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The Audacity to Be Queen Book Review | 11 Lessons + Quotes

What lessons can we learn from “The Audacity to Be Queen” by Gina DeVee, and how can we implement them? I’ve got the answer, along with awesome quotes! So make sure to check out all the lessons.

If you like this book review, you should check out the others as well:

And of course, make sure to check my ever-growing Reading List for Personal Growth for great book ideas.

1. Your little-girl-dreams can guide you to your purpose

“And it begins with those little-girl dreams. What were they? For most women I know, these are the memories you can turn to that leave plenty of clues on where to begin today. The first step is to explore what your desires were and likely still are, whether on a hobby basis or full-blown life-purpose path.”
– Gina DeVee (The Audacity to Be Queen)

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the ordinary life path of ‘finish school, go to college, find a stable job, work until retirement’ that we don’t even know what makes us truly happy.

Often the things that light us up inside have been with us since our childhood.

If you can rediscover what they are, you are better equipped to build a life you truly love.

#1 Actionable Idea

Take out your journal and write down a list of things that have never failed to excite you over the years.

It can be as simple as a Star Wars or Barbie obsession throughout childhood. Or maybe there have been moments of utter chaos around you, where everyone freaked out, but you just glowed inside and slipped into hustle mode.

Write down anything you can think of, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

Once you have your list, look at each item individually and at them all collectively.

Try to find an underlying reason or even pattern that made you like these things.

Maybe your love for Star Wars has a lot to do with your loving fighting techniques. You might want to check out Martial Arts.

Perhaps you’ve always wanted to write stories as you were little. That might indicate that a career with lots of creative writing could fulfill you.

And if you combine these two, perhaps you could start blogging about martial arts and see where it leads you.

Just make sure to not disregard your childhood dreams. There is gold to be found in them.

2. You have to ask to receive – converse with the Universe

“The more you converse with Spirit, the more clear and less confused you’ll be.”
– Gina DeVee (The Audacity to Be Queen)

Yes, you are allowed to ask! Not just when it’s urgent but for small things as well.

This has been a massive mindset shift for me.

Before, I would only ask things from the Universe that were urgent or important.

I had never really considered that I could simply converse with the Universe – beyond thanking it for all the blessings in my life – about my doubts, hopes, worries, and joys.

It had felt almost selfish to bother the Universe with such mundane things and ask for help in having a productive day.

“The Audacitiy to Be Queen” taught me, that it’s anything but selfish. In fact, conversing with the Universe/Source/God as you would with a close friend will only strengthen your relationship with It.

#2 Actionable Idea

Try to incorporate conversations with the Universe into your day. Talk/Think/Write about how you are feeling, what you are planning, and hoping for.

In the beginning, you will easily forget to have these conversations, so make sure to block some time each day for it.

You could turn it into a journaling session, for example: Sit down with your journal for 15 minutes and write a letter to the Universe/Source/God.

If you are still unsure how to do this and the whole idea feels weird, I highly recommend reading “The Audacitiy to Be Queen.” Gina DeVee has included many lengthy examples of her prayers/conversations with God.

Reading them truly inspired me. Because I’ve incorporated more conversations like these into my day, I feel so much more spiritually aligned and connected with the Universe these days.

I feel genuinely supported, and it’s the most beautiful feeling!

3. Heal your Injured Feminine Instinct

“This is femininity: Major attraction power. Receiving miracles as a way of life. And big results accomplished from a pleasurable place.”
– Gina DeVee (The Audacity to Be Queen)

During the last century, women have painstakingly fought their way through sexism to achieve their own success in this world.

Women needed to be seen just as tough as men to be taken seriously.

Nowadays, we are thankfully already very close to gender equality in many societies.

This allows us, women, to finally shed our masculine way of hustling and heal our injured feminine instinct.

Because the thing is, while taking action is a necessary part of success, it is not the only part of it.

We can often achieve even more significant success if we dial back on the hustling and instead focus on aligning our energy with our goals and opening ourselves up to receiving miracles.

#3 Actionable Idea

In many of us, there are habits ingrained that injure our feminine energy.

It is important to find role models that embody the divine feminine energy in action to help us let go of them.

Two boss babes whose content has brought me a long way are Kimberley Wenya and Monica Yates. Each of them has a fantastic podcast, and I highly recommend you to check them out!

4. Wanting something is not enough

“There’s a big difference between wanting something and becoming unavailable to not have it.”
– Gina DeVee (The Audacity to Be Queen)

Doesn’t everybody want more money, a more sexy body, effortless style, and a dream lifestyle?

There are multiple reasons only a tiny fraction of these people actually end up getting what they want.

One of them is that they take their wish a step further and become unavailable to not having it in their life.

Just think about something essential in your life that you wouldn’t ever consider having to live without – say, food, water, shelter, clothes, wifi, phone.

These are all things you most likely find unacceptable to live without. Now imagine the kind of action you would take to get them back if you suddenly found yourself without those very things.

It would be massive action! You wouldn’t just sit around wasting time on designing a perfect plan to get them back; you would go out there and take the most miserable job that’s offered to you just so you have enough money to buy these things.

You would get resourceful and come up with all kinds of ways to make money or trade something to get these things back.

In simple terms, you would not accept staying in your current situation forever.

That’s the power of turning your wishes into non-negotiables. You end up making different decisions and finding motivation and resources where before there were none.

#4 Actionable Idea

Get out your journal and write in the present tense about a day in your life in which the goal of your choice is non-negotiable.

Write about how normal it is for you to have or experience these things.

Furthermore, go out and practice feeling unavailable for a life without your goal.

Say your goal is being a successful entrepreneur. How would you act in a café if you were entirely sure of your identity as a successful entrepreneur?

Would you sit more upright? Would you smile more to yourself whenever you hear someone moaning about their job because you’ve created your dream job for yourself?

Try to incorporate an attitude of ‘of course I am successful; I wouldn’t expect anything less considering the effort I put in.‘

If you find it hard to do so, think about some fictional characters that act like they own the world (I’m thinking of Mona from PLL or Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl) and try to slip into their role.

This is called The Alter Ego Effect, and it works wonders!

5. Closed doors are guiding signs

“Queens realize that a seemingly closed door is actually spiritual guidance to move in a new direction.”
– Gina DeVee (The Audacity to Be Queen)

It can be very demotivating and frustrating when you miss out on an opportunity.

Many people get hung up on that one missed opportunity and are morning it for years to come when there was a much better opportunity waiting for them in reality.

The thing about opportunities is that you need to be open to them to take hold of them.

If you obsess about a missed chance, you will miss the opportunity the Universe is trying to guide you to.

Queens know that and therefore try to move on from missed opportunities or failure in search of a new door that they know will open for them soon.

#5 Actionable Idea

Start to build confidence into the guidance of the Universe by creating a list of instances where one door closed only for a better to open.

Every time you realize in a retrospective that your second chance was way better than your first could have ever been, add that to the list.

Whenever you miss out on an opportunity, take out the list and let it reassure you that something better is on its way to you.

The Universe is conspiring in your favor!

6. Envy teaches what is meant for you

“Remember that seeing what you desire in someone else is a sign that you’re meant to experience your own version of the same thing. And for a good reason.”
– Gina DeVee (The Audacity to Be Queen)

Envy can be an ugly feeling. Some people get entirely overtaken by it and start to hate the person they are envying. Others suffer in silence.

Many don’t realize that envy is one of the best eye-openers we can experience.

Whenever we experience envy toward someone’s accomplishments or their life in general, it means that we really want to be like them.

Envy shows us what goals we should pursue. What kind of life is meant for us.

By contrast, if you are in college, studying towards a degree, and don’t envy anyone with the career you are pursuing, you might want to overthink if you are on the right path.

Read also: 8 Simple Ways To Overcome Envy

#6 Actionable Idea

Make a list of people that you envy and why exactly you envy them.

