I think I found the perfect grad school!

While conducting a little research, I discovered an academic program that suits my intellectual interests. University of Southern California (USCLA) offers a master's degree in "Human Behavior".

One day, I hope to obtain the ability to influence consumer decisions when making purchasing decisions. Understanding the psychological process of the individual components that are effective on human cognition intrigues me.

However, the application process appears to be somewhat extensive. And there is a possiblity I will not only have to take the GMAT but the GRE as well and I'm not sure how that is going to work out. :(

Regardless, California in and of itself sounds awesome!

Mohawk Hat...How Friggin Awesome Is That!

What's Crackalackin Readers :p

Those that know me personally have seen me rock the mohawk earlier this year. Lemme tell you, I was feeling myself for a quick minute. I'm so used to sporting the "regular cut" and its not often that I get to experiment with an out of the ordinary style. nfortunately, as a senior, I have to prepare myself for the upcoming world ahead of me; that being said, mohawks will only hinder my potential to obtain the employment opportunities that I actually want.

Well guess what, I happened to be window shopping on AmericanEagle.com when I encountered this friggin awesome "Mohawk Hat". Shut the Front Door! A Mohawk Hat! Are ya serious!?, I will definitely have to buy me a couple for the cold season ahead.

Watch out peeps, I'm bringing sexy back!

Craigslist Scam Victim

Hey Readers,

Boy do I have a story to share. I was shopping around online for a vehicle on Craigslist when I came across an offer that was to good to be true and unfortunately it was. Posted was a 2002 Toyota Camry Sedan, white, great condition, 82k miles, clean interior...at a price within my means. The ad listed no specific details (red flag). No personal contact information was listed; however, I could send an email via Craigslist. So I decided to express interest in an email while requesting additional information.

The next afternoon I received a response from the assumed owner of the vehicle. I was excited for quick second. In the reply, the owner provided general details about the car including mileage and other specs. No VIN. One of my major concerns is that the owner mentioned that she and the vehicle were in Maine, when I was searching for vehicles in Norfolk, VA (red flag). Conveniently, the seller won a free promo from DAS for "1 free shipping"; so I wouldn't have to incur the shipping expense. However, it was listed that I would have to pay for the state inspection (red flag).

I was concerned because I recently seen an episode of Teen Mom where Farrah was scammed on Craigslist for $3k because she sent the supposed owner a check. By the time Farrah discovered it was a scam, it was too late. Fortunately, I learned to not forward any money until I physically have possession of the vehicle.

Next I tried the most simply thing, googling the owner, "Sarah Entilevi", which I retrieved from the email that was sent. Funny thing! There were only 4 results from my google search and the first two included the words "scam" and "craigslist" and that was all she wrote.

When you click on the second link in the results list, the article illustrates the same exact email that was sent to me. Only thing that was changed was the dollar amount and the location of the vehicle (remember in my situation it was Maine).

Moral of the story, be very careful when making online transactions.

Social Network Overload!!!!!

Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Youtube, Skype, and now Oovoo!

One by one, another social networking site is created and is the latest trend in the American culture. Even for someone of my generation, (which I consider to be pretty young) keeping up with all of these internet sites is becoming more & more difficult. These are not even including the several email accounts that I constantly monitor: Aim, Gmail, & MS Outlook.

So until last week, I have never heard of an "Oovoo", which my brother happened to mention on Facebook... or was it Skype? Anywho, I was initially reluctant to create yet another account for a social network. However, as a business major, I've been taught the importance of keeping up with emerging trends; therefore, I've found myself submitting to another internet site that does something very similar to what I already have.

Oovoo, apparently is Video Chat service which is the same exact thing as Skype. However, I think Oovoo differs in that it has the capability of video conferencing, which allows users to basically conduct a multiple chat video call. Whoopdeedoo! Why can't the people just wait until Skype upgrades.

I conclude this blog with a simple sigh (siiiigh) Now on to create my Oovoo account....my life!

I'm an "ESFJ" Personality Type

After taking a short Myers Briggs personality type indicator assemssment, the results listed that I was an ESFJ.

Extrovert-Sensing-Feeling-Judging

• Extroverts tend to be more outgoing, talktative, socialable, and assertive.
• Sensing types use an organized structure to acquire factual and preferably quantitative details.
• Feeling types consider how their choices affect how their choices affect others; weighing options against their personal values more than rational logic
• Judging types prefer order & structure in relationships with the outer world; enjoy control of decision making and want to resolve problems quickly.

