Image by Evil Erin (license).
”Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever.”
Mark Twain
Mark Twain was right about the problem with the New Year’s Resolutions. Most of them are forgotten or abandoned and then we are on the old trampled and familiar paths a month later. But how can we avoid it and actually make lasting changes in 2009?
Here are seven common mistakes when trying to keep New Year’s resolutions. And some thoughts on how you can solve each of those problems.
1. You don’t really want it that much.
It’s easy to tipsily declare your New Year’s resolution for 2009 when you got a glass of champagne in your hand. But do actually want it?
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Published by Henrik Edberg December 31st, 2008
in Personal Development.
It’s the last day of the year and we’re soon going out to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
But before that I’d like to thank you all – the readers, the guest posters, all the people who commented or sent me an email – for your support! I truly appreciate it and hope you will have a wonderful 2009 and celebration wherever you are in the world tonight.
Back in 2007 I expected that 2008 would be off the hook.
And in large parts it was, both on the blog and personally. I had a lot of fun, met new interesting people and learned much about myself and the world around me. It was a very good year.
I have a strong feeling that 2009 will be even better. 
I like to share quite a bit of quotes on this site. Here are two of my favorites that I feel sum up a lot about personal growth and how the world works. I hope you get something good out of them.
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Image by efleming (license).
I used to be very Tigger-like. I’d get a new idea in my head and it would be the answer to all my ills and BOING! off I’d bounce – until I realized that I really didn’t like the idea at all. So, I’d get a new idea into my head and declare to the whole world: “This is what makes me happy!” until I’d figure out that no, that wasn’t it either.
Like many people I would apply a trial and error method to finding happiness. I never took the time to figure out what would make happy and I ended up wasting a lot of time and energy as well as delaying happiness.
For those who don’t know Tigger, in Chapter Two of the House at Pooh Corner, he arrives in the Hundred Acre Woods. He’s a bouncy fellow, declaring loudly that when it comes to food he likes everything, that is until he starts tasting things and realizes that in actual fact, he likes very few things. Fortunately he figures it out before lunch time.
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Image by nogoodphotography (license).
Note: This is a guest post by Yasmin of ChocolateMintsinaJar.
I had a great support group in life; my family, my friends, my career and my co-workers. Then I had to move to a different country when I got married to be with my husband. After I managed to find a job I got pregnant and had to stop working. Suddenly I was totally alone except for my husband, who even though is a super great guy; but he just could not replace everything in life.
I spent a couple of months moping and whining on how alone I was and how everything was so much harder without the things that used to make my life easier. I disregarded advice on how to deal with it instead of trying things and severed ties with the people I knew because “they were so far away”. I felt insanely jealous when I saw my friends on Facebook photos enjoying their social life just the way it always was. I even got depressed in the middle and then decided this was no way to live and slowly found different ways to deal with it.
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Image by Jan Tik (license).
“Joy is not in things; it is in us.”
Benjamin Franklin
“May you have warmth in your igloo, oil in your lamp, and peace in your heart!”
Eskimo proverb
The holidays are here with family, friends, gifts and lots of tasty food. It can be a great time to just relax and enjoy the company of the people closest to you. But it can also sometimes be a source of stress and negativity.
So you may like a few tips that can quickly change how you feel and think. A few tips that help you to relax and turn a negative mood into a more positive one. Here are six of my favourite tips for doing just that.
1. Be grateful for two minutes.
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