This second part might take some soul searching, and you must get to the core of it.

Because sometimes, you might realize that you are envying someone for a completely different reason than you initially thought.

Let’s say, for example, you envy a singer. Does that automatically mean you should be a singer yourself? No, not if you don’t even like singing or performing or screaming fans.

If you go deeper, you might find that what you really envy about this singer is his ability to lovingly connect so many different people over a shared passion.

This answer might seem less helpful than you anticipated, but it will be one of many guiding signs on the way to your dream life.

7. Be direct and honest

“Practice being direct, and your Sweet Talking confrontation style will be released. The less you couch your words in fearful fluff and flattery, the more your message will be received and accepted.”
– Gina DeVee (The Audacity to Be Queen)

I find it baffling how much drama could have been avoided by being straightforward from the get-go.

Yes, many of us don’t want to step on feet and upset people. But our sweet-talking and white lies end up upsetting the person that should matter most to us: yourself!

You are of most use to others and the world if you are your happy and authentic self. So stop bending backward trying to make others happy.

If they are displeased by you being honest or saying no, then that’s on them and has nothing to do with you (as long as you didn’t pack that honesty into bitchiness).

Start practicing kind honesty from this day on as much as you can.

#7 Actionable Idea

Create a list or find a jar to keep track of every lie you’ve told.

This includes saying yes when you really don’t feel like it or not speaking up about your friend’s upsetting behavior.

The quicker the list grows or the jar fills, the more work you have left to do.

8. Intelligence and Talent are not necessary for success (though they certainly help)

“Success has never been about being smarter or more talented. It’s about being certain in one’s singular mission.”
– Gina DeVee (The Audacity to Be Queen)

Maybe at this point, it goes without saying, considering the many successful people that are not particularly smart, but brains aren’t everything in the pursuit of success!

Sure, it depends on the kind of success you are going after. I think we can all agree that it’s reasonable to want surgeons, pilots, lawyers, and engineers to be sufficiently intelligent.

But considering the infinite ways one can be successful career-wise, it is safe to say that you shouldn’t worry yourself too much about intelligence or talent.

#8 Actionable Idea

Start collecting stories of successful people who are not extraordinarily intelligent or talented.

Whenever you feel yourself in doubt over your lack of abilities, go back to this collection.

9. Don’t underestimate the power of leaving your house

“Instead she decided to stop isolating. A Queen must not underestimate the power of leaving the house.”
– Gina DeVee (The Audacity to Be Queen)

“”You’ll get to make awesome friends later,” says the Loner, “once you’ve made your money and established yourself.” It sounds logical, though deep down, we’re in pain because we know it’s not our truth. It’s the Injured Feminine Instinct all over again.”
– Gina DeVee (The Audacity to Be Queen)

This last quote really hit it on the head for me.

I do need to remind myself from time to time that I shouldn’t postpone awesome friends until my success hits.

Changing your mindset to being open for awesome friends now is more important than actually putting yourself out there and hunting for them.

You can hunt all you want, but if your mindset is stuck in Loner-mode, you will never attract awesome friends.

However, as soon as you change your mindset and align yourself energetically with the Queens you are hoping to befriend, the Universe provides you with the most unexpected opportunities to do so.

#9 Actionable Idea

Appreciate the friends you already have. Focus on the traits of them that you wish in your future friends as well.

Whatever you focus on and appreciate, you attract more of.

When the time is right, you will come across people that are more aligned with your values. If you are receptive to receiving their friendships, you will soon have a powerful community of Queens forcing you to level up in every way.

10. Masculine structure allows the feminine to thrive

“It’s the masculine container that allows the feminine to be creative, fun, and playful!”
– Gina DeVee (The Audacity to Be Queen)

Masculine and feminine energy is not a matter of ‘either/or’. Both exist inside of you, and only if you balance them out will you fully thrive.

So don’t throw your masculine hustler and planner mode entirely into the bin in favor of flowing through life like a fairy.

The feminine needs masculine structure to safely express itself without tumbling all over the place.

This masculine structure should not just be provided by the men in your life.

This structure must be nurtured by yourself as well.

#10 Actionable Idea

I balance my two energies out through my daily routine or, better lack thereof.

I know precisely what I need/want to do in a day; however, I don’t block out and dedicate exact times for it in my schedule.

Instead, I allow my feminine instinct to guide me into what task I should do next. For example, I recently felt like working on my business from 10-12 am instead of 2-4 pm.

That meant I simply switched my business and study session around instead of forcing myself to do it in a specific predetermined order.

I can approach my day spontaneously like that because I’ve planned beforehand what needs to get done and how long it’ll take.

I’ve set the masculine structure in place and defined the borders in which the feminine can roam freely.

Another example is my workout routine.

I know when I’ll work out, and I am committed to working out. But I’ll decide on the mood of the day, what exercises I will do, and for how long.

Where could you create a masculine container in your day to let the feminine run wild without worries?

11. The desire for fame is nothing to be ashamed of

“For driven, spiritual women like us, being lit up about fame is because we’re lit up about growth and contribution.”
– Gina DeVee (The Audacity to Be Queen)

For some reason, our societies look up to celebrities while voicing a desire to be famous is often considered shameful.

It’s time we modern women own up to our desire for fame. It’s time we recognize it for all the underlying desires within:

The desire to grow into a significant woman.
The desire to contribute to others.
The desire to be financially safe.

#11 Actionable Idea

Take out your journal and write about your desire for fame.

Why do you want to be famous?

How famous do you wish to be?

How would your daily life change if you were famous?

How would you use your fame?

Discover the underlying goal of your desire for fame and work through any residual guilt.

Well, what do you think?

Does “The Audacity to Be Queen” sound like a book you will pick up soon?

Or did you perhaps already read it? If so, what’s next on your list?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Sophie

11 boss babe tips to learn from the audacity to be queen + quotes

11 Ways To Achieve Excellence As A Modern Woman

Blog, Boss Lady, Personal Development

Ambitious modern women like us want an extraordinary life. We don’t merely want to be good; we want to achieve excellence!

Yet, at the same time, excellence is such a daunting term that most people are scared of even considering going after it.

But as you surely know at this point, to live a life others can’t live, you have to do what others won’t do.

This can be your starting point on this journey. So read along and have a successful trip!

1. Set the goal of excellence

As sad as it is, most people around us are very content, just doing what’s necessary and at merely a good quality.

They shudder at the thought of putting in more work than necessary and shake their head at people who work longer hours unpaid or spend their time and money on personal development.

This can truly make us modern and ambitious women feel like the odd one out in our social circle.

Whenever that happens, it’s helpful to remember that precisely this is why there is always that upper 1% of people who have more success and a more exciting life than the other 99%.

I believe we all know to which group we want to belong, so we have to set the goal to achieve excellence in as many things as possible.

And make it a real goal. Not merely a would-be-nice-to-have possibility.

2. Get started

The first obstacle for most people to achieve excellence is to get started.

As ridiculous as it sounds, many people don’t even give it a shot and simply stay stuck in the wishful thinking phase.

Don’t fall into this trap! I always encourage dreaming a lot and dreaming lavishly. However, you can’t stop at that.

You need to get started. In any way you can.

I know many people tend to overthink these things. We want to have this perfect plan laid out for us to start at this ideal time.

But truth be told, it is much more useful to start taking messy inspired action right off the bat.

Messy precisely because you don’t have a perfectly detailed plan laid out, and you are still very much clueless about what you need to do.

Inspired because you do the things you feel drawn to. If you are out of nowhere suddenly motivated and excited to change your study routine or to watch this one specific study tips video on YouTube, go and do that!

There is a reason this feels right for you to do, and you are going to make your life a lot easier if you start acting on those inexplainable spontaneous impulses. They often lead to great things that would otherwise have been buried under overthinking.

So just get started. Start with what you have and what you know at this moment. Start now!

3. Study the masters in your field

Success leaves clues, that much is clear for us modern women. So the logical course of action would be to find and examine those clues.

Take a look at people in your field than are performing at a level of excellence and find out what they are doing differently than you and how they go there.

If you want to improve your studying, look for tips on how to study effectively or even go and purchase a renowned course like the Kwik Student course.

There are many options to learn from masters in your field. Take advantage of at least one of them.

4. Do it for progress, not perfection

“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”
―Vince Lombardi

Yes, I know you want to achieve excellence. That’s what this whole post is about.

However, I genuinely believe that everybody who’s ever achieved excellence was enjoying the journey immensely.

If you enjoy the journey with every fiber of your being and if every little progress makes your soul light up, you barely care how long it will take you to reach excellence.

Why would it? You love where you’re at right now!

And that’s why you spend so much time doing what you love without beating yourself up about not being excellent enough yet.

People who are only in it for excellence without really liking the skill or activity in itself will never put as much time or passion into it.

And hence they won’t improve as much.

Also, passion for the journey makes you creative and resourceful. Out of nowhere, you come up with a new way to do something. Simply because you think about your new passion project day in and day out.

If you want to reach excellence, you can’t do it with desperation. You have to release it and focus on enjoying where you’re at right now.

5. Create an excellent Alter Ego

This tip is based on the fantastic book The Alter Ego Effect by Todd Hermann – I highly recommend you check it out!

Do you remember when you were a child, and you would imagine being Batman or a princess or any other hero of yours?

As soon as you slipped into the role, your behavior and mindset changed almost effortlessly into that of the character.

This Alter Ego Effect can be replicated for any field of play in daily life. Say you want to be an exceptionally intelligent A-student.

Who comes to your mind first when you think of people like this? It doesn’t matter whether it’s a fictional or real-life person, but it should be someone that you feel strong and positive emotions towards.

For me, I thought of Arthur (Inception), Spencer Hastings (Pretty Little Liars), and Lydia Martin (Teen Wolf).

So, now, every time I study or write an exam, I imagine I am these three people combined and have their focus, precision, confidence, and competence.

To slip easier into the role, I have a pair of glasses as my totem – just like many superheroes change their outfit when they switch characters.

Once I put on the glasses, I imagine I will rock this study session or exam just like Arthur, Spencer and Lydia would.

There have been done multiple studies that prove this effect works, and that’s also why many successful people, especially but not exclusively athletes, have Alter Egos to rely on.

So read the book and build one for yourself!

Read also: Reading List For Personal Growth

6. Make it part of your daily routine

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
― Aristotle

Excellence is not achieved overnight. Some people believe it takes 10.000 hours of practice to become a master at something.

Personally, I don’t think there is a set time limit. For some people, it takes longer for others, not quite as long.

In whichever group you fall, the more practice you have, the better.

And one of the best ways to gain many practice hours at something is by making it a daily habit.

Find a time of the day or, better, an activity you already have in your daily routine, where the new skill you want to become excellent at seamlessly fits in.

You don’t even need to make it a one-hour practice session. Even five minutes repeated daily will go a long way.

And if it is already a daily habit of yours, for example, studying for your degree, then set the intention of excellence before starting.

If you add the aim for excellence to your daily habit, you can pat yourself on the back and be sure to see vast improvements within a few weeks and months.

Read also: 16 Habits Of Successful Women

7. Focus on the details

The devil lies in the detail, as they say.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the 80/20 rule that can be applied to seemingly all areas of life.

For example, you walk over 20% of the floor in your house 80% of the time.

This means you should find out what 20% of tasks get 80% of the results and focus your work or studying on these tasks.

Now, following this rule will bring you great results – great … but not excellent!

Excellence requires you to master those last 20%, which take the most effort to learn.

Just keep that in mind before you dismiss small, seemingly unimportant details all too quickly.

You don’t need to focus on them before you know the basics, but once you have reached a good grasp of the subject matter, you should focus on those details that will make you exceptional.

8. Challenge yourself

If it gets easy, it’s a sure sign you should raise the bar a bit. Excellence is not achieved by staying comfortable under your fuzzy blanket with a cup of hot cocoa in your hands.

Just like you don’t build muscle, if you lift light weights in the gym, you won’t achieve excellence without pushing yourself.

Try to always keep an eye out for when things start to feel too comfortable. At the same time, don’t overwhelm yourself.

It takes practice to find a middle way in all of this, but once you find it, you should never let go of it.

9. Analyze your performance and celebrate your progress

To achieve excellence, one must always be aware of the path their currently on.

Most people don’t keep track of their progress towards specific goals. That’s one of the reasons New Year’s Resolutions so rarely get accomplished.

You must always be aware of whether or not and in which way you have improved yourself.

If you realize what works, you can do more of it and less of the things that do not work.

Also, keeping track of your improvements makes you aware of them. This enables you to celebrate each tiny step forward.

Treating yourself for your accomplishments not only keeps you motivated and happy, but it also evokes gratitude, which is a sorely lacking emotion these days yet the foundation of a happy life.

10. Always look for one more thing to improve

“Excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what you have to offer.”
―Rick Pitino

One failproof way to end up being excellent at something is to never stop improving that skill.

You might have been studying since you were 8 years old, but does that mean there is no better way to do it? No!

Go out there and learn how you could improve your study strategy just that little bit.

There is indeed always something more to learn in every subject. And as long as you don’t give up the pursuit of learning more, you can be sure to get closer and closer to excellence.

11. Believe you can achieve excellence

And lastly, you need to believe that you can achieve excellence in every field you commit to.

Often this can be the most challenging part, but it is possibly also the most rewarding.

If your mindset doesn’t match your goals, there will always be a glass ceiling that you can’t get past.

I know that it may seem like excellence is just something others achieve, but not you. After all, so far, it has never been you, so why should that change?

Well, it is going to change because this time, you are truly committing to the goal.

There is nothing others have – besides more practice at the skill of choice -, that you do not have.

So start telling yourself daily that you are born to be excellent. Journal about it. Repeat affirmations in your head every time doubt overcomes you.

And most importantly, focus on each tiny step you’ve taken closer to being excellent.

Sometimes your brain needs physical proof before it truly lets itself believe something. So make sure you create that proof.

I hope these 11 tips are motivating you to get started on your journey of excellence.

Do you have a particular skill you want to be excellent at? Or do you wish to simply be an excellent modern woman all around?

Comment down below! As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time!

Sophie

11 ways to achieve excellence as a modern woman

11 Rules Of Success From The Teen Wolf Women

Blog, Boss Lady, Success

The women of Teen Wolf are smart, fierce, and overall impressive. Let’s take a look at the rules of success we can learn from them.

The following list mainly focuses on Lydia Martin and includes Allison Argent, Melissa McCall, and Kira Yukimura at some points.

If you love analyzing series and movies for life lessons and you enjoy this list, make sure you check out the other lists in this series:

1. Use your assets to your advantage

Lydia is hot, and she knows it. She’s also very willing to use that to her advantage whenever she can.

Allison is talented at archery from a young age. In the early series, we finally saw her taking advantage of that skill she had previously deemed just a hobby.

Same thing with Kira and her sword-fighting skills.

Most of the time, we’re so focused on all the traits and things that we don’t have that we entirely disregard all the skills and attributes we already own.

Look at what you already have. It can be anything from good looks and style to charismatic charm or extensive knowledge in skincare.

Literally, ANYTHING could aid you on your journey of success.

Many people end up turning a passion they’ve had since childhood or their teens into a ragingly successful business or career.

Now it’s your turn. What are your assets, and how can you use them for success? There is always a way!

2. Don’t hide the difficulties you’ve overcome – be proud of them and let them make you stronger!

“Someone Tried To Strangle Me And I Survived; I Don’t Need To Hide That.”
– Lydia Martin

The adversities you’ve overcome and the problems you’ve solved have become some of your biggest strengths.

