One of my friends works the night shift in a hospital laboratory. She negotiates regularly for vacation time.

Often, where we sit in a meeting might be quickly negotiated.

With friends, we might negotiate where to have dinner.

When planning a weekend of entertainment, we might negotiate with a spouse to go to theatre or comedy club.

In online social media, to move conversations forward, it can mean negotiating with a new acquaintance to meet face to face at a preferred meeting place or via something like Google Hangouts online.

I once negotiated with a dentist office for a better price for my mother's dental work by paying cash.

My husband calls me a tight wad so he leaves it to me to negotiate with home contractors. Needless to say, I get to practice negotiating regularly. When we take advantage of every opportunity to negotiate, we develop greater confidence, which we can take into higher stake opportunities.

A few years ago, when trading in my car as normal for...