Friday Carousel — 01.01.10

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Happy New Year! Welcome to the first Friday Carousel of 2010. The start of a new year is so exciting, isn’t it? Everything is fresh & full of opportunity. Each of us has the chance, once again, to make this year the best year of our lives to date.

This week’s Carousel contains lots of great posts, ideas, and sites to empower you to get your 2010 off to a fantastic start. Ready? Let’s go!

“One imperfect action is better than no action at all.” —Unknown

1. Ommwriter.com: This website is a simple text processor that allows you to clear your mind and focus on what you sit down to write. It helps to minimize distractions and therefore helps you to be more productive.

2. 11 Ways to Gain Clarity: In this post, Steve Pavlina teaches us how to use clarity and focus to decide what we want, and then pursue it with passion and energy.

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Find out what makes you come alive and go do that.” —Howard Thurman

3. Inventory of Normality: Another amazing post from Paulo Coelho. In this post Paulo talks about all of the ways that people assimilate into modern society, lose their personal, identities, and eventually stop living consciously. I was pretty amazed when I found myself guilty of some of these behaviors. It is an awesome wake-up call and a great way to start off 2010 with eyes wide open.

4. On Dying, Mothers, and Fighting for Your Ideas: This post was, hands down, one of the most inspirational things that I read in 2009. Jonathan Morrow was born with a debilitating disease. His doctors told his mother that he would not live past the age of two. This post is about how his mother fought for him and how he then fought for himself. Truly inspirational and moving.

5. 11 Questions That Lead to Gratitude: This is a great post from Good Life Zen that helps is to look back over 2009 and count the many blessings, lessons, accomplishments, and even failures that will propel us into a successful new year.

6. How I Stay Thin Despite my Neurotic Aversion to Intentional Exercise, and Obsessive Love of Desserts: Weight loss is one of the most popular New Year’s Resolutions out there. If it is on your list then I encourage you to check out this post. Lots of good ideas and common sense practices to move toward a healthier you.

“Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.” —Henry David Thoreau

7. 6 Questions That Can Help You to Make 2010 a Simpler and Lighter Year: This post teaches us how to find the opportunity in every situation and how to make our lives, simpler — two great ways to start off 2010.

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  • Carousel — 02.26.10

    Snow, snow, and more snow! Are you beginning to notice a theme here? I sure am. We’ve gotten ten inches over the past few days & the forecast calls for at least another 10-15 inches by tomorrow night. I am actually writing this on Thursday (pre-scheduling the post for Friday) because I probably won’t have an internet connection tomorrow. I will be up in the mountains & most likely snowbound.

    Well, I plan on keeping busy & keeping warm this weekend. I hope you do the same where ever you are. I recommend hot cocoa, snowman building, and warm blankets. If you are someplace warm, soak up the sun & be glad!

    Here are this week’s Carousel links. Enjoy!

    1. polaroids from marrakech, morocco: Beautiful photographs from the Our Labor of Love blog. Just looking at these make me warm inside, perfect for a cold Winter’s day.

    2. Be Indispensable: “It’s so sad because people don’t recognize that they have to go that low and wait that long.” I love Gary Vaynerchuk, this guy is probably the single-most passionate individual I’ve ever come across. Enjoy this quick video where he talks about what you need to do to become indispensable. Then go search him on YouTube when you’ve got more time—guaranteed inspiration.

    3. On the importance of “No”: “There are moments when we say ‘yes’ to others and in fact are saying ‘no’ to ourselves.”

    4. 5 ways to escape the escapist weekend: Perfect advice to make the best out of this coming weekend & then all the rest!

    5. How Do You Treat Your Food?: I love this post from the Epic Self blog. It is so important that we apply conscious living to every aspect of our lives—especially when it comes to what we put in our bodies! Being mindful about what we put in our bodies is just as important as being mindful of our thoughts, words, and actions.

    6. Stillness is a Powerful Action: “Let stillness become your most powerful action. It could change your life.” Another great post by Leo! I’ve actually been practicing stillness in my life much more frequently than ever before. The results are amazing—I feel calmer, more energized, and ready to take on the world. Stillness in the middle of a hectic day is priceless.

    7. In Defense Of The Death Penalty: Fascinating post by Tim Brownson about the power of our beliefs & values. Don’t be too put off by the title—there’s a twist.

    8. Creating a Happiness Plan: Attention, everyone! Do you have a happiness plan. If not, what are you waiting for? This post will set you on your way.

    9. the perils of justifying yourself: Leave it to Danielle to press your buttons & make you think. Do you justify yourself? You need to read this.

    Alright friends. That’s it for this week’s Carousel. I hope that you love each of these posts as much as I did. I’ll be braving the blizzard for the next few days. Wish me luck. Have a great weekend and, as always, spread love & light.

  • Carousel—03.12.10

    Sunset

    Every Friday, I post my favourite links, posts, & resources from around the Web. Expect to learn, grow, & be inspired.

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    1. You rock & On self determination & Try different: Three must-read posts from Mr. Seth Godin, genius, this week. Enjoy!

    2. Great Financial Advice from the in Flight Safety Handbook: How is financial planning like a plane crash? Find out in this excellent post. It might just save your life… or at least your bank account.

    3. Video Interview: Unautomate Your Finances with Baker & Video Interview: Untemplate your mind, body, and spirit with Amber Zuckswert: Awesome video interviews with two of my favourite bloggers—Adam Baker from Man vs. Debt & Amber Zuckswert from Epic Self.

    4. 10 Shattered Financial Templates: One more from Untemplater this week (to go along with my credit card debt freedom theme) I had to share this great post about shattering financial templates. Bottom line: out with the old & in with the new!

    5. The Story of Stuff: My boyfriend saw Annie Leonard on the Colbert Report the other night. In true minimalist fashion, he called me up right away to tell me about it. Annie is an activist who has spent the past 10 years traveling the globe fighting environmental threats. In her story, she talks about the real costs of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. In other words she tells us why we should all be minimalists. Amen! Check out the site for more and to view the “Story of Stuff” short film.

    6. What James Cameron Taught Me About Passion: I love this post by JD where he talks about why reaching our goals & living our passions sometimes requires doing things that we don’t want to. In his case, it’s Internet Marketing. I love his metaphor, “…everybody who is involved with Internet Marketing has an underlying passion that pushes them forward. [It’s] a lot like playing the bass guitar. Few people actually have a passion for it, but if you’re willing to do it you can get in the band.”

    7. Rescue Time & Leech Block: Two awesome productivity tools that I found via Location180. Rescue time is an “automagical time tracking & tools to help you focus (from light ‘nudges’ to blocking for short periods of focus) and track project time.” LeechBlock is a simple productivity tool designed to block those time-wasting sites that can suck the life out of your working day. All you need to do is specify which sites to block and when to block them.

    8. Live your Life as if Everything is a Miracle: Inspirational words & beautiful photographs & quotes, a wonderful guest post on the Good Life Zen blog. “I am realistic. I expect miracles.” —Wayne Dyer

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    Have a great weekend, loves of my life. Spread love & light where ever you may go.

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