ruin your entire plan. Get back to it the next day.

5. The Briefcase Technique. Really most of what Ramit Sethi says that I’ve tried has worked. The Briefcase Technique though actually made a client high-five me not once, but twice.

6. Surround yourself with passionate people. This is what I like to call the whiteboard effect. You know in those cool think tank companies when they have those huge whiteboards full of scribbled ideas? If when I’m talking to you my brain turns into one of those boards, I’m better off with you around me.

7. Don’t give up because you think you’re bad. For more information on what I mean see this.

8. Say “I feel” in a fight.The natural reaction is to point fingers in a fight , but that always escalates it. Someone once gave me this bit of advice and it stuck. The other fight-right advice I’ve received is to stick to the topic at hand (“Well last year…” arguments never play out), and to never (EVER) say or do anything that would ruin the relationship forever. I knew a guy once whose girlfriend got so mad at him for something or other and threw his dead mother’s old bible into the pool. Although it’s an extreme, I always think about that moment when I’m in a fight. It reminds me to stay classy.

9. Even when you have pains, you don’t have to be one. This is from my favorite poet, Maya Angelou.

10. Don’t eat the roast beef from Arby’s. Just. Don’t. Do. It.

Do you have any advice that’s stuck with you?