Carnival of Personal Development

I could think of no better theme for the Carnival of Personal Development than that of the hope, which is sweeping through our country and around the world as illustrated by all the hoopla surrounding last week’s inauguration. I know everyone will not agree but I find it inspiring.

These photos, except where noted, came from Boston.com, which had the most incredible group of inaugural photos that I saw anywhere.


(AFP)
"The problems are mighty and the solutions are not simple, and everywhere you turn there will be a critic waiting to attack every decision that you make. But you are all fired up and you are ready to go.”

Personal Development

Improving Your Life: Incremental Changes One Step At A Time. Jeff@MySuperChargedLife reminds us that it’s easier to make big changes if we take them one step at a time.

In Success Finds Hard Work, Talent and Passion, Jim from Bargaineering (the blog formerly known as Blueprint for Financial Prosperity), wants us to remember that passion, talent and hard work all go into achieving success.

Blogging, says Distiller’s Corner, is The Perfect Practice for the Beginning Writer.

Effortless Abundance reflects on coincidence with Some Thoughts on Coincidence.

How To Do Better Socially gave a lot of thought to the way we make friends. How To Make Friends And Get A Social Life explains how it’s done.

If at first you don’t succeed…Broderick Allen, Personal Growth and Enjoying Life’s Journey, writes about Persistence.

Is The Dream (having more) really your dream? VeronicaCalim asks this question in Don’t Live the Dream.

Momentor uses the story of Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, hero of the US Airways flight that landed in the Hudson, to illustrate how great careers develop in his article Preparation of a Hero.

LifeMadeGreat explains Why We Need to Focus on Strengths and Not Weaknesses at Work.

“Most people are average so it's not that hard to be better than them”, so says The Shark Investor. His advice? “Suck less.” It’s not hard to be good, gives us some pointers on how to achieve that goal.

Hilary Kay urges us to Cherish The Time we have with our loved ones because we never know how much time we will have.

“Television is a time vampire”, says Enhance Life in Ways to Regain the Hours Television Steals From You.

WenchyPoo submitted a rather ferocious post, Bail YOURSELF out in 2009, in which she makes several suggestions for solving your employment woes.

FailSchool makes a case for hypnosis in Using hypnosis to unlock your true potential.

Learn This presents one part of a series on Leadership Skill Development. This one deals with the importance of reading. He states that 80% of Americans haven’t read a book in a year. He doesn’t attribute that statistic and, as a voracious reader, I hope it isn’t accurate.

Jeremy J. Ulmer reminds us not to hide our light with Don’t Hold Back Your Greatness!

Effective planning makes for maximum efficiency, so says Style Life.

In order to be good at something you have to be passionate. Orange Hornet urges us to be passionate about everything we do, not just the grand causes, in Passion Medley.

The Rational Anarchist urges us to identify and question our fears in Ordeal in Space.

Are you already having trouble keeping your New Year’s resolutions? Joshua Seth thinks he knows why and shares his ideas with us in The Top 3 Reasons People Don’t Keep Their New Year’s Resolutions.

The Law of Attraction Library tells us How the Law of Attraction Will Alter Your Life Course. While you’re gaining, you might also lose a little.

A review of Tears of Hope, written by a survivor of the civil war in Lebanon, is posted at Erin Pavlina.com. It’s a message of hope and perseverance.

Therapeutic Reiki shares a short video from Dr. Wayne Dyer on How God Tells You It’s Time For A Change. I like Dr. Dyer and this is a good message.

Jon Chambers is asking us to examine our Motivation.

Wondering How to Leverage the Power of Focus? Marelisa explains how it’s done.

Happiness is Better.com examines The 3 Myths of Happiness.


“Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, they will be met.”

Health

If overcoming an addiction is your goal for 2009, Addiction Help for Struggling Addicts from Addiction Help Resource may be just the help you need.