Countless people have created a whole business around the lessons they learned while working through a problem. Now, they make money, helping others overcome this issue quicker, and less painful than they had to.

Lydia, Allison, Malia, and Kira have all faced challenges and adversities of some kind that could have broken them. But they not only overcame them but learned how to thrive through them.

Start looking at every challenge in your life as free training from the Universe to prepare you for your future life.

How has the pandemic trained you? What did you learn from losing your job or from not getting into the college of your dreams?

What did you learn from that painfully failed relationship? In which ways are you better than your past self through failing that exam?

Stop looking at your failures with shame. Be proud of overcoming that experience and using what it taught you to create a more successful life.

3. Only by taking risks can you save others

“I Don’t Want To Be Safe; I Want To Save Stiles.”
– Lydia Martin

If you want to be a leader with raging success who changes people’s lives, you have to be willing to take risks.

You will never be able to make a significant impact in the world if you timidly sit on the safe sideline.

I’m not saying go out there and spend all your savings on one far-fetched business opportunity.

Our Teen Wolf women also didn’t throw themselves unnecessarily and without any kind of plan into danger.

What they did do is not cower away when danger approached. Instead, they prepared themselves, and when the time came, they strategically and instinctively went into the battle.

That’s what you need to do. Stop avoiding any kind of risk for fear of failure.

Sometimes, the risk of failure is well worth the potential reward.

4. Work in silence and stun them with your results

Unless they get to know Lydia more, most people perceive her as a very superficially pretty, and popular girl.

She downplays her intellect by making dumb comments – which is entirely unnecessary, though.

However, it does create a striking contrast to her silent achievements.

She has an immensely high IQ, and her EQ is also far from bad.

Without people noticing it, she regularly scores the best grades while at the same time battling the supernatural and figuring out her powers, all without much help.

The point is, your results matter, regardless of whether other people recognize them as such.

Work in silence towards your goals relentlessly. It’s much easier to do so if you don’t have to fight against a stream of unwanted attention by small-minded people.

5. Know how to take care of yourself; don’t rely on others to save you

Lydia learns self-defense when she’s sick of playing the role of damsel in distress.

She wants to protect herself. She wants to do the saving for once instead of being saved by others.

Allison picks up archery again when she gets sick of feeling so damn scared and helpless.

She knows she is not made for being helpless, and she takes matters into her own hand to fulfill her potential.

Knowing how to take care of yourself doesn’t mean you should be one of those men-bashing women who are all about ‘who needs men, I’m a strong independent woman!‘

No, be grateful if people offer you help and accept it if there is no good reason other than your ego to say no.

We all love helping someone out. And especially men love helping women out since most men’s primary energy is masculine, which is very giving by nature.

Most women’s primary energy is feminine, which makes them cherish receiving. We can see that being reflected in endless fictional stories, where women find their prince charming, who opens the door for them, or gives her his jacket.

The important thing is, you can receive very well without needing to rely on it. Obviously, you can open a door for yourself, but it’s a sweet gesture if someone cares enough to do it for you. So why not cherish that?

So learn to take care of yourself as Lydia and Allison did.

Practice self-defense.

Learn different languages.

Get a degree.

Know how to change a tire.

Know how to drive a car.

Be informed about your finances.

Have all the skills necessary to take care of yourself. But if somebody offers to help you, don’t turn them down simply to prove yourself.

You don’t need to prove your strength to anyone. You simply need to be strong when it counts.

6. Always improve yourself

It takes Lydia quite a long time to get a grip on her banshee powers.

Unsurprisingly so, as she’s the only Banshee around. There is no alpha there to teach her.

For a long time, her powers scared and confused her. But as she started to get a real handle of them, boy did she become powerful!

Kira also struggled to get the hang of her Kitsune powers. With a lot of practice and determination, she eventually manages to get the hang of them.

As mentioned before, you should use your already existing assets to your advantage.

In addition to that, you should definitely also develop your strengths further and make the most out of them.

So, you are a natural speaker. How can you be even more charismatic in front of an audience?

If you’re great at socializing, how can you improve that skill to reap even more rewards from it? Perhaps learning how to remember names with ease would help you.

Appreciating and using your strengths is a crucial step to make. But truly successful people never just settle for being right. They want to be great, to be outstanding and exceptional!

So improve yourself with unrivaled determination. There is much more potential in you than you expect.

7. Make badass and out of the box friends

As Teen Wolf progresses, Lydia grows stronger bonds with Scott, Stiles, Allison, Malia, Kira, and others.

Together their circle of friends becomes smarter and stronger. They bring out the best in each other, and they help the other whenever they are struggling.

Also, they are very different people with very different skill sets. This is a considerable advantage since when they come together, it makes them unstoppable.

Work on having friends as Lydia Martin does.

I know it’s not as easy as going out and buying yourself a pair of shoes (which, to be honest, is not that easy with my small shoe size, either, but you get the point).

Sometimes, all you can do is improve yourself and have faith that you will find your tribe.

But to do that, you have to be open about the different personalities that they might have.

Sure, you probably want to stick to some rigid core criteria, like no criminals or junkies or whatnot.

But don’t dismiss the dorky or nerdy or jock type just because you’ve never even considered having friends like that.

Sometimes, the best kind of friends are strikingly different from us in some ways.

Just like Lydia and Stiles or Malia. Yet, they work out, don’t they?

8. You have the power to create your own life, so use it!

“There’s No Such Thing As Fate.”
– Allison Argent

All of the Teen Wolf pack are incredible at taking life into their own hands instead of leaving things up for fate to decide.

And let’s be honest, they could have so very quickly decided that fate condemned them for how many times the world caught fire with them in the middle of the inferno.

You have the same power to create your own life, so use it!

9. Always fight for what’s important to you

Allison, for example, wouldn’t stand for the way her family treated supernatural beings. She knew better, and she fiercely stood for it.

You will always have more endurance to fight for the things that are important to you, something you are passionate about.

Instead of being miserable and doing a half-ass job with things others tell you are essential, stand up for your values and passions.

Swim against the current and lead the life you deserve instead of the life others have planned for you!

10. Be your own support system; be your own cheerleader

“Be Your Own Anchor.”
– Melissa McCall

I believe we can all agree that Melissa McCall is one of our fiercely brave women of Teen Wolf. So let’s include her in this.

In the beginning, Scott had used Allison as his anchor to ground himself in his humanity and not lose himself to his supernatural side.

After they broke up, he struggled and got some advice from his mother.

I like to interpret this advice as we need to be there for ourselves and can’t solely rely on others.

We are social beings that crave to be accepted and supported by others. However, relying solely on this support can be detrimental to our success.

In times of change, when you are about to take the risk to start building a business, for example, chances are you will not have an anchor in your inner circle.

If you are the first of your pack to ever do something like this, there might not be many cheerleaders edging you on.

If you are solely anchored in their approval and their support, then you will never take the steps necessary to create a bigger life than they can ever imagine.

You need to anchor yourself within you first and foremost. Be your own cheerleader and your own support system.

Know yourself enough to pull yourself out of the dark and motivate yourself to keep working towards your goal.

If you find additional support from elsewhere: Awesome!

But you should never rely on it. Be your own anchor first and foremost.

11. If you’re going through hell, keep going

Yes, this is basically one of those cringy bumper stickers, but I’d like to look at it from a slightly lighter perspective.

While we know to keep persevering through hard times because there is light at the end of the tunnel, most people don’t apply the same principle to less dire situations.

What about that hobby you are trying to get the hang of but always fail at.

What about your math grades that seemingly never improve no matter how much effort you put in.

And what about that bad habit you’re trying to quit but always fall back into.

If we all know to keep going through hell, why do so few of us keep going through slightly challenging and far from hellish situations?

