It’s a typical frantic, modern Christmas season, full of parties and errands and things to buy. It was simpler for the Cratchits.

You probably remember the Cratchits from Dickens’ Christmas Carol. Poor Bob Cratchit worked for the man who has given his name to anti-revelry, no-joy, cheapness: Ebenezer Scrooge.

Cratchit didn’t make much working for Scrooge, about $100 in current value a week. For that princely sum he copied letters in a frigid and “dismal little cell.” He worked long days, six days a week. There were no benefits.

With his $100, Cratchit supported a family with six children, including the invalid Tiny Tim. Things were especially hard at Christmas, when he had to beg for the day off without pay.

The Cratchits planned on a Christmas dinner of goose. Turkey was for rich people.

Even so they couldn’t pay for it all at once. Mrs. Cratchit made weekly payments into a “goose fund” to assure that they would have a bird for their Christmas dinner.

What I’ve always liked about the story is the way Dickens portrayed that dinner. Dickens had been poor and he didn’t romanticize the poverty.

Instead, he showed a family enjoying each other and the day. There would be time for work and old man Scrooge soon enough. They knew that Tiny Tim would probably die soon. But there was still joy and refreshment to be had.

It’s not a bad model for us today. For a day, surely, we can set aside the Blackberries and turn away from the worries. For a day, we can enjoy some time away from stress and bathe in the joy of people we love and who love us.

For the Cratchits, it turned out well. A prize Christmas turkey was delivered by an anonymous person who would turn out to be Scrooge 2.0. And the next day, Bob Cratchit would get a raise.

That’s how it happened for the Cratchits. You may not get the gift of a turkey, a raise, or a transformed boss. But you can enjoy Christmas. I hope you do.

Personal Development

Nina Capelouto presents Unlock The Chains That Bind You To Your Fears posted at Metaphysical Teachers, saying, “Overcoming the fear of the unknown is a challenging endeavor, but it can be done. If you suffer from a fear of uncertainty, understanding what fear is, and how it affects you, can start you on the road to conquering it.”

Kaushik Chokshi presents The Power of Intention – how to stop the cycle of madness posted at Beyond Karma, saying, “The power of intention–how to stop the cycle of madness”

Vincent presents How To Get Things Done Even When You Do Not Feel Like Doing Anything posted at Hit Your Goals, saying, “Learn from the famous 7 failures that turn out to be successful.”

Victoria Jennings presents Using Social Media To Find A Job | Job Search FAQ posted at Job Search, saying, “Facebook, Myspace, and other social media can be useful in finding a job.”

Aliall presents Owning Yourself Part 1: Time Management posted at Motivated Mama.

Adam Pedley presents Changing With Family posted at Adam Pedley.

Pat Doyle presents How To Arrange Your Bedroom For Good Feng Shui posted at Feng Shui Crazy, saying, “The bedroom is one of the most important rooms for Feng Shui. You spend one third of your life in bed, and a restful sleep is important for your general energy level.”

Tyrone Solee presents Mind Power, Will Power posted at Millionaire Acts, saying, “Learn how mind and will empowers us to reach our goals.”

Nate Desmond presents 7 Free Resources for the SAT posted at Debt-free Scholar.

Jasmin Dalton presents Sponsor a Child, Be Happier posted at jasmin dalton.

Daylle Deanna Schwartz presents Is Your Life an Adventure? posted at Lessons from a Recovering DoorMat, saying, “Life is special every day when you allow it to be. Make your life an adventure and you’ll enjoy it a lot more!”

Marcus Smith presents The Law of Diminishing Returns in Public Speaking posted at MarcusASmith.com.

Kevin Ngo presents How To Ensure Your Success In Achieving Your Goal posted at Motivational Blog.

One Language presents Learn English Articles » Blog Archive » English Grammar for ESL Students ?Common Grammatical Troublemakers posted at Learn English Articles, saying, “English is one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn because it has so many exceptions to its own rules.”