Personalityportrait.com describes ESFJs as "The Caregiver". [see link for full description]

Myer's Briggs is designed to:

• identify the way people prefer to percieve environment
• obtain and process information
• measure how people orient themselves to outer world

For me, the Myers Briggs assessment has increased awareness about my character and behavior. As stated in previous blogs, I'm currently experiencing a high level of evolution in regards to my growth & development. One of the first steps is to understand yourself. If you ever have the opportunity to take the MBTI assessment please do so. I also encourage comment posts to share and discuss different personality types.

REFERENCES

McShane, S., & Glinow, M. A. (2008). Organizational Behavior. New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin.

My Dear Friend, Pandora!

Oh how I love my friend Pandora, she knows exactly what music to play during any given moment. Music is such a great reliever of stress.

Lately I've been listening to Pandora as I prepare for class in the morning, & I can testify that this certainly makes my mornings start of awesome! Playing air guitar in the mirror while brushing my teeth with my crest spin brush couldn't get any better.

Just in case you aren't up to speed. Pandora is an internet radio application that plays music tailored to the listener's taste. How so? First you select a genre, artist, or song and Pandora will play songs similar to that particular category. Then as the user continues to like/dislike a song selection, Pandora will take note of music that the user does/doesn't prefer.

Pandora, she knows me so well.

When stakes are high!

Communication is recognized as one of the most critical skills in the business world. Casual dialogue is the most frequently used form of communication. One moment, you could be conducting a friendly safe discussion and then all of sudden, it takes a turn for the worse. Sporadically, voices are elevating, tempers are flaring, and you are completely oblivious how this innocent conversation turned into a explosive battlefield.

Soooo....what do you do when emotions are raging and the stakes are high? Well my friends, that's for you to discover. Fortunately, I'm going to suggest another book that I recently read entitled, Crucial Conversations. Believe it or not, there is a technique when manuevering around these heated interactions.

This book has helped me to be able to recognize when a crucial conversation has taken place or about to take place. Instead of feeling intimidated, I become encompassed with excitement for the opportunity to practice and improve my newly acquired communication skills.

Crucial Conversations is a great read!

Reason, Season, & Lifetime

One of my mentors shared a valuable piece of wisdom with me. "People come into your life for a reason, season, or for a lifetime." However, I'm puzzeled on how to disguish on which people in my life fit into which category.

When it comes to business settings, I can be a social butterfly. I have the ability to create genuine positive relationships in the professional environment. Unfortunately, I wish I could say the same for my personal life. Although I choose to keep a small "circle", something inside me wants to be able to open up, and let people in, actually allowing myself to trust people. Supposing that safety is of greatest concern, I fear of becoming vulnerable. My expecations for people's character are relatively low; therefore, I hesitate to engage in personal relationship, assuming that eventually, I will one day be betrayed.

Through growth & maturity, I've become more able and confident to having deeper personal friendships. Inner strength has served as a leverage in my life, to not only invest in personal relationships but initiate them as well. Learning that building human relationships is a skill in the business environment, I've been able to apply those skills to manage the relationships in my personal life.

Friend or foe, I'm learning to appreciate every encounter with people, for there is something valuable to gain from everybody. So I often ask myself "Why do I want to risk safety and trust people?" Well, to be honest, I really want people to want to take that risk with me. Let's just say that I've experienced my fair share of reasons and seasons and not enough lifetimes.

Learning - A Delayed Reaction

Sometimes we learn some of the most valuable lessons in the most unexpected way.

In my ealier college years, I remember taking a couple of GE courses in world literature instructed by professor Dr. Lisowski. His class included one simple daily routine assignment that has made his class unique compared to any other class I've completed. Students were not required to participate in this assignment and those who opted to do so, did not receive any credit towards their grade average. My professor called this assignment, "Active Critical Thinking".

At the beginning of each class, Dr. Lisowski would reserve a section of the dry erase board and label it "Active Critical Thinking". While Dr. Lisowski conducted roll call, students were free to post anything on the board that provoked (the title of this assignment) active critical thinking. This post could be a quote, phrase, picture, word or even a single character. This post did not have to relate to world literature. In fact, most of the time, none of the posts were related to the class whatsoever. Once Dr. Lisowski finished calling the roll, he would dedicate about five (5) minutes of class discussion for any posts on the board.

