My favorite part of going to the hair salon is not my hair looking good. It's having my hair washed by someone else. The hair washers at my salon provide an incredible scalp massage. I never want to get out of the chair.

My father recently sent me an article from Commentary magazine entitled "Punctuality Improvement Program." I didn't take it in a bad way. He knows, and I know, that I am "time-challenged." In the end, this article was nothing but headline -- since it was actually the title of a short story rather than offering useful advice. But, believing that there was a message for me in this... I looked back into our archive for something we've done on this topic. Clearly, it's time (no pun intended) for me to refocus my efforts on timeliness.

I just finished reading The Book Thief, a beautifully written (remarkably beautiful) book by Markus Zusak about the experiences of a German girl growing up in Hitler's Germany. I cried numerous times throughout the book-- real tears, not a mere lump in my throat or moist eyes with no drips -- but increasingly so as the book drew to a close and the ultimate fate of the characters that I had come to love was being revealed. Once I finished the book, I blew through half-a-dozen tissues crying not just for these fictional characters, but for the real people who inspired the story. The last time I cried so much from a book was Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt -- about McCourt's difficult childhood growing up in Ireland. When reading such books, it is impossible for me to not imagine myself in such situations, which gives me a much deeper emotional response than I would otherwise have at the mere facts of the story.

At the end of our monthly experts dinner last night, I asked Regena Thomashauer if she could give me one piece of advice that everyone could use to put more pleasure into their lives. With stress levels running high -- and the holiday season about to add to it -- I find it important to find some pleasure in every day. Regena is actually leading a "pleasure revolution" through her company, Mama Gena's School of Womanly Arts http://www.mamagenas.com/, where she teaches women to discover the power of pleasure and helps them to create their dreams.

Psychiatrist and business consultant and best-selling author Mark Goulston, MD (www.markgoulston.com) recently sent me a pre-press copy of his new book, Just Listen, looking for my feedback. His advice about how to get through to hard-to-reach people was very powerful, but what really caught my eye was chapter 11, "Steer Clear of Toxic People." Mark really nails it when he explains how dangerous it is to spend time with people who don't want to make your life better, but instead work to bring you down -- they con you, bully you, make you the scapegoat for their mistakes, are overly needy and don't give back. No matter how painful the process, giving yourself a "jerkectomy" (Mark's term, and I love it!) is critical to living the life you want. Look for an interview with Mark in an upcoming issue of Bottom Line/Personal explaining how to identify toxic people, and how to separate yourself from them.

Last Tuesday, we had the privilege of having motivational speaker and psychotherapist Sean Stephenson speak to our entire team at work. I'd first met Sean several months ago after which we featured Sean in an issue of Bottom Line/Personal: "If I Can Be a Success, So Can You!"

Last week, I found out that I'm a "base-level Reactor, stage 2 Workaholic in a Persister phase." Sounds impressive, right? Okay… you're actually probably thinking, "What the heck does that mean?"

I met a man last week who told me how Dale Carnegie changed his life. Back around 1970, a few years into his career, Donald took the Dale Carnegie course, which is based on Carnegie's classic book How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Being silent has always been tough for me. As a kid, when a teacher asked a question and no one responded, I always felt obligated to come up with an answer -- even if I had no confidence in what I was saying.

When I'm in charge of something, I have little difficulty feeling confident and asserting myself. It's tougher in other situations -- such as when I'm in someone else's office trying to land a business deal, or attending a party at someone else's house. Communications consultant Margo T Krasne, founder of the Speak Up Program and author of Say it with Confidence (www.margotspeakup.com) told me that she always "owns" her space even when she's a guest.