Positive Present presents change your attitude, change the world posted at positively present.

English Subject presents Free Online Tools for Practicing English Grammar posted at English Tutorial, saying, “For many people, learning to correctly use English grammar is very difficult. This is especially true if you’re learning English as a second language.”

Spanish Kit presents Basic Conversation Skills ?Spanish to English Translations posted at Learn Spanish Blog, saying, “When you’re learning a new language, practicing conversations with other students – or better yet native speakers – is a great way to improve your fluency.”

Shannon presents Thankful Thursday – Who do you appreciate? Have you told them? | The Daily Balance posted at The Daily Balance, saying, “The importance of appreciation and recognition. Do you appreciate someone? Do you tell them.”

Consti presents Reminder for Those Still Wasting Their Time posted at Consti Reports, saying, “Never Waste Your Time!”

Tom Maurer presents The Nature Of The Universe And Why It Matters To You posted at Simple and Spiritual.

Joe Tichio presents Apr 9, Procrastination Tip – Eat the Frog! posted at Inspirational Quotes Blog.

Jamie Soon presents Why making changes is a good thing posted at JamieSoon.com, saying, “Making changes is a good thing. It’s a way to ‘warm up the brain’ and generate more creative ideas. This article is targeted towards web designers but the concept can also be applied in everyday life.”

GreatManagement presents Ten Steps To Getting A Cool Career posted at Job and Career Advice, saying, “If you are looking for an unconventional career, you need some unconventional strategies to help you find it.Here”

Keith Jones presents The Secrets To Becoming Highly Successful In Life posted at Take Control Of Your Life, saying, “The aim of this article is to provide an outline of the attributes you require to become incredibly successful, so you can decide how you need to improve to increase your levels of success.”

Dorian Wales presents Challenging Happiness – Exploring the Irony of Human Nature posted at The Personal Financier, saying, “The irony of human nature – anxiety for those that have everything and depression for those that have nothing”

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Do You Need an MBA? posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Do you need an MBA to progress in your career? You may not, depending on your goals.”

Jim Valicenti presents Innovated Solutions For Creative Problem Solving posted at Self Improvement Connection, saying, “Many of us at one time or another believe that there is no other solution to a problem. We feel that the problem before us just can’t be solved. We have no options, leads or solutions to find the answer. Maybe you exhausted all your possible options. It seems as though you can’t see the forest for the trees. We begin to believe there is no solution and the pressure is overwhelming. But take pleasure in knowing there may be hope yet!”

Lionel Ebrahim presents Finding Direction In Life – Career posted at lionel-ebrahim.com.

Jacob Duchaine presents Being a Man posted at Blogging Guy.

Joseph presents Inteview with Vicki St. Clair posted at Penny Pinching.

Jai presents Singer Jai posted at singerjai.

Feed me Cheesy presents Feed Me Cheesy » A Limb-less Man Teaches you to Stand Up posted at Feed me Cheesy, saying, “A truly touching speech. This made me tear up a bit, I felt so inspired to do something great! If a limbless man could stand that tall, so can I!”

Paula Kawal presents Four Levels of Consciousness | Journey Inward Productions posted at Journey Inward Productions, saying, “While in NLP Practitioner Training this weekend I was fortunate once again to be re-united with Master Coach and trainer Helen Attridge Green as we studied Success Strategies. Helen is an extraordinarily successful coach, so it was a lot of fun taking apart her process to see what her goals are and how it is that she assesses who she wants to work with.”

Daryl Furuyama presents How to Hack Behaviors posted at WhiteHatBlackBox.com, saying, “An unconventional look at how to become more effective”

Brain Blogger presents Free Will and the Philosophy of Science posted at Brain Blogger, saying, “For many years the discussion over the existence of free will was limited to philosophers and theologians. Scientists started talking about free will once science started separating as a discipline from philosophy. However, it wasn’t until the rise of functional neuroimaging that some neuroscientists started studying if the brain and deterministic brain processes could explain away free will. In short, some scientists want to discover whether or not free will is merely an illusion, an idea humans create out of an innate desire to feel in control.”