This activity was a great way, (especially for those 8am classes) to get students' minds stimulated. A lot of times students would post quotes that were significant to them personally. One student posted a quote in Latin that I had seen for the first time, "Dubit ergo cogito, cogito ergo sum", meaning "I doubt therefore think, I think therefore I am." Sometimes the posts were simply random, yet entertaining and humorous. I remember one Friday morning, a student posted "TGIF". Often times, the mornings after a televised sport event, one might post "How about them (sports team)".

Surprisingly, the meanings to most of the posts were not so obvious and discovering the message was an exciting challenge. It was very satifying to see my peers contribute in this activity as it also increased my interest in learning.

I really appreciate Dr. Lisowski including "Activity Critical Thinking" as apart of his routine lesson plan. He would only serve as a moderator during this activity; however, he would occasionally engage in class dialogue considering he was learning just as much as the rest of the class. But I believe he thoroughly enjoyed the interaction amongst his students as they particpated in healthy positive discussion.

Empowering students to discuss topics that we deem important and challenging our minds to determine the meanings of these posts has accomplished what I suspect few teachers have, promoting students teach students.

Thank you Dr. Lisowski and I apologize that it took me so long to understand and value the lesson you were trying to teach.

A New Addition to My Shoe Collection

I know it's not the Italian handcrafted dress shoe from Johnston and Murphy, but it is still a very stylish shoe in my opinion.

I found this mahogany Alfani dress shoe on sale for $49.00 at Macy's. This shoe has a very sleek, sophisticated, and polished finish to it. I've been wanting a new pair of brown dress shoes for quite some time, & I've finally made the investment.

I'd really appreciate your feedback, positive or negative, I can roll with the punches.

7 Habits You'll Want to Pick Up

Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has published one of the best pieces of literature I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

A good friend and mentor recommended this book to me a while back when he introduced Habit #5 (Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood) as apart of his leadership development presentation to myself along with my fellow student government cabinet members. Ever since, I've been anxious to get my hands on a copy so that I could absorb as much knowledge from it as possible.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is about focusing on paradigms. Our paradigms often hinder us from successfully performing tasks, completing projects, and managing human relationships to the best of our abilities. Covey explains that we often try to solve problems without analyzing the symptons to provide an accurate diagnosis. Before we fully understand the delimma we automatically shift responsibility on others. Our paradigms however, are frequently the issue and they simply need maintenance to eliminate and prevent future issues. We can alter our paradigms by improving our habits. This book outlines 7 effective habits to succesfully enhance our paradigms.

Habit #2 talks about "Beginning with the End in Mind". To know the end, you have to know where you going; therefore, Covey includes an exercise that involves visioning your own funeral. While reading this book, I did practice this activity. I imagined myself driving to my funeral, noticing who attended, observing their facial expressions, and listened to Eulogies from friends, family, co-workers, and church members. I even approached the casket to see myself lying there lifeless. The objective is to listen to the eulogies to determine what the end is, in other words our deepest goals. This exercise will then help you to develop your own personal mission statement. I haven't written mine yet, but I will publish it as a blog post as soon as it is finalized. This was just one of the many interesting activities this book has to offer.

I encourage you to purchase this book to not only read for yourself, but to keep in your personal book collection for reference and review. There is so much knowlege in 7 Habits for Highly Effective People that you will want to read it multiple times.

$400 Italian Handcrafted Dress Shoe

Man Oh Man!!!.....one of these days....

Check out this burgendy calf, Ecker Cap Toe, made from the finest Italian leather, full length cushion for that lavishing comfort. Priced at $395.00.

You all just don't understand, it is a goal of mine to be able to shop in a store such as Johnston & Murphy and have the "ability" to buy anything: a belt, tie, cuff links, ....if I could just walk out with an empty shopping bag it may fulfill some area of satisfaction.

Every time I walk in that store, I become overwhelmed with this feeling of unbelonging. When the sales representative asks me if I need any help, I proudly say, "No sir, I'm just window shopping". This store has some of the highest quality men's dress apparrel I've ever gazed my eyes upon. I cannot wait for the day I can walk in Johnston & Murphy, and not just to buy something, but also to not worry about how I am going to pay my phone bill for the next four (4) months. Somethings gotta give.

As for now, I suppose Macy's and JC Pennies will suffice. Can somebody say "CLEARANCE"!

The Dream Job

Picture this!

Working for a company where everyone exchanges a warm smile and greeting with every encounter. Leadership training is not only provided, but is composed of entertaining activities, while also designed to develop and improve your skills. The organization celebrates times of personal accomplishments. Shows sympathy during times of endearment. Even during tough economic times, jobs remain secure because rentention is top priority.

Imagine everyone working to the best of their ability consistently everyday, because they want to. Can you even fathom a culture like that? Where everyday is an exciting adventure and working seems like fun.

I just finished reading this great book entitled, Lessons in Loyalty by Lorraine Grubbs-West. This book includes nine (9) lessons on how to achieve a culture such as the one describe above and within each lesson, several principles are outlined.

Lorraine shares her experience at Southwest Airlines to support the lessons and principles discussed in the book. According to Lorraine, Southwest places high value on their employees byinvesting time, money, and love into their human resources, one employee at a time.

After interning for Nationwide Insurance for just a couple of months, I've noticed that the company models the same principles & lessons illustrated in the book. Since the beginning of my internship, everyone has been very welcoming and supportive. Anything that I could possibly need, the Nationwiders (as they call themselves) are more than willing to offer assistance.

I did notice that Nationwide is comprised of many associates that have been employeed with them for thirty-five (35+) years. In my opinion, that suggests that Nationwide is employee-focused. After job shadowing some of the associates, many have expressed how Nationwide allows one move into any field that he/she is intersted in, which is great! Employees need to be able to perform a job they like. Nationwide works with the employee to find a field that is most compatible with his/her skills and interests. That is just one of the various reasons why people are so dedicated to the company.

Below are the nine (9) lessons in loyalty

1. Hire Attitude-Train Skills
2. Immerse Everyone in the Culture Immediately
3. Keep 'Em Learning
4. People Give as Good as They Get
5. Find the Kid in Everyone
6. Do More with Less
7. Luv 'Em in Tough Times
8. Do What's Right
9. Nurture the Corporate Family

If you want to be apart of a work culture that accepts, celebrates, embraces, develops, and understands everyone, read Lessons in Loyalty, so that you can be equipped with the knowledge on how to identify an organization that fit's this mold. If your a manager, supervisor, or any type of company leader, use this book as a resource tool to provide your employees with "the dream job".

The Stacy Adam: Business Fashion "No No's"

Gentlemen, my friends...The shoes illustrated in this post are not intended for any sort of "professional" business engagement.

Before I continue, allow me to emphasize that this is strictly my "opinion".

These shoes scream Jazz Club. Now, I've actually seen some Stacy Adams that I consider acceptable for the business environment. (Although I still would not wear them)

- If your shoes are two-toned, calico, animal print, or multi-colored leave them in the closet.

- If your shoes have the golden shoelace tips, leave them in the closet.

- If your shoes have the golden rim in the front, leave them in the closet.

- If light reflects off your shoes in the shade because they're patent leather, leave them in the closet.
- If your shoes are blue, red, orange, pink,... and they match your three (3) piece Stacy Adam suit, leave them at the store!

I just wanted to get that off my chest. Again, this is just my "opinion".

Church Ensemble: Business Fashion "No No's"

I'm no fashion guru to say the least, but I've been told once or twice that I know how to assemble a proper business outfit.

With that being said, I feel compelled to share a piece of fashion advice when it comes to dressing appropriately for business occassions.

I couldn't help but take notice that a lot of my peers will wear their church ensemble to business meetings, interviews, career fairs, ect...

In my personal opinion, Steve Harvey suits fits in the "church ensemble" category. Although they would probably be acceptable at an event like the BET Awards.

So if you come to an interview wearing the following or something similar, may I politely suggest either revisting your closet or invest in a nice conservative business outfit.