Another good resource for overcoming addiction, in Recognizing Shame in Addiction Recovery Bill Urell’s Addiction Recovery Basics tries to pinpoint and deal with shame.

Who knew that dogs were being trained to sniff out bedbugs? The Dust Mite Center did. With all the press bedbugs have been getting lately it’s probably a booming business!

Sharp Brains has some Brain Teasers to Exercise Your Memory and Reasoning Skills.

Not Made of Money has some good tips for keeping your resolution to get fit without breaking your resolution to be frugal with Cheap Ways to Get Fit. Playing hard with your kids might help you forget that you’re exercising!

Here is a list of 20 iPhone Apps to Improve Your Health from Radiology Schools. Who knew?

Brain Blogger wonders Where’s The Breaking News? Doesn’t everyone know that medication plus therapy is more successful than medication alone? Even I knew that!


"The values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true.”

Finance

The Smarter Wallet advises us to Develop Skills for Managing Your Life So You Can Save Money.

Through The Illusion explains The Second Biggest Financial Mistake You Can Make with a scary example of the kind of financial training she received in college. Maybe college isn’t the best to get our financial training after all!

Rich Single Momma wants us to look at money with the proper perspective in her article on 7 Steps to Economic Empowerment: It Begins Between the Ears

What Should You Do With Your 401K When You Get Laid Off? Moolanomy answers that question in this unfortunately timely article.

FIRE Finance says All is Well If Our HEART is Well when preparing for retirement.

I’ve been hearing a lot lately about YNAB. The Digerati Life gives us a review of this budgeting software.

Extra Gas Mileage says now, while gas prices are lower, may be the perfect time to buy a hybrid.

Are you looking for Free Home Budget Software? Make Money/Save Money/Invest Money provides a list from which to choose.

Keep Your Cash gives some advice for Budgeting on an Unknown or Irregular Income.

The Dough Roller, in a guest post on The Military Finance Network, writes about the dilemma of paying off debt, saving or investing. Having the slow economy thrown into the mix makes this a tougher and more important question.

Need an explanation about the Transaction Account Guarantee Program? Best Interest Rate Banks gives us one.

Money Blue Book has a list of the Best Interest Rates for High Yield Certificates of Deposit.

Financial Decision Making is all about making choices. I Pick Up Pennies reminds us of the value of taking the time to make good choices.

Uncommon Cents gives us a short post on not always taking what we’re told at face value in If Your Mother Says She Loves You, Check It Out!

KCLAU shares his review of the book The Number by Lee Eisenberg

Cheapo Groovo offers a quick video with some Extra Income Ideas.

Malcolm Clarke urges You Should Start A Business Now!

Monevator reminds us that The Really Obvious Thing We All Forget When Borrowing Money is that we are borrowing against our future.

Customer Service is the Epicenter of the Universe, says Srini Saripalli. Always good to keep that in mind!

In another unfortunately timely article, Cash Money Life gives us an FAQ on Filing for Unemployment Benefits.

DebtKid talks about the steps he is making towards repairing his debt.

Credit Card Assist advises us not to treat our credit limits as income. Good advice!

Is a No Limit Credit Card a Good Idea? Apply For Credit examines the topic.

I hope we all realize that Keeping Money Secrets From Your Partner is a bad idea and yet, evidently lots of people do it. Destroy Debt gives us a little refresher.

Deposit Accounts advises us on Money Management During a Recession.


"As we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes."

Other

THE FUTURIST magazine, a contributor to the Britannica Blog, recently interviewed Professor Hauser—about where morality lives in the brain, how to coax it out, and what lies ahead for the future of moral science. Abortion, Stem Cells, and How Morality Works: Reinventing Morality is part two of that interview.

That's it folks! Please promote the carnival through the various social media avenues you enjoy. Also, why not show a few of your fellow participants some of the love you are hoping to achieve by visiting, reading their articles and promoting their sites?

Next week's carnival will be hosted at Happiness is Better. Submit your articles here!