Personal Finance

The Dough Roller presents Get Your Green On–13 Energy (and Money) Saving Gadgets posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “The technology that is available today is quite remarkable, and many green gadgets can not only lessen our impact on the environment, but also save money.”

Tallahassee Real Estate presents How To Make An Offer In Today’s Real Estate Market posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog, saying, “I was talking with a Tallahassee REALTOR® yesterday and we were discussing an offer he had just made on a foreclosure offering in Tallahassee. We discussed strategy for making an offer to a bank (the home had been foreclosed upon and was for sale by the bank that held the financing on the home) and how the strategy had to be different than when making an offer to a typical homeowner.”

Summer Munyon presents How To Construct A Well-Written Real Estate Offer posted at Really Better Real Estate, saying, “This weekend I received a text from a friend whose Tallahassee home I recently sold. She plans to place an offer on a home in TX this weekend and wanted to know the binder amount that she should place on the home. Literally, the text states that the list price is $350,000. She plans to make an offer of $300,000, and how much binder should she offer? Unfortunately, it’s far more complicated than a numeric reply with the “send” button.”

Brian McKay presents Home Equity Loan posted at MonitorBankRates.com, saying, “A home equity loan is a fixed-rate loan with a fixed payment schedule based on the available equity in your home. You receive your loan money all at once and then pay it back in predictable, fixed monthly payments”

Writers Coin presents The Credit Crisis: What Happened? posted at The Writer’s Coin, saying, “Easy video explanations of how we ended up in this mess…”

Writers Coin presents Free Week: Free Music posted at The Writer’s Coin, saying, “Yup, you can get free music without breaking the law. Here’s how.”

Karin Le Blanc presents Creative Ways To Get People Interested In Your Product ~7~ posted at Dutch Wahm! Work At Home Mom From Holland.

KCLau presents Learning to be Happy with Less posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “How u can be happy with less material things”

Jim DeSantis presents 3 Reasons That Can Cause Your Family Budget To Fail posted at Free Family Budgeting eBook from On Line Tribune, saying, “Money is the only tool you have to secure your future and the future of your family and to live a good life today. Unless you get spending under control and start treating your household like the goldmine it really is, you are destined to struggle financially for the rest of your life.”

Beno Varghese presents An Average Person?s Tax Dollars posted at Beno Varghese dot-com.

Khan presents Making a Living Refurbishing, Recycling or Reselling Old Things posted at Higher Education and Career Blog, saying, “When Jim, a former engineer, decided to start his own business he wanted it to center around his passion for automobiles.”

Radim presents How To Achieve Financial Independence posted at LivingNewAge.com, saying, “The article gives some tips on how you can achieve financial independence.”

Jim presents Understanding FICO Credit Scores posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Brian McKay presents First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit posted at MonitorBankRates.com, saying, “With the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, first time home buyers can qualify for up to an $8,000 tax credit.”

The Investor presents Compound interest turbo-charges your salary, too posted at Monevator.com, saying, “Compound interest is normally applied to savings, but it’s a useful way to think about the potential of your annual salary raise to make you wealthier, too.”

Mr Credit Card presents Company Credit Card Questions | Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog posted at Ask Mr Credit Card.

The Smarter Wallet presents A Stock Trading System For Shorting Stocks: How To Short Estee Lauder posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Thanks!”

Ryan Suenaga presents What’s the Dollar Amount on Time? posted at Uncommon Cents.

Stephen Martile presents How to Triple Your Income – 6 Pillars posted at FreedomEducation.ca by Stephen Martile, saying, “Hi Wally, Can you triple your income in 2009? Is this even possible with the American recession? It’s not totally out of the question. If you’re in a job then this is probably an unrealistic expectation, but ultimately it depends on your position in the industry. If you collect a performance based salary from a sales or marketing position then it’s possible to triple your income. But what if you’re not in sales and marketing. Can you still make the big money? You sure can, and here’s how. Become a consultant.”

