Disclaimer: Anything written
in this blog represents the opinions of the author, and no one else. Each blog
is written lightly, and is not intended to offend any of the mentioned
businesses, locations, students, or staff.

We all have those days when nothing is going right. You just cant catch a break. Life is full of ups and down, but what if you could somehow avoid some of these downs we all experience and make the highs higher than you could ever imagine. The key to this is to be inspired.

A step in the right direction would be to find what you are passionate about and excel in that area. Don’t settle for what society is telling you to do. If you can’t find something that you can enjoy getting up for every morning then your life will be filled with many more “downs” then “ups”. The minute you settle for less then you deserve, you get less than you settled for. The more you love what you do the more likely it is that you will be inspired to reach new heights.

Just because you have found something that you love to do does not mean that you will not experience some of the lows that we all know too well; we all need a kick in the butt sometimes. If you can’t find inspiration from your own work look elsewhere. People find inspiration from all kinds of things. For example, for many people taking a walk and simply soaking in nature can be an inspiration. For others it could be doing something challenging such as a puzzle or a brainteaser. Another great tip is to find someone who you can look up to and when things get tough you can turn to this person for a kick-in-the-butt, aka motivation. For me, this person isn’t someone I can actually talk to but I when things start looking down I like to have someone who can inject some inspiration into my life.

To close, I would like to share a quote from the man I look up to, Eric Greitens, “There were a number of definitions of courage, but now I was seeing it in its simplest form: you do what has to be done day after day, and you never quit.” This quote stays stuck in my head and helps me through when I just want to slack and blow off my homework. Sometimes we can all use a little kick in the butt, so don’t let your pride get in the way of seeking out some inspiration.

Disclaimer: Anything written in this blog represents the opinions of the author, and no one else. Each blog is written lightly, and is not intended to offend any of the mentioned businesses, locations, students, or staff.

There’s nothing worse than going in to shake someone’s hands to find gnawed-down, dirty fingernails in your grasp. Failure to pay attention to the hygiene of your fingernails is a failure to pay attention to not only your image as a cleanly human being, but also your representation as a professional worker. Particularly in the business world, appearance, even the smallest details, is important. It tells your boss, coworkers and clients that you care about yourself and what you are doing. you wish for others to perceive you as a worker who cares enough to spend the extra time.

If cleanliness and professionalism are not reasons enough for you to change your nail maintenance, then the health benefits may push you to take some of these tips. Research shows that nail-biters’ hands and fingers easily become infected. From infection, they are far more prone to contract colds and other illnesses. The constant action of nails to lips and mouth promotes the spread of germs into nail-biters’ bodies.

Many people, even doctors, are beginning to describe nail-biting as more than a habit. It is more often being referenced as an addiction. As such, it should be tackled just as intensely as any other addiction. Tactics in curing the “addiction” include putting lemon juice of hot sauce on fingers. Another drastic measure includes wrapping nails in tape or Band-Aids. If this seems too extreme, there is also a new clear-color nail polish, specifically for nail-biters, that tastes particularly gross when bitten/eaten. This nail polish is specifically successful for nail-biters because when they go to bite their nails, their body remembers the gross taste of the nail polish and their habit slowly diminishes.

In today’s world, there is no excuse not to pay attention to your nails.(If your job includes manual labor then you are an exception.) Lowell, specifically has a superfluous amount of nail salons in its downtown. Upon entering “nail salon Lowell, MA” into Google, 35,500 results appear. Not only are there a ridiculous amount of nail salons in our local area, but it is very inexpensive to get nails manicured, cleaned or buffed. The average cost of a manicure is only twenty dollars, and it is only necessary to get a full manicure once ever two weeks. Even after getting a manicure, a polish change can often do the trick and in Lowell a polish change comes to an average of ten dollars.

For guys, manicures, I realize are a little excessive. I also realize that not everyone has the money to spend to maintain a full manicure all the time. In these cases, personal maintenance comes into the picture. Every household does – or should – contain nail clippers and filers, and there is no reason, besides laziness, to not utilize those tools.

It may seem dramatic to find fault in such a minuscule detail, but it is the small things that matter in our big world.