Friday Carousel — 12.18.09

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Welcome to this week’s Friday Carousel! It is all of 14 degrees outside on this lovely Friday morning in Northern New Jersey. The forecast calls for snow tomorrow, perhaps it will take us to a white Christmas? I’ve got my fingers crossed.

I hope that you are warm & happy wherever you are, whether the Arctic or the Caribbean. Now on to this week’s lovely links…

1. The Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2009: Wow, I don’t know how so many of these really important news stories from around the U.S. & the globe slipped past my radar.

The media (at least where I live) tends to focus so much on celebrity gossip, that many people lose sight of the real news, the important stuff that is shaping history. It is definitely worth taking 10-15 minutes to read through these.

2. Facebook is Your New Best Friend: A thoughtful & entertaining post from Andrew at Leaders of the Free World. It confuses me when people complain that “Facebook changed its policy, now the world can see my private stuff!” I’d like to know why people are posting “private stuff” to the internet if they don’t want the internet to see it? Andrew’s points are spot-on & I agree with him, a little common sense will go a long way!

3. How to Be Mindful During the Holidays, in 350 words: Sound advice from Leo at ZenHabits.

Remember what’s important. During these holidays, think about what’s most important to you. That might be your loved ones, or a loved one, whether that’s a spouse or friends or kids or parents or whatever. It might be your work — what you create and are passionate about.

4. It’s Okay to Not Go Home for the Holidays:

…if you’d rather spend your Christmas Eve skiing in the Alps or trekking across the Sahara, I say go for it. There’s no need to lie, there’s no need to feel guilty.

5. Lifestyle Design for Normal People: Four Baby Steps Toward Absolute Freedom: If you have not yet begun to explore the world of Lifestyle Design, this post is a great place to start.

6. Social Networking: Stop Being Polite & Start Being Real: Social networking is huge right now. What I really liked about this post is that it wasn’t yet another redundant social media post; it actually gives some solid tips about how to use social networking to your benefit.

7. Why Making Meaning is More Important Than Making Money: Whether you are a budding entrepreneur or just an average Joe with a good idea, you must read this post.

…to stand out, you must make meaning in people’s lives.

8. Five Tips for Planning Effective New Year’s Resolutions: A few things that you can do to make sure that your New Year’s Resolutions last longer than the third week of January!

Ask: “What is a concrete action that would bring about change?”

9. Convention of Those Wounded in Love: If you’ve ever been hurt in a relationship or know someone who has this post will definitely give your heart strings a tug & then, hopefully, put a smile on your face.

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  • 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.

  • 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.

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