What's on Your Life Checklist?

We've all got one, whether its actually written on piece of paper or covered by dust in the attic of your brain. It's a life checklist - things you want to do before you die. Goals, like buying a house or reaching a certain point in your career, seem a little more serious; a life checklist is about fun, adventure and ultimate fulfillment. So what are 12 things you want to do or experience in your life? I'll share mine if you share yours... My Life Checklist (subject to change and in no particular order):

  1. Go on a safari in Africa
  2. Write a book
  3. Live in New York (or abroad)
  4. Start a business
  5. Go on a yoga retreat (or teaching program) in Greece
  6. Finish a marathon (run, walk or crawl!)
  7. Go cross-country in an RV touring baseball stadiums (during baseball season)
  8. See the pyramids in Egypt
  9. Go river rafting through the Grand Canyon
  10. See a Cirque du Soleil show (or ten) in Las Vegas
  11. Learn how to make a leaf in the foam of my morning lattes
  12. Be present everyday and enjoy the ride!

Your turn! Share a few things from your checklist in the comments if you're up for it. Meanwhile, here's a fun checklist for inspiration.

Money is a Means, Not an End

Raise your hand if you would like more money (or just keep staring at your computer screen). Keep your hand raised if you have a clear idea for what values money allows you to honor. Most people don't take time to think about their financial picture in terms of how it fits with their fundamental principles. Money is not about buying stuff - it is about what that stuff can ultimately create for you. In that sense, it is a means, not an end. It doesn't mean anything to "have more money" if you don't know how it will make your life better.

For example, I recently bought a condo. It cost me a lot of money. Why did I buy it? Because it honors two key values of mine: freedom and independence. Living on my own and supporting myself are important to me, and the condo helps me build a financial future that will hopefully allow for the freedom to travel and worry just a little less about how to put a roof over my (and my eventual family's head).

It can be really challenging to connect "stuff" with values. To do so, I encourage you to keep asking "what does this provide" or "why is this important to me" until you feel like you can't go any further. If you're one of those people that said yes to wanting more money - why? Let's go through another example. I want more money so I can buy a new wardrobe. What's important to me about a new wardrobe? It would allow me to dress more professionally at work. What does that provide? A sense of professionalism, which would lead to greater confidence.

Everyone's value chain in different, but the point of this exercise is understand the big picture of how money can lead to greater fulfillment, without being so driven by the actual stuff that it pays for.

I also want to distinguish here between values and goals.

  • Goals are specific, measurable objectives that you want to achieve by a certain time.
  • Values are more abstract - they are the general guiding principles by which you live your life. Some examples include freedom, happiness, service, creativity, security, accomplishment, integrity, excellence and many more.

This site has a great list of personal values to get your juices flowing. You may want to circle the values that jump out at you, then narrow your list to ten, and finally rank your top five (sounds easier than it is when you have to actually rank them). Identifying your values can help you develop a framework for making financial decisions in the future. Money can certainly help you buy things and ultimately achieve your goals, and I challenge you to connect those goals to the values that you hold.

Plug for Coaching Services

I wanted to take a minute to let you know (if you haven't already checked out the coaching page) that in addition to writing this blog and maintaining this website, I help young professionals gain confidence and control over their financial and professional lives - while helping them discover what they are truly passionate about. Coaching is based on the whole picture of who you are, and can provide the structure and support for you to really pursue your dreams and move toward greater balance and fulfillment in your life. If you are interested in learning more about what coaching is all about, fill out this form for a complimentary sample session.

GradSpot.com's Guide to Life After College

Talk about a book I wish I had written. I'm really excited to share with you a free e-book called The Gradspot.com Guide to Life After College from GradSpot.com (written by the site's Editor-in-Chief, Chris Schonberger). If it's any indication for whether you'll like the writing style, the first chapter is called, "Holy $*%#, I just graduated!" which literally made me laugh out loud. Other chapters cover topics like apartments & homes, job-hunting, working life, money, healthcare, cars and culture. The site itself is full of fun, helpful information too - advice, interviews, top-ten lists, "confessions" and more. I think Chris and I can both say that we wish we had resources like this when we graduated from school. Feels good to give back! :D

Career Exploration: Taking a Fanstasy Job

This exercise is adapted from a book called Resonant Leadership. I have many friends who are in transition between jobs - and more still who are wondering what's next in their career. You may find this exercise helpful for articulating job qualities that are compelling, interesting and most importantly, thrilling. Exercise: Taking a Fantasy Job

1. Imagine that the following three things have occurred: you enter a machine and after a few minutes you have the body, knowledge, and capability to do any job - and do it well. You are given the financial resources and certifications based on your new capabilities. For one year, you are free of all personal, social and financial responsibilities in your current or desired life.

