“Sometimes the best edit is a complete rewrite.” — Jack Dorsey

How to be Smarter: Book Recommendation: The Defining Decade by Meg Jay. I am not sure what words I could say that would accurately convey how strongly I think every 20-something needs to read this...

“Don’t join an easy crowd. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform and achieve are high.” — Jim Rohn

How to be Smarter: Healthy behaviors do not need to be hidden. They can be kept private, but, if pushed, they do not need to be kept secret. If you have a strong desire to keep something secret,...

“The world is too quiet without you nearby.” — Lemony Snicket

How to be Smarter: The quickest way to be unhappy is to be too lazy to do what makes you happy. And using “being scared” as an excuse for not chasing a dream is a form of being lazy: instead of...

“The things that we love tell us what we are.” — Thomas Aquinas

How to be Smarter: Book Recommendation: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. A well-written book with many case studies about both how habits work, and how to change them. [The whole book was...

“To keep your character intact you cannot stoop to filthy acts. It makes it easier to stoop the next time.” — Katharine Hepburn

How to be Smarter: The 40 Women To Watch Over 40 list “celebrates women over 40 who are disruptors, role models and makers…creating momentum and changing the world.” Have you nominated someone you...

“My life is my message.” — Mahatma Gandhi

How to be Smarter: Book Recommendation: Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger. Highly recommend for anyone who either works in or is interested in marketing. How to be Prettier: Bringing...

“It’s sad when girls think they don’t have anything going on except being pretty.” — Keri Russell

How to be Smarter: 11 Questions to Ask Yourself. [I love #4, #8, and #11]. How to be Prettier: Items Worth Splurging On. [I especially agree with the last one]. How to be (less) Awkward: You do not...

“The beginning is always today.” — Mary Wollstonecraft

How to be Smarter: You have to be out there to get noticed. You have to volunteer to stand in the spotlight. You have to raise your hand. You have to send the first email. You still might fail to...

“You can always tell a real friend: when you’ve made a fool of yourself he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job.” — Laurence J. Peter

How to be Smarter: A great site to use when you’d like to have some background noise to work but music would be too distracting. How to be Prettier: I’m about four months into a dry brushing...

“Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.” — Wayne Gretzky

How to be Smarter: Book Recommendation: How Will You Measure Your Life?. I was writing down notes on almost every single page, and it would be a fantastic choice for a book club to discuss. How to...

“You change your life by changing your heart.” — Max Lucado

How to be Smarter: What is the cost of your bad habits? [Quick, easy-to-use quiz that is surprisingly informative]. How to be Prettier: Super-excited to wear my new spring dress this weekend. How...

“Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.” — Jules Renard

How to be Smarter: The Value of a “Family Story.” [I loved this]. How to be Prettier: Layering two different brands of mascara, one coat of each, helps the lashes to stay longer and more defined...

Hello! Here is the latest Why Don’t You Ask Molly Ford? column, with advice on how to handle lunch with the CEO. xo, Molly

“Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

How to be Smarter: Book Recommendation: Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will To Lead by Sheryl Sandberg. It was nice to read something super-current (the book came out last week) so that I could...

“Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.” — Martin Luther King Jr.

How to be Smarter: If you are a glasses-wearer, putting a few business cards in your glasses case ensures you will always have one or two to hand out in an unexpected networking moment. How to be...

“What’s another word for Thesaurus?” — Steven Wright

How to be Smarter: Book Recommendation: Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us by Seth Godin. A rallying read on leadership and the difference one person can make in a movement, with an idea, or to a group...

“I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.” — Jane Austen

How to be Smarter: Great financial post about the concept of “future you” and making wise choices. How to be Prettier: To spruce up a space, move around the furniture you already have. It does not...

Hello! Here is the latest Why Don’t You Ask Molly Ford? column, with advice on how to get off on the right foot with a new boss in your department. xo, Molly Whether you and establish your license...

“Always desire to learn something useful.” — Sophocles

How to be Smarter: Rereading books you already love before bed is a nice way to relax: because you know the plot, there is no need to stay up too late to see what happens next, and you can read in...

“We rarely lose friends and lovers, we just gradually figure out who our real ones are.” — Marc Chernoff

How to be Smarter: To combat writer’s block, work on always having a notebook and a pen nearby: in your lab on the subway, next to your bed while reading, on the coffee table while you watch...

“You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” — Michael Phelps

How to be Smarter: Book Recommendation: Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. An amazing read about the importance of being and feeling vulnerable to live a more fulfilling, genuine life. How to be...

Hello! Here is the latest Why Don’t You Ask Molly Ford? column, with advice on how to limit social media/Internet distractions. xo, Molly

I was thrilled to be interviewed by The College Novelista! You can read the interview here.

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“I’ve got a new invention. It’s a revolving bowl for tired goldfish.” — Lefty Gomez

How to be Smarter: When times are tough, it is important and necessary to get help from others. But do not allow a rescue of your life to turn into a hijacking of your life. Someone can be a...

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” — George Bernard Shaw

How to be Smarter: One of my favorite definitions of a life on your own terms. How to be Prettier: To control impulse shopping, make a list before getting to the store, with the intention of only...

Happy Sunday!

Reminders: You can follow SP&A on: Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, Bloglovin’ and Facebook. And I’m always available via email: molly@smartprettyandawkward.com Hope you’re having a nice day! xo, Molly

“To love beauty is to see light.” — Victor Hugo

How to be Smarter: This Newsweek article was published in 1995, and reading it is a nice reminder of how much we just do not know about how many interesting things wait for us in the future. How to...

Hello! Here is the latest Why Don’t You Ask Molly Ford? column, with advice on how to craft an email to someone you admire. xo, Molly

“To be a New Yorker you have to live here for six months, and if at the end of the six months you find you walk faster, talk faster, think faster, you’re a New Yorker.” — Ed Koch

How to be Smarter: One of my favorite pieces about reading and love. How to be Prettier: A spring trend this year is the grid print: seen here, here and here. How to be (less) Awkward: If you are...