#ThirstyThursday Issue #181

A cute cartoon of two snakes getting married, one in a tux and the other in a veil, next to the joke: “If two snakes marry, what will their towels say?”

Click the image for the punchline 👆.

✅ Today’s Checklist:

How to win at office politics without selling your soul
Why your age doesn’t define your potential
5 stress-hacks that actually work
10 social media ads guaranteed to make laugh

QUICK LINKS

👵 3 ways to support and empower older employees.

🧲 This ATS roundup makes finding top talent less of a slog.

📚 17 standout books to transform your time management.

🌀 Cycle syncing: The key to better health & a stronger mind-body connection.

CAREER

A video still with a woman speaking, overlaid with large teal text reading “What is in it for them,” about effective communication strategies.

5 Power Moves To Win at Office Politics

Takeaways:

Elevate your boss for mutual benefit. Actively support your boss’s success and look for win-win opportunities—this not only strengthens your relationship but can also unlock new career growth.
Build a standout professional brand and know your unique value. Cultivating a strong reputation and understanding your unique impact helps you rise above the noise and play office politics with intention.
Understand what drives others. Tuning into the motivations and needs of colleagues (even difficult ones) helps you navigate dynamics more effectively and build lasting influence.

Watch the YouTube.

EXPENSE MANAGEMENT

A bold, playful illustration of a yellow clipboard, dollar bill, and calculator overlapping against a bright blue background—representing expense management in action.

How to Manage Expenses Without Losing Your Mind

Tired of the monthly “where did all the money go?” scramble?

Whether you’re running a business, leading a team, or juggling multiple vendors and contractors, managing expenses shouldn’t feel like a second job. If your current system involves spreadsheets, email threads, and last-minute reimbursements, here’s how to make things a whole lot easier:

✅ Set clear approval workflows — Know who needs to sign off and when. No more chasing down “Can you approve this?” messages.

✅ Keep everything in one place — Centralize receipts, invoices, and payments so nothing falls through the cracks.

✅ Automate the boring stuff — Manual data entry? Miss us with that. The right tool should do the heavy lifting.

✅ Track cash flow in real time — Visibility = power. Especially when you’re making decisions on the fly.

Bill.com simplifies everything from bill pay to reimbursements—so you can stay organized, get approvals faster, and pay people on time without stress.

Snap a photo of a receipt or forward it via email—it’s instantly logged.
Set up custom approval chains, so the right eyes see each expense.
Pay vendors and reimburse employees—all from one dashboard.
And yes, it integrates with your accounting software.

Translation: less admin work, more clarity, and way fewer “Oops, forgot to pay that” moments.

Want to spend less time managing money and more time making it? Check out Bill.com.

MOTIVATION

A photo of skier Lindsey Vonn smiling and holding a medal, with text celebrating her historic World Cup podium finish at age 40.

Don’t Let Age Hold You Back

Takeaways:

Age doesn’t define achievement. Lindsey Vonn just became the oldest female Alpine skier to podium at a World Cup race—six years post-retirement AND less than a year after a knee replacement!
Fuel your drive with doubt. Vonn credits not just belief in herself, but the doubters who pushed her to prove what’s possible through hard work and mental grit.
Resilience is the real flex. Her historic comeback is a masterclass in perseverance, showing that with focus and fire, you can defy the odds—and rewrite the story. ⛷️

Read the motivational LinkedIn post.

HACK

A video still of a peaceful beachside table with text that reads: “5 weird shifts I made at work after learning the neuroscience of stress (that healed my 'productivity = worth' wound).”

5 Weird Hacks To Make After Learning The Neuroscience of Stress

Takeaways:

Rethink your morning habits. Swapping early caffeine and emails for hydration, food, and deep work reduced cortisol spikes and helped reclaim focus from the start.
Simplify to-do lists into a “Top 3.” Narrowing priorities cut down decision fatigue and boosted clarity, making space for what actually matters.
Protect your flow state. Turning off notifications and setting a clear end-of-day ritual created better boundaries, deeper focus, and mental peace.

Watch the IG reel.

PAYROLL

Still Doing Payroll the Hard Way? Let’s Fix That

You started your business to make an impact…

Not to spend Thursdays buried in tax tables and wondering if you forgot to submit yet another payroll form.Most payroll tools are either too complicated, too expensive, or try to upsell you on features you don’t need.

Patriot flips that script. It’s clean, it’s affordable, and it’s built specifically for small business owners who want to run payroll without pulling their hair out.

Here’s how it saves your sanity:

🧾 Easy-as-heck payroll – Run it in 3 steps. Log time, hit approve, and boom—everyone’s paid.

📤 No more tax panic – Patriot calculates, files, and deposits payroll taxes for you.

💬 Actual human support – Based in the U.S. and wildly helpful (you won’t dread picking up the phone).

💸 Transparent pricing – No upsells. No shady fees. Just solid software that works.

Bonus? Their accounting platform is just as intuitive—perfect for tracking income, expenses, and invoices without needing a finance degree.

If “do the books” keeps getting bumped down your to-do list, Patriot is your permission slip to stop overcomplicating things.

MARKETING

A screenshot of a tweet from Turkish Airlines reacting with “NOOOOOOOO” to a New York Post tweet claiming receding hairlines are now sexy, featuring actor Walton Goggins.

The 10 Funniest Social Media Ads

Takeaways:

Hijack attention with relevance. Whether it’s a trending topic (Dame Products), a viral format (Heights), or a familiar interface (Lagoon Sleep), the smartest brands find creative ways to interrupt the scroll by meeting people where they already are.
Bold wins eyeballs. From Turkish Airlines’ knockout response to Jumpspeak’s competitive jab, these ads prove that confident, cheeky messaging cuts through the noise and builds brand personality fast.
Simplicity still sells. Whether it’s Apple’s minimalist approach or IKEA’s subtle wink, sometimes the most effective ads are the ones that don’t feel like ads—they start a conversation or let the product speak for itself.