Why do we need our world to go up in flames before developing discipline, determination, and resilience?

Don’t be one of those people who need the worst to happen for them to finally learn the lesson.

Learn it now!

Learn to keep going when things get challenging. You wanted to have a successful business after three months, and two years later, you still haven’t earned $100? So, what? Do you still want that business? Well, then keep going until you have it!

I know you have it in you to achieve great things. The only thing you need is for someone to finally say the right something in the right moment and flip that switch inside you that activates your truly unstoppable self.

I hope this might have flipped that switch or at least loosened it for easier flipping later on. ;D

Well, that’s it for this list. What was your favorite rule of success? Can you think of any additional ones?

Also, who is your favorite boss babe from Teen Wolf?

Until next time,

Sophie

11 tips for successful women from Teen Wolf

11 Powerful Tips To Prepare For The New Semester

Blog, Boss Lady

The next semester is approaching and with it, a chance for more success and fun – if you adequately prepare for the new semester!

I’m excited to share with you my 11 tips to prepare for the new semester that’s approaching us.

I am going to make the most out of it while getting closer to getting my degree. I hope you’re motivated as well.

If not yet, don’t fret. After reading this, I’m sure you will be excited for the new semester.

1. Save what needs to be saved and delete what can be deleted

As you approach a new semester with new courses, some professors tend to close down the file where they’ve provided you with all the documents to download for the semester.

So make sure you saved or printed all of the documents that could be of further use to your studies. It’s more than annoying having to ask around to see who can send you theirs.

Also, delete or throw out the documents you definitely won’t be needing at any point in the future.

Not only will it save you storage and space, but it will also make you feel like you have a clean finish with the topic.

2. Organize everything from last semester

Now that you have all your documents saved or printed, go over them and file them into needly organized folders with subcategories to make finding them at a later point easier.

I love organizing my things neatly. Rarely do I ever struggle to find a document and that saves me tons of time and stress throughout the semester.

Another quick tip: Give the documents you download a proper title throughout a semester, should they not have one already.

I absolutely HATE it when professors can’t give their documents a title that makes them easily recognizable later on.

I mean, come on! If we have 10 cases throughout the semester, and each has an outline, a solution, and slides, I expect them to have titles that start with the number of the case in chronological order.

So later on, when I open the folder I’ve downloaded them into, it should look like this:

1_caseIKEA_ factscenario

1_caseIKEA_outline

1_caseIKEA_solution

1_caseIKEA_slides

2_caseAuction_factscenario

…

Unfortunately, however, not everybody seems to think ahead when naming their documents, so at times you should immediately change the weird number combination title into something understandable to save time searching later on.

3. Inform yourself on what to expect the next semester

One of my most significant stress factors during a semester besides the exams are deadlines I wasn’t aware of.

Now, generally speaking, I am not a person to forget deadlines. I really am not. In fact, I am the kind of person who starts preparing two weeks ahead of the deadline and still panics on the actual date after quadruple checking that everything is in order.

However, it is difficult to make a deadline if you have no idea that it even exists.

In uni, you often have to figure out what kind of deadlines are relevant to you for yourself.

The best way to do so is by asking your fellow students and even more effective older students.

I know this can be a bit tricky if you don’t live on campus, but you’re probably going to be able to find at least one person to tell you whether or not you need to be aware of a deadline to sign up for something this semester.

Also, inform yourself about courses that are only being held every second semester.

You might not need the course right now, but it might be a better alternative to do it next semester instead of in a year.

4. Study in advance

This isn’t possible for every major. Especially the more practical studies with lots of lab work won’t be able to do much in advance.

But for me in Law, I already know exactly what topics I am going to learn next semester.

And even more importantly, I know about which subjects I will have to write an exam.

That’s why I use the semester break to go out and buy myself a textbook and a casebook and then start a few weeks ahead of schedule.

Not only does this prevent me from getting too stressed out. It also improved my grades and helped me to understand lectures better.

5. Figure Out Where Your Classes Are

If you don’t know the room for your lectures yet, ask around in time. It is such unnecessary stress to arrive at uni ten minutes before the class starts and realizing you have no idea where it starts.

And if it’s an online lecture, make sure you know where to find the link and password and download ZOOM, Teams, or Cisco in time.

6. Schedule study sessions, workout sessions, and time off

I know it’s easy to let uni consume your whole day. After all, we are never really done with all the tasks. There is always something more we could do.

But believe it or not, uni and college are not your whole life. Sure, they contribute to your future in a significant way.

But guess what shapes your future as well? Your health, happiness, and experiences!

Don’t let uni and college stop you from living!

You should still have time to workout 20min daily. You should have time for a 5min meditation. You should absolutely have time for 7-9 hours of sleep every night. And you need to have at the very least an hour a day for me-time.

So make at least a rough schedule for next semester. When will you have time to workout? When is your non-negotiable me-time? And when will you study.

Allow yourself to lead a life outside of uni.

7. Start a non-academic project

Let’s be honest for a moment. Uni can SUCK sometimes. Even a lot of times, if you are stressed and don’t seem to be getting the grades clearly deserved by the amount of work you put in.

The one thing that has been keeping me from banging my head against the desk in annoyance and making a tally of how many days until I have my degree, is my business and courses.

I work on my business daily, and it gives such reassuring security to know that uni is, in fact, not the beginning and end of everything.

But even this long-term project is sometimes not enough to give my life the variety and excitement it needs.

That’s where courses and challenges come in.

I’ve just finished the 30-day Kwik Student course, and I loved every single second of it!

It was such an uplifting 20 minutes a day to look forwards to each day! No matter how monotonous studying seemed, I knew I would be learning something new and exciting from Jim Kwik today.

Find a side-project like this for your semester or one project each month. Whatever you like best.

Just have something else to focus on when uni and college annoy the hell out of you.

8. Create A Mantra and Moodboard/Vision Board for the New Semester

New semester, new you!

I always feel like the start of a new semester is like the new year. No matter how chaotic the last semester went, now we have a clean sleight and can start anew.

In that spirit, I think it perfect to choose a mantra for the new semester. One of my mantras I always like choosing is ‘Grace And Ease.’

Whenever I feel myself getting stressed, anxious, or panicky over something throughout the semester, I always remind myself that I will succeed with grace and ease.

Another fun thing you could do is creating a vision board or mood board that captures the essence of what you want this semester to be like.

Go on Pinterest and copy and paste some Images into Canva or other programs that make the editing and designing process easy.

Then, you can either print it and hang it somewhere insight, or you can save it as your phone wallpaper.

9. Anticipate Expenses For The Next Semester

Students tend to struggle financially, or at least they are very aware of their financial limits.

If, in the middle of the semester, unexpected costs arise, it can be rather stressful. That’s the last thing you need while you are studying for important exams.

To prevent unnecessary situations like that, sit down and anticipate the upcoming expenses for the next few months.

For example, if you buy one textbook for $20 on average for each subject, look ahead and see how many new subjects you have.

And how much did you pay for pens, notebooks, highlighters, technology, and transportation during the last semester?

(Quick tip: You should collect all the receipts of these things anyway since you can get money back through taxes – it really is worth sitting down for a few hours one day a year to do that!)

Take that number and add it to the expenses you are anticipating for next semester.

Personally, I always like to anticipate costs higher than they probably are – simply to leave some room for unexpected expenses.

10. Create A Milestones List For The New Semester

I absolutely LOVE doing this!

I got the idea in my fourth semester, I think. At that time, I was for the first time really annoyed with uni and couldn’t wait to finish it and go into my business full time.

To keep me motivated, I wrote down a list of all the exams and internships I had already done and those I had to do this semester.

Then I went ahead and checked off the ones I’d already passed.

Let me tell you, seeing that many checks in the list felt DAMN good!

And the best thing about it is, sometimes you will forget your milestones list throughout the semester, and when you remember it at the end, you can check off a whole bunch of things.