2. List 5-10 jobs you would love to do or try. Consider a wide variety - in sports, music, medicine, politics, etc. Consider working in other countries. Consider jobs you have heard about or seen in movies or on television.

3. Choose three jobs in your list that most interest you or seem the most exciting or rewarding. Describe them in more detail, including what you will most enjoy or look forward to about each.

As you read your descriptions, do you notice any themes or patterns? How are these jobs similar? Are there activities that are part of each? Are there conditions of work that are part of each?

Build Your Weight-Loss Website Arsenal

I'm going to venture a guess that more than one person who reads this blog is a conscious eater who overindulges at times, and someone who values exercise and knows its important but doesn't always do as much of it as they would like. If that sounds at all like you, keep reading! I'd like to share two food-related sites that I've found incredibly helpful: DailyPlate.com - Daily Plate allows you to keep a daily log of foods you've eaten, exercise you've completed, weigh-ins, and general thoughts. I've used several similar websites in the past, and believe this one wins hands down.

If you weigh yourself on a frequent basis and enter it into the site, Daily Plate graphs your weight across time so you can visually see how much you are losing or gaining. You can also enter a weight loss goal (ex: two pounds per week) and it will adjust your daily calorie goal. As you enter foods and exercise throughout the day, it counts down from that daily goal and tells you how many calories you have left for the day.

There's a pie chart that shows a breakdown of fat, carbs, and protein, and a "nutritional value" section that details what percentage of your recommended daily values you have reached (and exceeded).

You can upgrade to their Gold edition for $45/year, but so far I haven't found the need to (other than to support their wonderful business!). Upgrading gets you extra features like mobile functionality, goal tracking, and additional levels of analysis, among other things.

HungryGirl.com - While not a web application like Daily Plate, Hungry Girl takes a fun, fact-filled approach to providing tips and tricks for eating, cooking, dieting and more. I particularly like the daily "Top Ate" which ranges from chocolate craving busters to office snacks and stress relieving foods.

Other areas of the site include "Chew the Right Thing," "Ask Hungry Girl," "News," and "Girls Bite Out - Survival Strategies for the Weekend." Thanks to my mom for recommending this one!

As always, looking for more websites and tips, so please comment away... :D

3 Tips to Control Your Clothing Chaos

I don't know about you, but I only wear about a third of the clothes in my closet. And that's generous. It just seems like SUCH a pain to do a major overhaul, which is why I only do it about once a year. It got me thinking - there's got to be a better way to "process" clothes as they come in (to put it in GTD terms), so you can make instant decisions that will make your closet more manageable and an overhaul less painful. Here are three things I came up with (and this goes for guys too):

  1. Put a donation bin in your closet. Collect items on a daily basis (or as you try things on that you know you'll never wear). When the bin gets full, take it to Goodwill (or any charity) for donation and benefit from a tax write-off. Don't forget to document your donations - either write a list with each item, it's estimated value, and if it's a name brand or lay all your clothes on the table and take a photo. Click here for a handy value guide from the Salvation Army.
  2. Try this mantra: No new hangers! Ever find yourself short of hangers, so you go out and buy 10 more to accommodate your ever-growing clothing collection? This could go on forever if you never take the time to clear things out. Right now I've got about half my clothing on hangers (shirts, nice pants, dresses). My new policy will be no new hangers - if I buy something new and want to hang it, something else in the closet has to go. The hard part will be resisting the urge to just stuff it all in drawers instead!
  3. Create an 'On Probation' section in your closet (or designate a drawer). These are clothes that you can't bring yourself to throw away...yet. Review the section or drawer from time-to-time and if you haven't worn an item in the last two years (one if you're really serious!) throw it in the donation bin. Add things to this area as you go if you aren't ready to throw it in the donation bin.

Have another tip for controlling your clothing chaos? Please share!

