Personal Development

Replace these four outdated rules

Life is full of rules. Some of them we learn as children. Others we glean from experiences – both good and bad. Here are four rules — in four separate categories –  it’s time to update:

Fashion

Old rule: Never wear open-toed shoes in the winter.
New rule: When it gets cold outside, don tights with those cute peep toes.

Snow and toes tend to not mix well. And, exposed toes in the winter has long been known as a fashion faux pas (in cold-weather states, at least). But, this rule is on way its way out.

If you’re in to fashion at all, you know open-toed and peep-toe shoes are extremely popular these days. So, what’s a girl to do? While some people in forums suggest wearing them with sheer hosiery (gasp!), your best bet is to wear them with tights. Thick tights will keep your little piggies toasty and you wildly fashionable, and you can’t beat that.      

Grammar

Old rule: Never end a sentence in a preposition.
New rule: Go ahead and end your sentences in prepositions, as long as they need them.

This rule is so outdated it wears a Members Only jacket. (Lame, I know. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention.) I get the feeling that every 4^th grade teacher branded this rule on the brains of each of their students so that they would be forever tormented by prepositions. But, alas, those 4^th grade teachers steered us in the wrong direction on this one. It’s perfectly fine to end a sentence with a preposition.

Some folks certainly are hardcore sticklers in favor of convoluted sentences just to avoid a preposition at the end (the same people, no doubt, haunted by 4^th grade). But, there’s no need to re-write or scrap a sentence just because of that itty-bitty preposition at the end. According to Grammar Girl, as long as you need a preposition in the sentence, keep it at the end. Isn’t that something we can all agree on?

The Office

Old rule: Never talk about religion or politics at work.
New rule: Respectfully discuss religion and politics with your mature co-workers.

I know the election’s over, but there are still a ton of opportunities for politics and religion to be brought up. After all, most of us spend 40 hours or more a week with our co-workers. These things are bound to come up at some point, and pretending like religion and politics don’t exist inhibits relationships and understanding.

 The key words in the new rules are:

• Respectfully. This is probably the most important word in the sentence. If you try to force your beliefs, get defensive, yell, or otherwise act in a jackass-like manner, you will certainly not be able to have an intelligent discussion. Be respectful that not everyone’s beliefs are the same as yours. That’s okay.
• Discuss. Discussing implies that two are more people are engaged in a conversation; as opposed to just one person blabbing away. Make sure to allow others a chance to disagree with you, present you with points, and make their own case.
• Mature. I mean mature as in the opposite of immature, not as in old. Don’t be foolish. You know some people won’t be able to handle even a civilized discussion on a topic they disagree with. It’s best to avoid any controversial topics with these folks altogether.

Out of all the new rules in this post, this one is definitely the trickiest. There are many, many people who think that the old rule should stick. Like anything else, you know yourself and your co-workers; do what you’re comfortable with.

Job Searching

Old rule: Keep your résumé to one page.
New rule: Make your résumé as long as it needs to be.

You’ve heard this one a lot, right? It’s bunk. Even right out of college, I had two-page résumé. Not because I was so special, but because I happened to accomplish enough things (and hold enough jobs!) to warrant a two-pager.

So, what’s right for you? Type it all out and format it. Wherever you land is where you should keep it. In other words, it’s a bad idea to beef up what should be a one-page résumé just get it to two pages. It’s equally a bad idea to cut out important information just to get your résumé down to one page. Of course, if the employer has strict requirements, stick with those.

As the cliché goes: Some rules are made to be broken. Others just need to be replaced.

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