That will make you feel immensely accomplished and proud and ready to tackle the next semester!

You might not want to list everything you’ll need to do until you get your degree on this list at once.

If it shows you too many things left to do, then you’ll feel even more overwhelmed.

So keep it to the events and tasks you’re going to face next semester.

11. Relax

And lastly: Relax!

Take some time for yourself!

I tend to hustle through the semester breaks just as much as throughout the semester. At times, even more, because there is always so much to do in Law.

Frequently, at the end of the semester break, I was glad that lectures would come back since, paradoxically, that would be more relaxing.

Don’t make that mistake.

Give yourself the free time you deserve after going strong for a semester.

This doesn’t have to be in the form of not doing anything uni related for a month. It can be as simple as, taking the afternoons off to do whatever you want.

I hope these 11 tips to prepare for the new semester inspired you and got you excited for the semester.

I’m curious, what are you studying and in which country? Leave a comment down below!

I wish you a wonderful and successful new semester!

Sophie

11 great ways to prepare for the new semester

11 Rules Of Success From Spencer Hastings Of Pretty Little Liars

Blog, Boss Lady, Success

Spencer Hastings is the Pretty Little Liars girls’ sarcastic and academically ambitious brain. Let’s discover her rules of success.

I love approaching fiction as entertainment and as a chance to learn something.

Whether conscious or not, the creators of fiction often include many valuable nuggets of wisdom in their creation, and it would be an utter shame to not take advantage of that.

That’s why I have this whole series where I collect tips for success from movies, series, and books. If you like Spencer Hastings’s Rules of Success, you should definitely check out the following:

But now, let’s get into it!

1. Research, Research, and do some more research

The information you need is out there, girl. Go get it!

Spencer spends tons of time hunched over her laptop researching for school or something A-related.

She is a master at finding and extracting facts.

And in times like these, when we seemingly drown in the amount of information we get from every direction, this is a crucial skill for success.

Stop taking the first information about a topic you’ve received as the ultimate truth. Do your own research first!

It’s baffling to me how many people nowadays honestly believe all the information they see on social media within the blink of an eye. This always becomes very apparent during times of election all around the world.

There are always at least two sides to a coin. And if you believe you have seen them all, you are probably one of the people least informed.

Unfortunately, this rule of doing extensive research also applies to health issues.

In general, you should never ever blindly trust doctor google. However, you should also be careful to blindly trust doctors with a medical degree.

They want to help you to the best of their abilities; that’s without question. However, they can’t always do their best if they haven’t been taught the best methods during their medical studies.

There are so many unique medical concerns that are so extensive that rarely one person can overlook them all.

That’s why people manage to build a whole business around managing migraines or getting rid of acne and PCOS.

They spend every day on that topic, so obviously, they will have more significant expertise in this than a general doctor.

So if your doctor tells you that for 100 years, science knows that acne can’t be cured naturally and that you should take some medicine for years, that is potentially liver and kidney damaging (true story – luckily, I knew better already than taking that advice), don’t just take this as the ultimate truth.

Please broaden your opinion and sources of information through extensive research, as Spencer Hasting would do.

And I mean extensive! Don’t just click on the first three google links; read through them for 20 min, and call it a day.

Do it like somebody is holding a gun to your head, telling you to find all information on this topic.

Once you have those, you are well-informed to decide on any further course of action.

2. Know Your Skills

Spencer is very aware of her strengths and weaknesses. She knows she is a fantastic strategist, can keep a cool head, intimidate people, find information, and stubbornly stick to a project until she succeeds.

Knowing her skills not only served her very well during her school time. She also turned them into her career as a lobbyist and later lawyer.

Knowing your skills makes it easier for you to choose the tasks you’re best at.

It also clarifies which skills you should acquire if they’re not in your toolset yet.

Know your skills. You’ll set more realistic goals for yourself, delegate and outsource smarter, and feel more confident in your decision to take on a task.

3. Avoid Lies Because Of Their Long Tail

Alright, I know what you’re thinking. Doesn’t Spencer Hastings lie at least once every episode?

Well, yes. However, I think she’s often learned that lies have long tails and can cause staggeringly bigger problems than you’d ever expect.

So, I think it is fair to say that a lesson for Spencer Hastings’ success would be to avoid lies if possible.

4. Know who you can trust

Spencer Hastings and the rest of the Pretty Little Liars clique have learned what happens if you trust the wrong person.

Now, I hope no one out there is blackmailing or trying to hurt you.

However, knowing who to trust is still essential in daily life.

For example, you should know who you can afford to tell about your new goal. It needs to be someone who uplifts you and doesn’t infuse you with their doubts.

Telling people about your outrageous goals and having them criticize you for it can turn into your most significant obstacle, if not downfall.

Read also: 11 Easy Ways To Honor Your Privacy

5. People can change

Spencer Hastings and her friends could have had endless reasons to mistrust Mona for the rest of their lives.

And they did heavily mistrust her for quite a while after they learned more about her.

However, they did give her a chance in the end and benefitted greatly from having a mastermind like her on their side.

Being resentful keeps you from being truly happy and possibly destroys beautiful opportunities for success for you.

I’m not saying to forgive and forget within the blink of an eye. You should always remember.

But you need to be able to forgive and grant a second chance to people that prove themselves worthy of it through their actions.

6. Don’t be a mindless follower

Save to say, Allison did quite the number on her friends during their pre-series friendship.

She was a master at balancing carrots and sticks and kept them wrapped around her little finger, ready to do her bidding.

I imagine Spencer and her friends didn’t even notice slipping into that fellowship initially.

However, over its course, multiple moments of realization left each feeling uneasy in this friendship.

Instead of continuing to be a mindless follower because it was comfortable and calculatable enough, Spencer Hastings should have stood up for her values.

She should have done something much sooner because the long-term effects of Allison’s manipulations have haunted her for years to come.

7. Be the leader if you can’t follow a good one

Spencer Hastings knows how to step up and be a leader if the situation demands it.

In many situations, she has been the leader of her friend group. She’s done what others weren’t willing to do, and she’s constructed the plans that moved them forward or onto safe ground.

Few people dare to take the lead nowadays.

I remember many group assignments in school in which nobody wanted to be the first to propose an idea or the one to do the presentation.

Instead, everyone silently sat there, hoping for one of the others to speak up.

The same can be seen during all kinds of projects in the economy.

Many poorly managed companies struggle with a lack of willing people to lead and take responsibility.

You might have experienced one of those phone calls where the guy at the service hotline connects you to his colleague who is supposedly responsible for your query. Only this second guy connects you to another colleague, and after a few reconnections, you end up with guy no. 1 but none the wiser.

Spencer Hastings hates a reluctance to take responsibility.

She’d much rather do what’s uncomfortable herself and take responsibility so that the group as a whole can move forward more quickly.

That’s what makes out a great leader!

8. Brush up your networking skills

I get it. Networking sounds fake, bothersome, and, overall, as much fun as having your teeth pulled out. Especially if you are an introvert like me.

The thing is, connections really do make an immense difference in life.

If you are not blessed by being born into strong nepotism, you must create those life-changing connections yourself.

Spencer makes good use of her connections, whether securing a place in a college or getting the information she desperately needs.

She is neither afraid to make new acquaintances nor put them to fair use later.

I don’t recommend squeezing your connections for all their worth. That can hardly be called networking.

Instead, try to approach every new acquaintance of yours with one question in mind: How can I provide value for them first? What do they want, and what do they need?

If you can provide value for others even before you have asked anything of them, you earn not only a long-term connection but also one who will jump at the opportunity to give back to you.

11 smart tips for success to learn from Spencer Hastings

9. Don’t try to be as perfect as others; simply do your best

Spencer has been fighting to be as “perfect” as her sister for a very long time.
Spencer Hastings is brilliant in her own right, but it was never enough for her unless she beat her older sister.