ChaCha Ching!

Ever since I discovered Jott, I've been waiting for the next fun, useful, how-the-heck-do-they-make-money-on-this web 2.0 application. Yesterday I found it. The service is called ChaCha and it so much fun! It's great for cocktail parties, proving yourself right in a bet and generally satisfying the burning desire to know something without doing any work to figure it out.

Here's how it works: you call 1-800-2Cha-Cha (or text 'chacha') and ask any question you want (no need to register). They'll send you a text confirming your question, and anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes later the ChaCha guides will send you an answer. The guides are a network of stay-at-home moms, college students, etc who make $0.20 on each answer they provide. Looking for extra cash? Here's more info on how to get paid doing this (average wages are $4-$10 an hour).

So yesterday I went ChaCha crazy. My brother and I asked what the largest whale species is and got the following reply: "Dwarfing even the largest dinosaurs, Blue Whales are the largest known species. The largest blue whale was recorded at 110 feet long." We also asked about sports statistics, the most popular hybrid vehicles and the distance to Palm Desert. Despite the fact that I have an iPhone and could very well look this stuff up on my own, it was so much more fun to call ChaCha instead!

Things to Be Happy About

I came across a site today that instantly spread a huge smile across my face - it's called ThingsToBeHappyAbout.com. The homepage is set-up like a virtual theme-park with various areas to explore, such as:

  • 100,000+ Things to Be Happy About
  • Instant Karma
  • Self-meditation
  • Words of Wisdom
  • "Mt. Nostalgia"
  • Wish List
  • Online journal
  • More...

What I love about the site is it's sense of youthfulness and pure joy, which I find extremely refreshing in an otherwise chaotic day, blogosphere, workplace, etc. Do yourself a favor and check it out!

Stress Happens...Whaddaya Gonna Do About it?

I had a realization today. For all the time, relationship, career and life-management books I've read, I continue to feel stressed out at times, and gasp! have a bad day every now and then. I've studied methods for organizing, communicating, strategizing and you know what? Stress still happens. I realized I've been directing my focus in the wrong direction: the goal is not so much to eliminate stress forever (this would surely be a futile task) but to recognize it when it shows up and actually do something about it. My internal dialogue goes something like this:  Wow - icky stress feeling where my stomach is churning and I can't figure out why; I must be stressed! Where is this coming from? And most importantly, what am I going to do in the face of it? I can either take it out on everyone around me like a contagious flu or recognize that it's there and develop some coping mechanisms. There are many stress reduction techniques out there; here are a few small things I do that make a big difference: 1.  Recognize that it is there (This is usually the hardest part) 2. Breathe! Take at least three deep breaths in a row. 3. Walk: Get some fresh air - take a five minute walk alone or with a friend (employ the breathing tecniques here if you can) 4. Write: Spend five minutes making a list of everything you can that is stressful. It's okay if you don't do anything about it right away. 5.  Forgive:  Be forgiving with yourself. Don't multiply the stress by feeling bad or upset that it's there in the first place. Give yourself credit for all the positive things you're doing and remember that in the grand scheme of things, life will work itself out.

The point is, stress happens. It happens to the best of us. So when it does, be prepared to fight back! It's not whether you get stressed that matters, it's what you do about it when it shows up.

Reprint: 34 Tips for Your Younger Self (Lifehack.org)

I normally don't reprint articles directly from other blogs - it seems unoriginal and lazy. But this is a special case: these tips were so relevant and insightful that I felt I would be remiss not to share them with you in their full glory! 34 Tips for Your Younger Self (Originally posted on Lifehack.org on 4/2/08 by Joel Falconer)

In January, we asked you what advice you’d give your younger self as part of our regular We Ask, You Answer feature. There was plenty of great advice—and a lot of catharsis, it seemed—and we’ve collected some of the best tips for you here.

1. Don’t worry about the future.

2. Follow your passion, even if it does not pay very well. If you are good at what you do and love your career choice - the money will eventually follow.

3. Now is the time to establish good habits for life in every area; they might take a lot of hard work to form, but it’s worth the effort and missed television.

4. Listen more, listen better, pay attention and remember! Many people have been there and done that and can save you some headaches—but only if you listen.

