Successful people take calculated risks and make sure to accomplish the top two items on their to-do lists each day, Christina DesMarais writes. They also are optimistic and practice mindfulness.

Building a relationship with your boss can start with something as simple as completing a task that you weren't specifically asked to do, writes Don Raskin. You can also gain points by mentoring a colleague.

Keep your emails short and to the point if you want recipients to actually read them, writes Shani Harmon. Avoid sending emails that make more sense in your head than they will for the reader.

The H-1B visa program for skilled workers isn't being applauded by American tech workers who have lost their jobs to less expensive foreigners. The claim that 500,000 tech jobs in the US can't be filled because of a shortage of qualified workers is greeted with skepticism by some economists.

If you didn't get a job that you were qualified for, it could mean that the job requirements have changed since the opening was published, or your qualifications weren't immediately clear to the person screening resumes, writes Liz Ryan. The company may also think they can't afford you.

Sick of small talk, Charlie Judy tried throwing a gathering the way Thomas Jefferson did. "Two rules strictly adhered to: 1) once guests are seated, there is only one collective conversation (as a table) with only one person talking at a time, and 2) the conversation must be allowed to go where the conversation goes," Judy writes.