Her obsessive competitiveness runs her into the ground.

Especially considering the more challenging circumstances, her sister didn’t have to go through.

Furthermore, Spencer discovers that neither her sister nor her parents are as perfect as she had once believed them to be.

If you look out for it, you will realize that this is generally a recurring theme in life.

Nothing is quite as perfect as it seems.

That course your university offers with the excellent degree advertised a lot throughout your lectures isn’t as prestigious once you’re in it. It’s okay, but not outstanding.

And that person you’ve idolized surely has bad habits and problematic opinions that you don’t vibe with.

Nobody and nothing is entirely perfect. So don’t force that unrealistic standard upon yourself. Simply do your very best.

10. Do the dirty work

Spencer does not shy back from doing the dirty work. If nobody wants to do it, she ends up doing it. Be it breaking in somewhere, spying on someone, stealing something, or climbing over freakin’ high balconies.

Granted, she does it as Team Sparia sometimes, so it’s not like she’s always doing it alone.

Anyway, the point being she gets the job done.

Staggeringly many people have all those dreams and goals and complain about never reaching them when, in all actuality, they are simply not willing to do the uncomfortable work to get there.

I still can’t believe how many people fall for quick fixes like ‘lose half your weight overnight with this magic shake’ or ‘become a billionaire within two weeks by copy and pasting this process.’

I mean, really? Come on, people …

You will never be able to win big by putting on your fuzzy slippers, making yourself a warm tea, and cuddling up with your blanket on your bed while staring at your vision board.

You have to actually go out there and do … you know, THE WORK.

It is often a surefire sign that something will make a massive difference if it forces you to step outside your comfort zone.

So do it!

11. Be true to yourself

And lastly, Spencer teaches us to be true to ourselves.

Throughout PLL, many people criticize Spencer for who she is, most noticeably her family and Allison.

And while she does experience many stumbles on the journey and sometimes has to learn how to control her more destructive habits, in the end, she stays true to herself.

She’s still the slightly scary, overambitious, caring, and loyal Spencer she was all along.

Actually, even more so now, after she learned not to let others force her into being someone, she clearly isn’t.

She will not bully someone or let them win at tennis just to achieve success and fame.

She knows she can do so on pure talent and hard work, which she sticks to.

Alright, that’s it. How did you like it, lovely Felicity Seekers?

Are there any other things you’ve learned about success from Spencer while being annoyed with the girls’ stupid choices at times?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!

Also, have you watched Pretty Little Liars from beginning to end (write 1), or are you stuck somewhere in between (write 2)?

Before watching the second half of the last season, I wanted to rewatch the whole series, and now I’m kind of stuck in season 3 ^^’.

Let’s hope I can finally finish it this year before Netflix might take it out of the program.

Have a lovely day, Felicity Seekers, and I’m thrilled to bring you the next part of this rules of success series soon!

11 Rules Of Success From The Devil Wears Prada

Blog, Boss Lady, Success

Are you ready to discover the rules of success we can learn from The Devil Wears Prada? Well, you’re in the right place!

I love this series I started, in which I analyze movies and series and books for their rules of success.

And of course, I had to include such an iconic movie as The Devil Wears Prada!

If you love this list, you should definitely check out the other parts of this series:

Read also: 11 Rules Of Success From Inception

1. You need to respect others to be respected

I know you think that this is obvious, but Andy is the perfect example for someone not realizing they haven’t been showing the respect they expect to be treated with themselves.

Throughout the beginning of her employment at Miranda Priestly’s office, Andy was looking down on everyone around her and their obsession with superficial things such as clothing.

She showed this by not caring enough to dress appropriately for the job and having to snort in ridicule about how someone could obsess over the blueness of a belt.

She doesn’t even consider how much fashion shapes our everyday life and how much of a significant impact it makes.

At the same time, she kept being confused about why her colleges and mostly her boss kept treating her with so much disdain and why they gave her such a hard time.

Only when ??? pointed her disrespect out to her did she take action. And the results were stunning! A seemingly simple makeover did wonders for the respect other people showed her.

So you should ask yourself: Have you been respecting the successful people you want to be like?

For example, you can’t talk trash about their over-the-top lifestyle and expect to be included in their inner circle.

Respect is a two-way street, and you should always be aware of which impression you set.

2. Sometimes you have to work really hard for a while

As many of us modern boss babes, I am very willing to hustle for my goals. However, I do not plan on hustling day in day out for the rest of my life.

That’s not my definition of success. For me, success means being in a position in which you can spontaneously take a week or two off from work without it harming your bank account.

I want to hustle when I’m inspired to do so.

Of course, it takes a while to get to this point of success. In the beginning, you often have to hustle harder than later on.

And that’s ok, as long as it is only for a while.

Andy quickly realizes new hustle lifestyle is ruining her social life and the relationships she’s Build over many years.

Ultimately she wasn’t willing to do that anymore and quit her job. And low and behold, she got a fantastic other job with far less grind to it.

Her short-term masculine hustle enabled her to live a successful boss babe life later on.

So prepare to put in some extra hours at the beginning of your success journey. But never let it take over your life in the long-term!

3. Know you self-worth

If you have high self-worth, you won’t let yourself be treated like sh#t. You won’t crawl on your hands and feet to please someone, and you most certainly won’t starve yourself to be a size zero.

The way Andy and Emily scramble to fulfill Miranda’s every wish beautifully shows the difference between people depending on their self-worth.

Miranda Priestly knows her value in this world. She knows how many people depend on her and is impacted by her decisions. Therefore she feels worthy of the success she has achieved and fearlessly goes after even more significant success.

Emily seems to base a big part of her self-worth on the feedback of her idol Miranda. And it reflects in her self-sacrificing behavior.

Andy, on the other hand, doesn’t idolize Miranda at the beginning of her employment. As time progresses and her hunger for career success grows, she forgets about her self-worth for a while.

Ultimately she concludes that she deserves better than a life-sucking career as someone’s errand girl.

Clearer than before on her worth, she boldly quits her job and pursues the kind of success that is meant for her.

Every truly successful person has a healthy amount of self-worth. If you unconsciously don’t feel worthy of receiving money, fame, and overall great life, you will sabotage yourself.

Always remember: A high self-worth attracts a high net-worth!

4. Dress how you want to be treated

No matter how much we like the saying that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, judging someone by their appearance makes out an essential part of a first impression.

Andy’s style is improvable, to say the least, as she starts working in Miranda’s office.

Even in a company that is not about fashion, her appearance would have caused raised eyebrows and judgmental looks.

At the end of the movie, we see Andy’s new style. It’s not her forced fashionista chic she adopted for her job and not her I-am-above-such-superficial-things-like-clothing style from the beginning.

It’s her new personal style. These are outfits that are thought through and express her character and ambition.

Without consciously watching out for it, the viewer immediately gets a different impression and vibe of Andy. It shows the power your outfit choice truly has.

So if fashion hasn’t been at the forefront of your mind until now, start educating yourself about it.

I started pretty late with caring about fashion myself. But let me tell you, the feeling of looking stylishly put together is worth every effort that goes into it.

It not only gains your respect from others but also gives you the confidence to build an empire.

For that, I have compiled some of my favorite styling tips so far in these posts:

Read also: 11 Fashion Hacks For Stylish Women

Read also: 9 Fashion Hacks For Petite Women

Furthermore, I recommend you check out The Devil Wears Prada Film Analysis: The Forces Behind Fashion With ModernGurlz.

I love the fashion analysis videos on the Clever&Chic YouTube Channel; they are really mind-opening and bringing awareness to the psychology behind fashion choices I’ve never previously noticed.

5. Know how to follow orders

One of the movie scenes that never fails to annoy me is when Andy, I supposed to deliver the design book to Miranda’s home.