5. There are some narcissistic whackjobs and bitter people in the world who will make your life a misery and who are so firmly embedded in their own version of reality that they’ll never change. Should you have the misfortune to encounter such a person, in whatever capacity, don’t hang around any longer than you absolutely need to.

6. If you get an idea that inspires you, act on it immediately! The best ideas are often the first to fade from memory, or get put on the backburner indefinitely.

7. Pay more attention to advice from adults. Or, pay less attention to advice from adults.

8. Keep playing, laughing and having fun, don’t get too serious!

9. When you’re planning your college major, don’t just think about the classes or subject matters you like most. If you want to climb the management chain, take management classes, not just marketing classes!

10. Don’t go out to eat so much; put the money in a high-interest account instead! Self-control with your money means freedom to live the way you want to live down the road.

11. Beyond just saving, learn to manage money now so you won’t make so many stupid mistakes later or develop nasty habits.

12. Don’t stress about relationships. If it works, it works, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.

13. Be more assertive! Be more spontaneous.

14. Tell your parents and grandparents you love them. You don’t know how soon they will die.

15. There’s so much you don’t know, but you have such a great opportunity to keep learning. Never, ever stop learning.

16. Never ever stop asking questions about how the world works. Make “Why?” your favorite one.

17. Go to a state university. Going to a private college isn’t worth the extra money.

18. Learn about maintaining optimum health while you still have it. Get started with healthy eating and exercise young, so you don’t spend half your life worrying about weight, blood pressure, heart attacks and all sorts of weight-related problems.

19. Don’t be afraid to ask people for things you want if the worst outcome is that they say no.

20. Get over it and kiss the girl!

21. Don’t stress out all the time. It will eventually take its toll on you in various forms.

22. Have fun while you can. Go out with your friends. Plenty of opportunity is going to come your way.

23. Stand up for yourself once in a while. People will respect that.

24. Don’t just save on take-out. Save 10% off the top of every paycheck and do not touch it until you retire.

25. Be prepared for your life to change. Realize that the relationship you thought you had is going to end. Don’t let what is happening paralyze you with fear.

26. Be aware of life-altering decisions when you’re young. Think seriously about having kids because they will dramatically change your life.

27. Expand yourself, even if you are sure where you are going. Learn something totally unrelated to your passion. Visit a place you wouldn’t normally go. A flexible mind and attitude will take you very far and allow you to handle the uncertainties in life.

28. Make your life your passion. Don’t get stuck being defined by your job. Start a website, get your name out there, volunteer, teach.

29. You’re (probably) not going to die next week. Figure out what you want to do with your life. You don’t want to be 37, broke, unemployed, and still living in your bedroom at mom’s house.

30. Don’t put off being happy. Don’t be the person that says, “I’ll be happy when…” Happiness is only found in the present. Now, today. Try to find some happiness in the journey of life—don’t think about the destination. It’s just a wooden box.

31. Do all the crazy stuff. Take the risks. They’re totally worth it!

32. Whatever you do, believe in yourself. You have untapped potential, and you will accomplish everything you have dreamed about. No one has the right to tell you can’t do something great in your life. Don’t allow them to justify their mediocre lives by destroying your dreams.

33. Improve your skill set. Learn a foreign language. Learn a martial art. Learn web design. Learn piano.

34. As for the best piece of advice anyone had to offer: take a piece of paper. The lottery numbers for January 1998 are…

Q&A With Life After College (aka Me!)

Looking for a way to make my day? Tip: Comment on a post or fill out my Contact Form (assuming you're not a spammer). I love it when people get in touch with me to talk about this blog. For starters, it reminds me that someone out there (other than my mom, who I forced to subscribe) is reading this thing! Second, it encourages me because I feel like maybe, just maybe, I've got something useful to say. So you can imagine my excitement when Nicole, a journalist at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, asked if I would answer a few questions for her school paper. WUHOOO! As a former journalist myself, I couldn't be more excited. Thought it would be fun to share the Q&A with you:

1) What inspired you to created LifeAfterCollege.org? I was inspired to create Life After College after leaving school a year early to enter the workplace. It was a start-up company, so I was by far the youngest employee with the least amount of work experience. I fumbled through choosing a health plan, setting up a retirement account and trying to create a new social network while all of my friends were still in school. I found a lot of incredibly helpful resources that I wanted to share with other recent grads like me, and felt the need to aggregate them all in one place so people could have a central starting point for navigating life after college.