John Russell presents 14 Auto Insurance Savings Secrets – Part-1 of 14 posted at The Low Cost Auto Insurance Guru, saying, “If you knew how this industry actually works, it would save you thousands of dollars each year on auto insurance. Want to know the secrets behind the premiums you pay? Exactly what is the “

Leave Debt Behind presents Are You Responsible for Your Deceased Parents Debt? posted at Leave Debt Behind.

Debt Free Destiny presents Why Repairing Your Credit Makes Sense and Saves You Money posted at Debt Free Destiny.

Debt Freedom Fighter presents Simple and Easy Methods to Reduce Your Debt Significantly posted at Discover Debt Freedom!.

Vicky presents How to Save Money on Your Wedding Rings posted at Affordable Wedding Planning, saying, “For most people, the words “Las Vegas Wedding” conjure up images of eloping couples speeding through the desert to get married without anyone knowing, or weddings that aren’t even remembered until a sobering realization the next morning.”

Rob presents Google PowerMeter posted at Energy Saving Gadgets, saying, “The Google PowerMeter underscores, why a company like Google is head and shoulders above a company like Yahoo! It’s called innovation. Google does it; Yahoo! doesn’t.”

Personal Health

Cody Butler presents Personal Development Videos posted at Dream Life Coaching Blog. Ask your questions., saying, “Personal development video on several topics, something a little different.”

Joshua Seth presents Reasons To Stop Smoking posted at Joshua Seth Blog, saying, “Want to motivate someone to stop smoking? Then take them to see the “Bodies Exhibition” that’s touring the country. It offers one of the most compelling reasons to stop smoking I’ve ever seen. I just went to it this past weekend in Puerto Rico and was really struck by the room that features the effects of smoking on the lungs.”

Nui Loa presents Boost Your Libido: 21 Foods to Increase Your Sex Drive Naturally posted at Love Hacks.

FIRE Getters presents FREE Health Care for the Unemployed – Take Care Clinic posted at FIRE Finance.

VikramKir presents What to eat to lose fat? Food for weight loss! posted at Thoughtfully Vikram….

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of personal development using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of personal development, blog carnival.

Karen is caught in the Boss Trap. Her company promoted her to Team Leader because she was a top performer in her marketing analyst position. But she hates the job and wants to get out.

It could be too late. Too many companies promote people to management based on their performance as something else. Then they don’t allow the promoted person to return to the ranks if they find they don’t like their new job.

That’s the Boss Trap. You can’t do a thing about the way your employer promotes people. But you can figure out in advance if it’s a good thing for you.

The best way to find out if you like being a boss is to be one for a little while. Temporary assignments as the head of a task force are great for this. So is filling in for a boss who’s on vacation or medical leave.

Analyze the particular work that bosses do. Here are some specific things that people responsible for group performance do that others don’t do.

Bosses are responsible for group performance. Your evaluation depends on their work. If you’re not comfortable with that, being a boss may not be right for you.

Bosses are responsible for team members. If you don’t like helping other people succeed, being a boss may not be the right job for you.

Bosses have to confront team members about behavior or performance. If that makes you uncomfortable, being a boss may not be right for you.

Bosses have to make decisions and then live with the results. If you have trouble coming to decisions and then being accountable for them, being a boss may not be right for you.

If being a boss is not the right career choice for you, don’t despair. There are other career paths that you can take. But it’s way easier to seek them out before you’re offered a “promotion” that may not be good for you and catches you in the Boss Trap.

Want the secret to big success? Take some advice from Linda Alvarado’s mother.

Linda is the owner of Alvarado Construction. Today, the company is a large commercial general contractor, construction manager, and development company with offices in four states.

Linda built her company by following her mother’s advice. Her mother said, “Start small but think big.”

When Linda started out, in the 1970s, the odds were stacked against her. She was a Hispanic woman who wanted to create a big company in an industry dominated by white men.

She couldn’t do everything she wanted all at once. So she listened to her mother. She kept the big vision, but she started small. Her first company did sidewalks.

Over thirty years she’s done a little more and a little more and a little more. It’s been small steps on the way to a big goal.

That’s a great strategy. And there’s good science behind it.

Dr. Ellen Weber, of the MITA Institute describes the process this way in a post on her Brain Based Leaders and Learners blog. “Researchers found that when we break complex problems into simple steps – we add motivation for better solutions.”

In other words, when you go after a big goal using small, achievable steps, you get two benefits. You make progress with each action step. And you build both confidence and motivation.

That sounds easy, but there’s one more thing you need to know. Small steps that stay inside your head don’t count.

I’ve had too many coaching clients who wanted to do steps like “Think about marketing plan.” That’s not an action step. Thinking about action is not action.

An action step is something that produces evidence. It’s outside your head.

So, make a call. Or make a list. Do something positive, visible, and small that moves you toward that big goal.

Personal Development

Matthew Paulson presents Why You Should Refuse to Participate in the Recession posted at Fine-Tuned Finances

Peter presents Be Mass Media Free posted at we overstep saying, “Improve your awareness and mental health. Stop addiction to news, television shows and any low level mass media. Be mass media free and turn your time into something productive. ”

VYe presents Why Angelina Jolie wants to date me? Why me? posted at Sit Down Life saying, “When things are not going well, we feel that things will never change and get depressed, but things change. Good times come back. One thing which will never change is the change. Write it on a post-it and stick it inside your brain. ”

Jenn Givler presents Having trouble staying focused? posted at Create a Thriving Business saying’ “We all have trouble staying focused once in a while. The folks on Twitter helped me out a few days ago with some great ideas on what to do when you feel scattered and unable to focus. ”

jim presents Do You Love What You Do? posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

thebarefootbadger presents  Wanting Less, Getting More posted at The Barefoot Badger saying, “As a society, our consumer appetites are voracious, resulting in degraded resources and mounting debt. The easiest way to balance our consumer habits with environmental and financial responsibility is to decrease our appetite for trendy, short-lived goods. Here, I suggest ways to restructure our habits and values so we want less stuff and integrate smart consumption into our lifestyles. Try it; it’s good for the your self, the planet, and your wallet. ”

semmy lauw wijayanto presents A goal setting is best when someone really understands what he really needs posted at My Self Help Solution

Nicholas Powiull presents  Closing the Gap Between Where You Are & Where You Desire to Be posted at Conscious Flex saying, “This article will help you close the gap between where you are and where you desire to be… very insightful – a must read. ”

Juliet presents Are You Using Your Personal Development Knowledge? |www.LifeMadeGreat.com posted at LifeMadeGreat saying, “Have you stored up a wealth of personal development reading books and blogs etc? Do you use it? How can you put it to use… ”

Kevin Ngo presents How to Change Your Focus posted at Motivational Blog

Applying the Law of Attraction presents  How Can I Apply the Law of Attraction? posted at Applying the Law of Attraction Membership Library saying, “If you can dream it, you do it with the Law of Attraction as your guiding principle. Without a doubt, the Law of Attraction is personal.”

Relax presents 5 good reasons why you should buy a lot of books posted at The Wise Curve saying, “Most of my monthly spending goes to books. Before you say that I’m crazy, please let me share with you why we should buy a lot of books.”

The Happy Rock presents Living In Fear – It Is Not Productive posted at The Happy Rock

Broderick Allen presents Sowing and Reaping posted at Broderick Allen – Personal Growth and Enjoying Life’s Journey

Jim DeSantis presents Who Else Wants a Positive Attitude? posted at On Line Tribune | Personal Challenges Blog saying, “Some people just cannot develop a positive attitude. Are you one of them?”