I call these Business Fashion "No No's":

To the left is a Steve Harvey suit that I found online. Please keep in mind this is just my own personal opinion. Although, I've discovered quite a few people have shared my same opinion (I'm just saying). I would not wear this to any type of business setting for the following reasons:

- The pinstripes are too bold. If this was worn in a meeting, this suit will attract a lot of attention. Believe me, this is not the kind of attention you want. If you are into fashion and you want to dress to impress, this is not the way to go. Pinstripes are acceptable, but they should be subtle, not exuberant.

- Jacket is Too big. When I'm wearing a suit, I like for them to "fit". From the looks of this suit, the jacket extends too far below the waist, nearly reaching the lower thigh. You want a jacket that reaches just at your pelvis. I prefer a jacket that also has a more slim tailored fit. This is still achievable for more broader men, have your suits tailored so that it fits as closely to your body and still feels comfortable. The arms appears as if they would extend just over the knuckes when stetched at the waist. The arms of the suit should reach at the wrist bone when in the waist-side position, just enough to see the cuff of the shirt.

- Pants are Too Baggy. Now even though you can't really see them from here, I've seen enough Steve Harvey suits in my day to know that they generally fit very loosely. Baggy pants simply show that you don't know how to select clothes that fit. I'm not saying that your pants need to hug your crotch, you do want to make sure that everything can breath below the waste.

- Four (4) Buttons?? The number of buttons on a standard business suit jacket are two(2) to three (3). If the latter, often times, men will leave the bottom third buttom unfastened.

Steve Harvey suits are simply not my preference, I'm pretty sure there are some appropriate business Steve Harvey suits out there, I just haven't seen them.

Disclaimer: I am not the Fashion Police, so please do not take offense to my "opinion". I have never been enrolled in any fashion program, educational institute, or organization. I have never received a "best dressed" award. I am not recognized as a fashion expert. If I happen to see you wearing a Steve Harvey suit in a business setting, I may have my own personal reservations and proceed to twitpic your church ensemble and may even blog about it.

Fill Your Bucket

Reflect on the last twenty-four (24) hours, now forty-eight (48), now seventy-two (72). Within these spans of time, how often have you affected someone in a positve way? Before you answer that question, think of how many times you smiled at someone, greeted them, complimented them, rewarded them, or gave praise and recognition to them. Now, how many times have you affected someone in a negative way? Maybe you wore a frown, complained about something, criticized, teased, yelled or hollared at someone, or even punished.

I read the book entitled, How Full is Your Bucket by Tom Rath and Donald Clifton. This book explains that everyone has an imaginary bucket. The objective is to fill your bucket so that it is constantly overflowing. Buckets are filled by others pouring into them. Buckets can also be reduced by "dipping" into others buckets. The book also mentions that everyone has an imaginary dipper. The dipper is used to pour or dip into other buckets. Therefore, I believe it's safe to conclude that pourers are "givers" and dippers are "takers".

Now that you understand what the bucket is, I'll explain the concept. This book focuses on maximizing your ability to be a positive person. Simple right? In this circumstance, it appears this is a black & white topic. Every action, thought, gesture, ect is either positive or negative.

When you say "Good morning!" to a co-worker, you are pouring into their bucket. Now, the first thing one might ask is, how will I fill my bucket if I'm always pouring into others? Well, what do you think your co-worker will say afterwards, "Good morning!" back right? Simple. Okay so why is this book so important to blog about.

Throughout life you were probably taught to do these things, like greeting people as you pass them, but this book teaches you the impact of bucket filling. The ability to identify the impact of your actions (whether positive or negative) allows you to improve them. It's the smaller things that we need to focus more to our attention. Divide your daily actions into percentages. Do you complain 45% of the day, compliment/praise 5 % of the day, frown 20%, smile 2%... The smaller things amount to much more than what we would consider the larger gestures.

At http://www.bucketbook.com/ there is a "Positive Impact Test". This assessment will provide you with a "Positive Impact Report". The report will list your postive impact as a percentile score and rank you into one of three categories: Low Impact, Some Impact or High Impact. After completing the assessment my Positive Impact Report ranked me in the 70 percentile which is in the "Some Impact" category. Of course, now I'm going to try and improve my score.

I strongly encourage you to read How Full is Your Bucket, it' a little over 100 pages in length, I read it in 2 days. This book is filled with concepts and ancedotes, supported by Gallup research.

So my question is, How Full is Your Bucket?

The Seersucker!!!

If you haven't been acquainted, please allow me to introduce you to my dear associate, the Seersucker suit!