2) What do you hope people will experience from the site? I hope people will find resources (books, articles, links, blog posts, etc) that are interesting and useful for them. I hope that no matter what position young professionals are in or how many years since they've graduated that they'll be able to learn more about how to navigate life after college and create their own roadmap for pursuing their dreams. I hope people will gain some clarity and direction about their own life after college, and realize that they're not alone out there! Finally, I hope people will find bite-sized pieces of information that can help move them forward in very practical, simple ways.

3) What is one piece of advice that you wish you were given when you were a senior in college getting ready to graduate? Start saving money immediately, especially if you move back home with your parents. Stretch yourself to save more than you think you can - shoot for 50% of your paycheck and see what happens. Set up one account for short-term savings (1-5 years) and one account for retirement, and as soon as you get your first job set-up a direct deposit from your paycheck to each of those accounts. Getting in the habit of saving money early and often will fund your dreams for the rest of your life.

4) How do you keep yourself motivated to pursue what you are passionate about? I love this question! I make time for myself to sit alone and reflect about what I truly want in life - for me, its usually in a coffee shop with a great book and my journal. I think about who I want to be a year from now and five years from now, and I work backwards to brainstorm ways of integrating those passions into my everyday life. In my experience, there is nothing more refreshing that the feeling of doing something I am truly passionate about. Start by making a list of 20 things that make you happy and work from there.
5) How do you like your peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Jelly on top or bottom? Cut diagonally or straight across? Super crunchy organic peanut butter (no sugar added!) on whole wheat toast. Jelly on one piece, peanut butter on the other. Cut straight across and in a ziplock bag (for good measure :).

Uncover Your Passions

Someone asked me recently how I stay motivated to pursue what I am passionate about. Answering that question required me to already know what I am passionate about. So I thought it might be helpful for me to share with you some ways that I've uncovered and identified passions of mine (other than gut instinct, which is a huge part of it). These are six of many exercises you can try. I recommend writing down your answers  (without censoring yourself!): 1) What thrills you?

2) Peak Experiences: Think of three peak experiences in your life. What made them stand out? What were you doing at the time? Who was there? What distinguished them from other similar experiences?

3) Childhood dream: What's one dream you had as a kid that got swept under the rug as an adult?

4) Leisure time: What do you do for fun? What makes you happy?

5) Future Self: Picture your ideal self five years from now (thing big - don't limit yourself to what you think is possible).  What have you accomplished? What are you doing? Where are you living?

6) Unlimited Resources: The classic question - if you had unlimited time and money, what would you be doing? Put another way,  if you won the lottery and didn't have to work another day in your life, what would you do? Where would you live? How would you spend your time?

How do you identify what you're passionate about?

Cleaning Shortcut: Shiny Sinks

This post is adapted from a concept I read (and inadvertently was already a believer in) from FlyLady.net. FlyLady, a cleaning/clutter and organization blogger, is a big proponent of taking five minutes of your time to shine your kitchen sink. Even if you don't do anything else, this will give your sinks (and the rooms they live in) an impression of being sparkly and clean - distracting your visitors from other messes you might not have time to clean up. It also gives you a sense of accomplishment, and might encourage you to spend another five minutes tidying up. At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, there's all kinds of cleaning wipes you can buy - for wood, tile, glass, and counter-tops (Check out Real Simple's cleaning wipes review for more info). I LOVE the all purpose cleaning/disinfecting wipes from Target - I'd provide a link but they don't seem to be listed online. They're cheap (only $2.49 for a whole roll!) and work great for sinks and counter-tops. I keep a tube of these cleaning wipes under the sink in my kitchen and bathroom, and in less than five minutes I get rid of all those toothpaste & water splashes, shine my sink and have my kitchen and bathroom looking brand new. It's amazing what a difference it makes! For those of you feeling more adventurous, they work for the toilet too...

