For those who aren’t smooth talkers, it’s easier to communicate by typing than it is by speaking.

Continuing on the recent topic of conversation, the Internet and virtual worlds have shown that there can be a striking difference between someone’s personality online and that in real life. For some, while the part if the brain responsible for processing speech is lower than average, the difference is made up by other parts of the brain.

These types of people have a strong connection between their thoughts and the keyboard, allowing them to express themselves more quickly/easily.

Communication is important. Use whatever means needed to get your thoughts down.

Some people are actually better at carrying on conversations that make no sense than those that do.

It’s strange, but true. It’s not always easy telling a story or a joke or just having a conversation about a particular subject. There’s direction and meaning in everything you say. For those who aren’t smooth talkers, that’s a difficult task.

How do they cope? Well, with conversations that have tangents or jump from topic to topic with no particular direction. It has less structure and puts less pressure on the talker to focus on continuous, meaningful conversation.

And that’s not a bad thing. Those conversations can be fun and lead to some interesting topics. At least better than just sitting there and not talking at all

It’s hard taking criticism for something you do for a living. Learn to use it to your advantage.

This is especially true when the critic is someone not in your field. Explaining to an artist why you dislike their flier design for your event can be a daunting task. Many artists, chefs, and engineers consider their creations extensions of themselves. Criticisms about their creations become criticisms about them.

And that’s the problem. As a creator, remember that they’re usually not criticizing you. They expected something different and there’s nothing wrong with that.

So don’t take criticism personally. Use it constructively… they may not always be right, but you’re not either

There are varying degrees of “obvious” and no single person will completely agree with you on what is or is not obvious.

You know the situation. You’re trying to explain something to someone that’s so obvious, yet you can’t seem to get it through to them no matter how hard you try.

The problem is that what’s “obvious” depends on so many factors: experience, faith, occupation, age, etc. The important (and sometimes most difficult) part is realizing your differences and using that knowledge to help in explaining what seems so obvious.

Nothing’s as obvious as it seems. And sometimes that’s a good thing. Obviously.

Sure, eating healthy is good for me, but it’s also a good excuse to eat unhealthy every now and then

Eating healthy can help keep your weight down, keep you more energized, and can lead to a longer life, but there’s one reason most of us keep secret: We get to splurge on unhealthy food. And it tastes a million times sweeter than it does when you eat unhealthy on a regular basis.

It’s sort of like a reward. When I’ve eaten all health food for a few weeks, I don’t feel so bad dropping a few bucks for some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

So why I do eat healthy? Well, in part because sometimes I get to eat unhealthy and not feel guilty about it.

Don’t take for granted anything good that comes to you in life. It usually doesn’t last forever.

That’s admittedly an unusually pessimistic outlook for me, though it rings true everywhere, even this blog. I love writing here, but even something like this doesn’t always last. Maybe that’s why I took the last month off, maybe I’m just making up a sad excuse for hiding the fact that I’ve been working too much lately

Either way, remember to appreciate the good things that come to you in life. Not all of us will always be so lucky!

Most of us spend over 1/3 of our waking adult years working. Make it an exciting 1/3.

Work shouldn’t just be something to bring in money and pay the bills. It’s a big part of your life and if you’re going to spend 1/3 of your time working, find something that excites you. Find something you’ll look forward to working on each day. And when that becomes boring, move on and find something else.

Some people realize this after it’s too late and feel like they just wasted their time. Don’t just do something you’re good at. Do something that gets you excited.

I often read newspaper or magazine articles backwards (from finish to start). And I have two theories why.

The first theory is that when you read from page 1, you know there’s still a lot left. You’ve only just begun. But when you start at the end of the article, well… you’re already done. Now you’re just backtracking. It feels faster to finish!

The second theory is that we’re so used to the “conclusion” being at the end of the article. I only have so much time to read, so let’s cut to the chase and get right at the heart of the article: the 5 sentences that sum up the 3 pages that came before it. Once I’ve read that conclusion, I can pretty much stop reading. If I’m interested, I’ll keep reading back.

So is reading backwards actually more efficient? I think it might be. How about you?

If you understand each of those phrases, guess what? You can speak multiple languages!

Alright, so maybe that’s pushing the envelope a little, but it’s true. We grow up learning not just English, but phrases in other languages like French, Spanish, and Latin. In fact, those phrases are so ingrained in our society that they’re essentially just another “word” in the English dictionary.

The fact is, it probably works both ways. Do you know any popular English phrases that are used in the everyday conversation of another language?

If you can make me laugh (which isn’t that hard to do), you get far in my book

Laughing (or just smiling) is so important to your everyday health. Believe it or not, your physical health really does depend on your emotional health. Weird, right? Why would your body break down when you’re sad?

Well, your body puts down its defenses and makes you more vulnerable to things like heart attacks, strokes, and other things you don’t want.

So tell a joke and laugh a little today. You might live longer if ya do.