I've been going to the NC General Assembly frequently this summer for my internship and it seems like everyone down there are wearing these white, thin striped suits, called Seersuckers.

Seersuckers are intended to be worn during the warmer, sunnier seasons of the year. (For men who dress professionally everyday in the blazing sun) Apparently the fabric is lighter (as in weight) and keeps the body cool when challenged by the summer heat. We're not just talking about a mere fashion statement my friends, seersuckers are essential to life.

From state Senators & House members, to lobbyists, and even interns like myself (except for me) have been sporting these "interesting" pieces of apparel. These suits are to be worn with light colored shirts and ties (neck or bow).

Now I want one! I know I know, way to jump on the band wagon right? But the worst part is that these suits have been around for years..... and I'm just now learning about these suckers (pun intended). Lol!


Next year, Ehrick will be included on the not so latest fashion!

Mint.com "Post 2"

As you may or may not know, I've been using this FREE finance managment service called Mint for about two weeks now and so far so good.

But check this out!

So unfortunately I overdafted AGAIN! In a span of three (3) weeks, I managed to overdraft four (4) times. Not good, I know.

Guess how I found out about my overdraft charges? Mint.com!

Mint.com sent an email alerting me of the overdraft charge. Even though I got upset, I was satisfied at the same time due to the compentency of this service. I probably wouldn't have noticed the charges as soon otherwise.

Thanks Mint.com! :)

I just thought that was a cool feature.

I've Got Viking Pride!!!

Below is a statement I submitted for a survey for a chance to win a scholarship. I ranked my university, the illustrious Elizabeth City State University, home of the mighty VIKINGS with an A+ score. Elevating Higher and Emerging Stronger. What can I say, I love ECSU! VIKING PRIDE!!!

"ECSU creates an environment where students are interactive and engaged in and outside the classroom.

The professors have plenty of time to develop a well organized class and have one-on-one time with students for advising and feedback.

There are plenty of student clubs to join while establishing life long relationships and developing excellent leadership skills.

A small university allows for a more family atmosphere, where everyone knows everyone. Students, faculty, staff, and alumni are all supportive of one another, which we define as Viking Pride. At athletic events, fashion shows, dances, community fairs, ect, Vikings stand together and help each other succeed whether with collective or individual endeavors.

ECSU may not be the highest ranking, and there may be a lot of room for improvement, but how many schools are perfect, or have done everything right? What makes ECSU great is that it can acknowledge it's imperfections and make decisions to move forward and advance the entire community."

Discover Your Strengths

Here is another good read, Now,Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton.

A friend/mentor of mine offered this book to me to aid in my personal development. If he ever reads this post, I want him to know that I am very appreciative. Thank you my friend.

According to the authors, there are thirty-four (34) signature strengths or themes as it is interchangeably used. Everyone has strengths (naturally), but the book categorizes and ranks them into our top 5 most dominant. These top 5 strengths are influential when it comes to even the smallest decisions we make.

The book offers a website http://www.strengthsfinder.com/113647/Homepage.aspx, which suggests the reader to take a one-hundred and eighty(180) question assessment. After completing this assessment you will receive your Top Five (5) strengths. In order for you to take the assessment and receive your results you have to purchase a copy of the book so that you can enter the the code located inside.

My top 5 strengths are: Belief, Input, Futuristic, Significance, and Context

As you read this book, you'll notice that it constantly talks about capitalizing on our strengths, rather than dwelling on our weaknesses. At first, I found myself disagreeing with the book, because I'm trying to become a well rounded individual, and to me that means minimizing my weaknesses. I later realized that the book isn't necessarily telling us to ignore our weaknesses, but rather manage our weaknesses with our strengths by honing them. [You'll have to read this book to discover how to do this.]

Below is a list of the thirty-four (34) different strengths

- Achiever - Activator - Adaptability - Analytical - Arranger - Belief - Command - Communication - Competition - Connectedness - Context - Deliberative - Developer - Discipline - Empathy - Fairness - Focus - Futuristic - Harmony - Ideation - Inclusiveness - Individualization - Input - Intellection - Learner - Maximizer - Positivity - Relator-Responsibility - Restorative-Self-Assurance - Significance - Strategic - Woo

Each strength or theme has a page description in the book, I'm sure you all understand why I am not going to go into detail about each one.