Craigslist as an Extra Income Dartboard

Looking for some extra income but can't seem to think of a way to get it? Try the Craigslist-as-Dartboard approach. It involves some high-tech trial and error. Might not work for everyone, but it's certainly worth a shot if you're looking to supplement your current income. 7 Steps to Finding Extra Income Through Craigslist:

  1. Browse the services section ("lessons & tutoring" is a good subset within services).
  2. Keep a list of any services that sound fun to you (and that you might be qualified to do).
  3. Bookmark or copy posts you like into a Word doc. Note what you like about them (clearly written, interesting to read, etc) and how much people are charging for these services.
  4. Narrow your list to 2-3 things you would be willing to try.
  5. Write a post for each of those areas and post them.
  6. Wait and see if you get any responses!
  7. If you start or complete a job and you don't like it, treat it as a learning experience. Tweak your offering to be more specific.

How to Live Creatively

All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth." -Napoleon Hill, Author of Think and Grow Rich.

Life takes creativity. Solving problems takes creativity. Seeing the positive side of failures and setbacks takes creativity. I can't think of an area of life that doesn't take creativity.

So how can you practice living with creativity? It starts with curiosity. Think of some current areas of stress in your life. Examples might include feeling tired, wanting to lose weight, being worried about finances. List them first as problems, then take some time to turn them into questions (helps to actually write this down). How can I increase my energy? How can I lose weight? How can I make extra income? Reframing these issues as questions invites your creative side to participate in the conversation. Even if you don't have the answers right away, your brain has an assignment - something to chew on rather than worry about.

This worked particularly well for me last summer. After purchasing a number of plane tickets in the same month, I knew I would be about $1,000 short of being able to pay my credit card bill. I was really, really worried about this and didn't know how on earth I would come up with the money. First I posed this concern as a question: How can I make $1,000 to pay my credit card bill? I brainstormed a list of things I could do, narrowed it down, and started doing HTML/CSS/Dreamweaver tutoring as a side job. Once I had a potential solution I turned my question into a clearly stated goal: "Make $1,000 doing web tutoring by August 1." And lo and behold, I did!

Thoughts on Motivation (at Work and in Life)

The most powerful incentive known to humankind is our own evaluation of our behavior and accomplishments. When people are able to meet their personal standards, they feel validated and fulfilled. They also feel as if they're living up to the image of who they want to be." --Influencer (Book by Kerry Patterson, et al.)

Are you living up to who you want to be? Are you encouraging others to live up to who they want to be?

John Wooden on Life and Leadership

I read a truly outstanding and inspiring book this weekend called The Essential Wooden: A Lifetime of Lessons on Leaders and Leadership. As a UCLA grad, this book is near and dear to my heart. John Wooden, named by ESPN as the Greatest Coach of the 20th Century, is arguably one of the most effective leaders of our time. I felt it worth sharing some of his pearls of wisdom (excerpts from the book) with all of you:

  • Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best you are capable of becoming.
  • Failure to act is often the greatest failure of all.
  • It is so easy to quit, to turn back, to give in. Never do so. Try again, and again. Try harder, smarter, but try again.
  • The star of the team is the team, and not one individual
  • If you're not making some mistakes, you're not doing anything - not trying to make things happen
  • Prepare, plan, practice hard, and then execute without thought of failure.
  • Perfection is impossible. Capitalizing on imperfection - mistakes - makes all the difference.
  • Your opinion, if you are respected, will often carry more weight than your advice
  • Saying bad things about others is a bad habit. For all the shortcomings I see in others, I keep in mind that my own failings are many.
  • Listen with your eyes, not just your ears
  • It takes less than one second to say thank you. The rewards last much longer.
  • The more concerned we become over things we can't control, the less we will do to improve those things we can control.
  • The past is for reference, the future for dreamers; The present moment is where you create success.
  • Seek those moments when you can offer a sincere compliment to those who don't get many compliments.

From his father, Joshua Wooden:

  • Be true to yourself.
  • Help others.
  • Make each day your masterpiece.
  • Make friendship a fine art.
  • Never try to be better than somebody else, but never cease trying to be the best you can be. You have control over that. Not the other.

And one final excerpt:

There is a choice you have to make, In everything you do. So keep in mind that in the end, The choice you make, makes you.

Sexy Politics

What is Sexy Politics? According to the website's founders, "sexy is being informed. Sexy is clear and simple. Sexy is understanding why global events often have local impacts." And what is fun about SexyPolitics.com? Models (real, bonafide college students and recent grads) strip for every answer you get right to their general quiz. It's informative, certainly innovative and a blast! Test your political prowess by taking a quiz at SexyPolitics.com.