Personal Finance

MBB presents Best CD Rates (Certificate Of Deposit) posted at  Money Blue Book Finance

Josanne Anthony presents Money I’m Entitled To Throw Away posted at Brilliant Babblings

Patrick Smith presents Basics of car buying posted at Leaving The Folks saying, “Going to take advantage of low interest rates and good deals to buy a car? Here are some tips.”

FIRE Finance presents What Should We Do If Our Mutual Fund Goes Belly Up? posted at FIRE Finance

debt kid presents Goodbye Experian Fico Score, Nice Knowing Ya posted at Debt Kid

Mr. Banker presents High Interest Money Market Accounts (MMA) posted at Best Interest Rate Banks

retirehappy presents Warren Buffett’s Metric Says BUY! posted at My Retirement Blog

Deposit Accounts presents Stimulating $400 Per-Worker Tax Credit for 2009 and 2010 posted at Deposit Accounts

CreditCardAssist.com presents  To Close or Not to Close The Secured Credit Card Account posted at CreditCardAssist.com

Silicon Valley Blogger presents How To Make A Budget In 10 Easy Steps posted at The Digerati Life

vh presents Should I apply for unemployment? posted at Funny about Money

CreditAddict presents What to Do if Your Credit Card or Wallet is Stolen posted at Credit Card Addict

nickel presents How to Choose an Online Savings Account posted at  fivecentnickel.com

BankMan presents  Tips for safely banking and investing online posted at High Yield Savings Accounts saying, “Tips for safely banking and investing online”

The Smarter Wallet presents  Compare Credit Card Offers: Find The Best Credit Cards For You posted at The Smarter Wallet

Personal Health

Bill Urell presents  Starting To Beat Addiction With These Great Addiction Recovery Strategies posted at Addiction Recovery Basics saying, “Do You know how to beat an addiction? Here are a few addiction recovery strategies laid out in an easily understood article.”

Nancy Miller presents  Just Relax! 77 Easy, Painless Tips to Focus & Invite Tranquility In posted at Nursing Assistant Guides

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of personal development using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of personal development, blog carnival.

Personal Development

Britannica Blog presents Suicide on the Internet: What Is Our Responsibility? posted at Britannica Blog, saying, “Last Friday, November 21, Abraham Biggs, a 19-year-old community college student in Florida, committed suicide on a live webcast with a virtual audience of over 1,500 viewers.”

Bill Urell presents Codependency And Addiction Recovery: Detaching With Love – Video posted at Addiction Recovery Basics, saying, “My mother said “I am so glad you’re alive, and you are not welcome in my home or in my life until you are living a life of recovery. If I never see you will live again, I want to you know how much will be missed. And she closed the door on me”. Read more…”

Applying the Law of Attraction presents Can You Use The Law of Attraction to Achieve Your Desires posted at Applying the Law of Attraction Membership Library, saying, “When you have desires in life you want to make happen you will want to use the Law of Attraction to make it work. You want to think about the things in life that you…”

Tisha Tolar presents Overwhelming Workload – YES! You Can Do it! posted at Empowering Mom.

omguy presents The Butterfly Effect posted at Ordinary Miracles, saying, “A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours. . .”

Simon Stapleton presents How To Improve Your Performance With 8 Weekly Events | SimonStapleton.com posted at Career & Personal Development for CIOs, Technical Professionals and Self-Professed Geeks, saying, “Here are 8 things you can do on a weekly basis to improve your performance and achieve more success in life.”

Brain Blogger presents Psychiatric Conditions and Alcohol Abuse in the College-Aged posted at Brain Blogger, saying, “I always find epidemiological studies very interesting because they can give you a snapshot of the prevalence of certain conditions. Have you ever wondered about the prevalence of psychiatric conditions and alcohol use disorders among college students? This is a topic that has been studied extensively by many different research groups.”