Now, Discover Your Strengths is a very good read and I encourage to take the assessment as well.

What are your strengths?

What would I do w/out my phone?

My phone causes me so many problems. It's very sluggish, always freezing! or just does random things. Sometimes trying to text "hello" will be difficult. However, as much as I can't stand my phone, I have to say it has proven to be very useful.

I currently own the T-mobile "MyTouch" with the Google Android operating system.

As a huge supporter of the Android market, the literally thousands of applications at my disposal have become a huge part of my daily life, & it would take quite some time to adjust if I had to live w/out them.

These applications help me perform and manage tasks on a regular basis which save time, energy, stress, and money!

- Let's take Google Calendar for instance. I love to plan and write everything out. Google calendar allows me to program events and tasks and sends me email reminders at the appropriate time to prepare for what it is that is on my schedule. I use this app more when I have a very busy schedule.

- Google Maps and Navigation serve as my sense of direction because I don't have any (lol). I get lost in my hometown. Sad???? I know.

- Contacts GroupU, an app that allows me to add my phone contacts into various groups. For me, I use this when I need to send out a text msg or email to a large group and I don't feel like typing every individual name "To" pane. If you are a manager, captain, president, or any type of leader over a group of people, I highly recommend this app.

- Then there is SMS Backup. Every single text message, since I've downloaded this app is backed up in my Gmail account. You never know when you are going to need to hold someone accountable.

- Visual Voicemail, I thought this was so neat when I first downloaded. Normally, you would have to press&hold 1 to call your voicemail and just listen to each voicemail one after one after one. Well visual voicemail displays a list of voicemails [name (if saved in your contacts), number, date, time, and new/old] so you can simply select which one you want to listen to.

- Sherpa and Aloqa, both of these apps help you find places to go. They come in handy when you are new and unfamiliar with where to go. They both kind of do the same thing, but slightly differ.
Using GPS technology, Sherpa will find ever business with "so many miles" from within your location. By category, you can find out where the closest "italian restaurant" is, or to be more specific, the closest "Olive Garden". It just doesn't work for restaurants, it works for pretty much anything, malls, laundromats, grocery stores, gas stations, you name it.

Aloqa on the other hand, I will use if I'm trying to find something in particular. Say Walmart, generally no matter where I go, I want to know where's the closest Walmart. Aloqa allows you to customize your categories and vendors on the homescreen, so all if you have to do is select the icon. Then it will provide me with a list of all the Walmarts in perimeter, in order from shortest distance to furthest. From there, I will choose one and it will then provide me with general information and allow choose an action: "call", "show on map", and "Street view". [Sherpa performs the same action, but provides a little more information]

- SMS Wishes is another great app. It allows me to program text messages in advance to send at a scheduled time and date. Every morning my mom receives a text from my phone say "Goodmoring, hope you enjoy day...Luv Ya" or something like that, I'll change it up from time to time. Lol, what's funny was she eventually realized that my phone was automatically sending her the messages to so I'm not sure how much they actually mean to her now. This app comes in handy because a lot of times, I may need to send someone a reminder about something, but I might need a reminder to remind them..SMS wishes solves that problem. Definitely a necessity!

- Being able to check my T-mobile account is always convenient. It also allows me to pay my mobile bill.

- Since my phone is a Google phone, and Blogger is a Google product, I am able to download a Blogger app, so I can manage my blogs from my phone.

- The rest are standard functions of any given phone that help from day to day, Email, Alarm Clock, IM, Facebook, and Tweetcaster (Twitter). I previously blogged about the Mint.com app which is a good one as well.

There are many apps that I haven't even tried or discovered. If competitors can't keep up with the apps that Android produces, I'm pleased to say I'll always be loyal to Android phones.

Mint.com - Finance Managing Tool

I've been experiencing some rough times recently when it comes to my financial situation. I'm currently interning in Raleigh, NC where my home is 3 hours away in VA and I have very little money to survive off of. This is my first time really living independently. Yes, in college no one is taking care of me, but food is provided by the cafeteria, I don't own or need a vehicle, and the only major expense I have right now are my monthly phone bills. Unfortunately, now I find myself needing a vehicle, including food expenses into my daily life, and paying my monthly phone bills on top of that. I wasn't prepared for this.