She is explicitly told to put it on the table next to the door and then get out of there as fast as possible. Granted, there are two tables and two doors.

However, I think most of us can agree that we’d instead put the book on the wrong table than follow the advice of two children that call her upstairs into the clearly off-limits parts of the house.

If you are striving for success in life, you have to learn how to follow orders.

Yes, I know you most likely want to be the one giving the orders and not following them. But rarely anyone starts out at the top, and if they do, their lack of experience often leads to disaster.

I believe there are two main parts of following an order correctly:

Listen attentively

Most people don’t really listen; instead, they wait to speak and mull over their answers in their heads.

No wonder they miss out on details or forget the task altogether.

2. Be willing to follow the order to the best of your abilities

Even if you hate the task you’ve been given, as long as it is part of your job and isn’t morally problematic, you should do your best at accomplishing it as efficiently as possible.

I’ve met so many people in the workforce who deliver utterly mediocre work because they only want to put in the bare minimum.

Or they stretch out the time it takes to accomplish the task for as long as possible because they get paid by the hour and don’t want to ‘overwork themselves.’

If they were honest, they most likely (there are always rules to an exception, I admit that) have only themselves to blame for having a job they hate.

If you don’t have the guts or motivation to do anything about your tedious job, the least you can do is not ruining it for everyone else by putting in a sh#t effort.

You, as an ambitious Felicity Seeker, need to learn how to follow orders and not just the ones you like!

6. Think ahead of the game

One of my favorite movie scenes is when Andy presents the Harry Potter manuscripts for the twins to Miranda.

And Miranda, still trying to punish Andy for her mistake mentioned above, is just like, ‘well, are my twins supposed to share the manuscript?!’

And Andy is prepared and gives her a second one.

Still, Miranda is trying to catch her off guard and says, ‘well, how are my twins supposed to read them when they are already on the train?’

And Andy, like the badass boss babe she has grown into, gives her a smile and tells her that they already have their copies with them; these two are only backups should one of the others get lost or destroyed.

Like, DAMN, you go, girl!!!

We should all learn a thing or two from Andy in these moments.

Ladies, it’s time to stop being reactive in life. If you only react to what’s already happened, you will always be hustling at the mercy of other people and luck.

It’s time to work smart, not just hard. It’s time to look ahead and anticipate what’s about to happen!

Business-wise this can mean preparing for holiday seasons or events like Black Friday months in advance. Because if you start putting out Christmas content and Pinterest pins on Christmas, it’s already too late.

As a student, this can mean informing yourself about your curriculum for the next year/semester and starting to study in the holidays before it.

Just think ahead! It might seem impossible in the beginning, especially if you’re already lacking behind. Still, if you don’t do something about it now, you’ll always lack behind, which is just unnecessary stress.

Success comes to those who anticipate!

11 powerful girl boss tips from the devil wears prada

7. Know your priorities and follow through on them

If you don’t know what your real priorities in life are, you will make decisions that won’t align with them, and as a result, you will always find yourself frustrated with some parts of your life.

It’s important to know what you value most in life and what least. Knowing these things is like having the rulebook for a game. Without it, you might be able to win but only by luck.

Andy had to learn that in the end, she prioritized friendship and family over a successful career.

She realized that having the immensely sought after job as Miranda Priestly’s assistant while losing her friends was worse than having her friends but losing her job.

It doesn’t mean she had to give up entirely her goal to be a successful career-oriented woman. She simply had to find a job that doesn’t interfere with her number one priority.

There are too many ‘successful’ people in our world that have made it to the top of their career yet are miserable because they sacrificed all their social relationships on the way.

I am a believer that you can have it all – a successful career and loving relationships.

The way to get there is by honoring our priorities. If your current job isn’t compatible with your dream social life, then that’s the Universe leading you to something even better for you.

Just because you can’t yet see a better way doesn’t mean an opening won’t reveal itself if you follow what makes you happy.

Never doubt that the Universe has your back. All you need to do is give it the chance to help you instead of forcing your way through life.

8. Don’t complain unless you are giving your absolute best

Remember the scene directly before Andy’s makeover?

Andy is frustrated that her work doesn’t get recognized, and she goes to Nigel to whine about it.

He doesn’t take her sh#t and instead gives her some much needed tough love.

Thanks to him, Andy realizes that she hasn’t been giving her best, and she immediately commits to remedying that.

Andy does something at that moment that so very few people have the guts to do.

She admits her wrong, stops blaming life for its unfairness, and decides to take matters into her own hand.

Too many people nowadays whine about life’s unfairness and complain that rich people all just got lucky.

Well, newsflash! Whining won’t get you anywhere. The only thing it does is giving you the short-term satisfaction of ‘poor me, I have it so tough in life.’

But if you’re reading this, you are most likely better off than a significant part, if not the majority of people on this planet.

These people would give everything to be in your position, yet here you are whining about its unfairness.

Get a grip on yourself! You don’t get to whine unless you’ve given it your all! You owe these people that are worse of than you to make to best out of your life and, as a result, pull them upwards along with you.

So, what have you last been whining about?

You’re allowed to have a 10-minute pity party, but after that, you better pull up your hair, put on your blue light blocking glasses, and GET.TO.WORK!

9. Change your pattern

Andy was far from the usual assistant Miranda hired. But since all her past ones ended up disappointing her, she chose to try something else.

And what a success it was!

It took a while, but ultimately, Andy impresses Miranda, which is a real rarity.

Sure, in the end, it didn’t work out between the two of them. However, there clearly was no bad blood between them, so it can be counted as a success.

Many of us, me very much included, get easily stuck in routines and patterns.

We find a way to do something that works moderately well and stick with it. When in reality, there could be a much better strategy out there!

Don’t get too stuck up on patterns and routines. Even if you are happy with something, try changing it once in a while.

It won’t always work out better for you, and if it doesn’t, you can still revert back to your old habits.

However, this is the way to stumble across unexpected blessings and a massive success!

So dare to change your pattern!

10. Know what you want and go get it

Miranda knows what she wants -period.

She’s not afraid to go for it either.

She’s definitely not a people pleaser. She has no qualms about pursuing her lips when she doesn’t like someone’s designs. After all, she has a responsibility to fulfill and can’t just promote anything less than the best.

Too many of us are people pleasers that don’t even consider what it is we truly want.

When is the last time you’ve honestly stopped for a second and considered if you really want to work in a 9-to-5?

Society just always tells us this is the path to go, so most of us rarely consider that there is another way. A scary one, yes, but also an incredibly rewarding and possible one.

So what is it that you truly want in life? What do you want out of your day? And what can you do to unapologetically get it?

11. Focus on what you’re best at and delegate the rest

Leaders have overcome the habit of thinking they have to do it all by themselves.

They are confident that delegating tasks is increasing their efficiency and leading to more success and happiness.

Why bother doing something you dislike or even hate when someone else could do it for you?

Wouldn’t you instead focus more of your time on things that you enjoy doing?

Look at your life for areas that would do well with some delegation.

Perhaps you hate bringing the trash out, and your sibling hates doing the dishes – wouldn’t it be better to exchange your task and do what you’ll like most?

Or perhaps you have a business and hate how much of your time marketing takes.

Do some calculations to figure out how much it would cost you to hire someone to do at least one of your marketing tasks for you. Just one task less on your shoulders can make a world of difference if you hate doing it.

Never feel bad about delegating tasks. More often than not, it’s a win-win scenario.

You get more free time to spend on things you enjoy, and the other person receives the same or gets paid for their work.

So, what can you delegate next?

Phew, that was longer than expected.

I hope this gave you tons of value and motivation to become the successful boss babe I know you’re capable of being.

Pick one of these traits and actively work on it for the next month. If you do that month after month, you will rival boss babes like Andy or Miranda before you know it.

Also, keep a lookout for the next part in this series!

Until next time

Sophie