Do you share your Netflix cue with a loved one? My husband George and I have a running debate over the movies on our cue. We both like interesting story lines across genres (drama, comedy, action, adventure). We differ on our tolerance for violence (mine is lower) and our expectation for a feel-good ending (mine in higher).

Research has found that, for those who practice mindfulness (i.e., those who really live in the moment), movies can affect mood even after the credits roll. Clearly not an exhaustive list by any stretch, below is a list of 10 movies that had a longer-lasting influence for us, whether motivating or mood-elevating:

1. Erin Brockovich
2. Freedom Writers
3. Miracle
4. Pay it Forward

(If you would like background music for this graduation-themed blog post, please click this link.)

As a professor at Rutgers University, I have the annual springtime privilege of participating in the graduation ceremony with my faculty colleagues and our graduating students. The cap defies every hairstyle, the gown is heavy (and is particularly warm in an over-crowded gym), and the hood chokes, regardless of how carefully I anchor it in the front. The ceremony is long. Parking is maddening.

Despite the practical challenges of this annual ritual, Pomp and Circumstance is still inexplicably exhilarating for me and I can count on the fact that each graduation will deliver at least one incredibly powerful moment (strong enough to fully erase any memory of mild annoyances for another year).

There are 3 people in the USA with my husband’s name. If you roll the three versions of George together you have the image of a philanthropic café owning chiropractor who is a bass player in a sludge-metal-punk rock band. Interesting image - but only partially accurate.

In a world where Google is a verb and 45% of firms admit to using social media sites to screen prospective employees, you need to know how your professional brand is shaped by those who share your name. Your unexpected namesakes may be giving you an alter ego in cyberspace, one that might be damaging your professional reputation.

Do you know how many people share your name? Click the HowManyofMe website to learn how many Americans share your name.

About 20 years ago I was given a piece of well-intentioned but rather bad advice. I was advised to tone down my positive affect in the workplace – specifically, to stop smiling so much. If you are reading this and know me personally you are probably smiling at the thought of me, in my 20’s, in front of a mirror working on not smiling. If you don’t know me personally, I’ll share data point: at the photo shoot for this website, the photographer noted that I had only one “look” that worked – smiling. The others, he correctly noted, looked unnatural (scary, if you ask me).

There is a wonderful quote attributed to Seneca, the Roman philosopher from the 1st century AD, “luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Some friends, my husband, and I all met the opportunity-side of this equation in the form of an unexpected Icelandic ash plume.

Vacationing in Manhattan, our British friends Hilary and Paul along with their sons Tom and Oliver planned to leave New York on April 15th. A volcano erupted, plans changed -- and it was wonderful to have the additional time with close friends (we don’t see nearly enough) as they stayed at our home in New Jersey until they were able to fly on April 21st.

At the start of the 2010 I wrote a blog post based on your responses to my request for songs to add to my play list for the gym. The result was a blog post which included a list of 35 songs to energize and motivate. Given that this is a career and work-life harmony blog, I was surprised that in four months this post has become one of the most searched posts. Trust me, I am not complaining -- any positive and natural way to increase our energy is a wonderful contribution.

You are welcome to join me for a complimentary 60-minute webcast hosted by Safari Books Online on Wednesday, April 28th at 1:00 PM EDT (10:00 AM PDT). In the webcast I will be discussing my new book "Get a Life, Not a Job". While the session is free, you'll need to register here to receive the log-on instructions.

This 60-minute webcast is ideal for anyone who is unemployed, underemployed, graduating, changing careers, or not satisfied with his or her current work situation.

In this webcast, I'll cover how to:

• Start spending more time in a career you enjoy and less on work you dislike
• Identify career choices you’ll love and build your skills to match them
• Transform and “layoff-proof” your current job
• Define a mix of wealth-building activities that stimulate and liberate you

If you won 4 million dollars in a lottery would you continue working? Research of Drs. Richard Arvey, Itzak Harpaz, and Hui Liao found that the majority of big-money lottery winners with a high work centrality do continue earning income in some form. This provides compelling evidence that people gain intrinsic rewards from their careers.

Given the staggering number of people who report that their jobs are a source of negative stress, you may be surprised by this research finding. I was not. The source of work-related stress is not the income-generating activity; it is doing this activity without control. While many lottery winners continue earning an income, a very small percent of them continue doing exactly what they were doing prior to winning. The lottery winners’ new financial freedom affords them opportunity to craft the careers they really want. They are fully in control of their career destiny.

The first week of April is the week when many of those who have applied to college will receive their admission letters. How exciting! Do you remember receiving those letters in the mail?

The application part of the college experience hasn’t changed: getting good high school grades and SAT scores, acquiring letters of recommendation, preparing applications and essays, applying to safe schools, stretch schools, and the like. With the exception of the use of technology, this is identical to the experience generations before have had. In fact, the college experience, for the most part, hasn’t changed much (again, with the exception of new technology) – registration, course requirements, exams, parties, Spring Break, professors, and tuition bills.

I am the last person on this planet who will say “get real” when listening to someone’s career dreams – astronaut, rock star, professional ice skater, twenty-something millionaire, President of the United States, the next Bill Gates, Mrs. Fields or Oprah. Anything is possible -- and who I am to judge a person’s career dreams? For one, no one ever deflated my career dreams. Second, discouraging a person’s career dreams is mean – and I am not a mean-spirited person. Third, anything is possible; I’d just like to help your career dreams be more probable.

College Times offers the odds of securing some of the most hard-to-land careers. For example, the chance of becoming an astronaut is 1 in 12,100,000. Statistics like these are tough, cold -- and can be a huge deterrent. They also mask the things you can do to improve your odds in fulfilling your career dreams. Here are five: