“When you are searching for your passion you can’t let it be limited by what others think you ought to do.” — Condoleeza Rice

Condoleeza Rice gives tips on finding your passion in this article by Ruth Mantell on Journal Women at WSJ.com.

Current U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice dropped several gems of wisdom that can help you find your passion.  The article by Ruth Mantell appears on the Journal Women section of the Wall Street Journal’s website. 

Rice talks about how she reached her career goals, why setting short-term goals is more important than long-term ones, and how being a woman affects her job.

I liked Rice’s take on setting goals and finding your passion.  I must (maybe shamefully) admit, it was the first interview I’ve read with Rice and I was quite pleased.  Her advice  was realistic, reasonable and encouraging!

Get the respect you deserve at work.

During my years in Corporate America, I worked for one company where Howard Stern bellowed from every office, for another where my male boss kept a poster of a bikini-clad supermodel on his wall, and for one other where a male colleague told me I “looked hot” via email (in case you’re wondering, I had on a beige knee-length skirt my mother picked out for me at Annie Sez).

So maybe I could have used a couple of these tips from the Wall Street Journal about holding my own in a man’s world, particularly the ones about not saying “I’m sorry” and starting every sentence with “I think.”

Is your budget a little tighter than you’d like it to be this holiday season?  Wall Street Journal reporter Miguel Bustillo says there’s an old school solution.  Layaway. 

Layaway, a payment practice that was made popular during the Great Depression but nearly became extinct due to the instant gratification of credit cards, is back in fashion thanks to the credit crunch.

Only a handful of national retailers still let consumers put purchases aside until they have paid for them in full. Many of those companies — which include TJX Cos., parent of TJ Maxx and Marshalls; Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp.; and Kmart, part of Sears Holdings Corp. — report that demand for layaway is stronger than it has been in years. - Miguel Bustillo, Wall Street Journal, 

Though I didn’t grow up in The Great Depression, I have been a friend and fan of layaway.   But keep in mind if we put things on layaway, we could just as soon save a few bucks in store adminstration fees by putting the money aside ourselves and then buying the item outright.  (We might even get a better deal!)