Print this page and tick each task as you complete it. When you have completed and ticked every task, post your page to the President of the United States of America.
When you’re in a group and would like to ask a question, ensure you ask it.
Walk up an upward going escalator saying ‘Excuse me’ to the people blocking your path.
If you make eye contact with someone you don’t know, give them a smile.
If someone in another room calls to you in the hope of speaking with you, wait for the person to come to you. Don’t go to them. (Obviously there will be exceptions.)
The person might try to converse with you by yelling. You are expected to yell back. Don’t. Say nothing. When the person comes to see why you are not responding, smile and tell them, ‘I’m in a different room. I don’t have conversations with people in other rooms. How about, if you wish to talk with me, come to where I am? And if I want to say something to you, I’ll go to the room you are in. Okay? Deal?’ It is important to smile, because this isn’t a ‘dominance’ thing. The person meant no harm – they were just being lazy or ‘time efficient’. But to have both people converse in the same room is a good way to have a conversation, and it’s a good way for you to practise being assertive.
If a person has body odour and it’s affecting you, tell them. Diplomatically. Don’t tell them at the start of a night out if they can’t do anything about it, but at the end of the night, or the next day.
When someone greets you by saying, ‘How are you?’ ignore the question and simply say ‘Hello’. Their question isn’t a real question – it’s a greeting.
When you are talking with someone, or in a group, and you disagree with a statement made, say so. Say, ‘I disagree’, or ‘I can’t support that idea.’
When you are in a lecture hall, sit in the very front of the room in the most vulnerable seat.
If you are with someone and looking for a place to eat, don’t automatically let your companion decide. State where you would like to go, and compromise if necessary.
The Umpteen Keys to Resilience 