So this morning, as I was browsing my T-mobile MyTouch [brought to me by Google Android], when I discovered this application called Mint.com. I've seen these type of finance applications before, but considering my current financial status, I decided to check it out.

Before I downloaded the mobile application, I visited the mint.com website. I was impressed, but what really got me excited was when I saw that it would be synchronized with my online banking [mine happens to be Wachovia]. YES!!! just what I needed, because I need to be able to monitor my spending where ever I go. This application will give me a more accurate awareness of my current financial status. Now I can make better financial decisions.

Immediately, I signed up for an account. After looking at what mint.com has to offer, I knew that I would be saving money in no time. This site has many features which include:

1. The Overview Tab: This tab is exactly what it sounds like, an overview of your financial status. It gives you account balances, alerts, monthly budget, creditcard info, loans, goals[#4], ect. Pretty much everything is summarized on this tab.

2. The Transactions Tab: This displays all of your recent transactions. What you purchased, when you purchased it, where you purchased it, how much it cost.

3. The Budget Tab: This feature serves as "Mint's Planning Tool". It automatically calculates a budget based off of your spending behavior; however, it is customizable. I kept everything as is, but I did included my monthly mobile bill. Your budget is divided into food, clothes, entertainment, bills, ect. And even those things can be subdivided. Take food for instance, which can be subdivided into coffee shops, alcohol&bars, groceries, and fast food.

4. The Goals Tab: This happens to be a new feature on the website. You are able to set a goal for something you'd like to puchase in the future. Take me for example, I set my goal to purchase a 2006 Ford Mustang car and the date of when I'd like to purchase it. AND THAT'S ALL! Mix.com does everything else. Instantly it provided me with the Kelly Bluebook value of the vehicle, information about buying a car, and even asks you the monthly payments you'd like to make.

5. The Trends Tab: This is pretty neat:) So let's say I want to evaluate my expenditures and spending habits for the month. Well I can either look at Transactions which provides me a list of data. Buuut, if I go to the trends tab, I can focus in on grouped data to see specifc spending behaviors I may want to change. This feature allows you to look at pie charts and bar graphs to analyze your trends. This will most certainly be a frequent feature I'll be using to help me make better decisions.

6. The Investments Tab: At this point in time I will not be using this feature because I don't have any investments...lol. After reviewing this tab, it appears it allows you to track your investment progress whether it be your retirement plans, benefits, and stock investments.

7. The Ways to save Tab: Offers useful tools to budget monthly expenditures, paying off your credit card debts, providing specials and reward information for savings, and suggesting the best credit card company for you.

An addition to everything, it is safe, secure, and easy to use. Mint.com is certified by VeriSign, Truste, and McAffee secure.

You don't have to worry about your financial information getting into the wrong hands. There are also privacy & safety statements included at the bottom for reassurance.

With the bold and vibrant scheme and layout, users are able to navigate with ease. This user friendly website is interactive and engaging, making finance managing fun and exciting. By using colorful visuals such as charts and graphs, the user receives clarity, understanding, and an improved sense of his/her financial status.

You should try it!

Netweaving

I have been fortunate enough, to have the opportunity of being introduced to a man who has capitalized on a philosophy so simple, yet so revolutionary, that it could potentially change the world. How does one do this, you may ask? By changing the way people build relationships.

Vision, a world where people are constantly looking out for your best interest, always seeking opportunities that can make you profitable. And the best part! Everyone is doing this for each other.

Netweaving, a term designed by author and chief netweaver, Mr. Robert (Bob) Littell. No, not networking. Netweaving. Netweaving is about creating genuine, long term, positive relationships with people. Mr. Littell, is not an inventor, or discoverer. He is a realizer. Mr. Littell has realized that by incorporating the goals and needs of other's on the same level as your own, you will find yourself with an entire broadband connection of people who are doing that exact same thing for you.

Mr. Littell has shared his valuable piece of literature containing the "not so secret" to his philosophy. It's entitled, "The Heart and Art of Netweaving". I strongly encourage you to purchase a copy for yourself. Once you've read it, you'll realize that you've been doing some netweaving your whole life. Now you simply have a word for it.

Thank you Mr. Littell, for you have changed my approach to human encounters and interactions.

PS: Feel free to take part in the "Pay It Forward" Challenge.