Roberto Montanez presents 5 errors you make in a conversation posted at Psychbits, saying, “Have you ever felt that you are not connecting with the person you are talking to? There is nothing more cumbersome than the feeling of not connecting with another person”

David B Bohl presents 6 Signs Your Perfectionism Might be Veering into Control Freak Territory posted at Slow Down Fast Today!, saying, “Are you constantly redoing things to make sure they’re absolutely perfect? Do you find yourself noticing pictures on walls that are slightly crooked and straightening them, even if it’s not in your own home? Are you consistently late and always have a pat excuse? Do you criticize and find faults with others, but in your mind, you’re always right?”

Vincent presents How To Change Disasters In Your Life Into Meaningful Events posted at Hit Your Goals, saying, “Changing disasters in your life to meaningful events.”

Jessie presents Blog Action Day 2008 – Poverty posted at My Investing Blog, saying, “Blog Action Day 2008″

Akemi Gaines presents Living Your Life Purpose posted at Yes to Me, saying, “What is your life purpose? Are you living your life purpose?”

Kerry presents Making affirmations that work for you posted at Ancient Wisdom Modern Mind.

Jay Frawley presents Making a Living Should Not Be Painful! | InnerNoodle.com posted at InnerNoodle.com, saying, “An article to help people realize they have a choice to find work that suits their values.”

Marelisa Fabrega presents Creative Thinking Techniques: The “Playful” Edition posted at Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online.

Wally Bock presents Be on the lookout posted at Momentor.

Scott Lee presents Why Neil Strauss is the Best PUA (Pick Up Artist) posted at ScottLee.Name.

Nadege presents How to be fully committed to life long change posted at Clearly Envision.

Hayden Tompkins presents How Life Coaching Can Revolutionize Your Friendships posted at Through The Illusion.

Louis Burns presents Crafting Mental Movies For Others posted at NLP Marketing Blog, saying, “This article is about not only visualizing your own goals but the experience you want other people to have as well.”

pearl mattenson presents Guided Visualization and Zillience: Opening Doors for our Most Precious Relationship – Ricki Rush – Sandy Davis – relationships – meditation – prayer – creative practice | Carrie and Danielle posted at Carrie and Danielle.

bob presents Fail School: Life lessons you wish you could learn posted at Failschool, saying, “Improving your social and dating skills”

Mina Togonon presents As Big as the Rafter posted at 24 Hour Paradigm, saying, “Are you in the right track of improving your personal success? It’s very difficult to face the reality that many people who are trying to succeed have stepped on to other peoples’ shoes. What’s alarming though is these people fail to check the big hindrance within them.”

Barry Wright III presents Developing Reading Systems posted at 3stylelife.

Nhys Glover presents More on Ariadne posted at The Journey Woman, saying, “My first contribution to a carnival!”

HighGrace presents Why we all could use a good time out posted at Face to the Sun.

Louise Fletcher presents Gary Vaynerchuck on Authenticity posted at Blue Sky Resumes Blog, saying, “Thanks for considering my post!”

Chris Edgar presents How Our Judgments Of Others Can Teach Us About Ourselves posted at Purpose Power Coaching, saying, “When we criticize someone, we’re actually revealing something we don’t want others to see about ourselves. Because we judge some part of our personality as wrong or unacceptable, we try to convince ourselves and the world that someone else has it, not us. This article discusses how we can learn about ourselves from the ways we find ourselves judging others.”

ananga presents How to Control Anxiety with Grounding Techniques posted at Ananga’s Living by Design Blog.

Mike King presents Open Ended Questions Make Better Conversations posted at Learn This.

Alex Fayle presents Dedicate Yourself to Life, Not Work posted at Someday Syndrome, saying, “Do you define yourself by your job? This article looks at the cultural differences between Spanish and North American attitudes about work.”

Mike Sowden presents ecosalon :: the green gathering :: 24 of Groceries Get Trashed and 8 Other Insanities posted at Ecosalon, saying, “There’s only one way to tackle the biggest obstacles – a tiny bit at a time. Every small contribution adds up. Here are eight challenges that face us today, and the seemingly small changes to our lifestyles (and so to ourselves) that could make a real difference.”

Rahul Bhambhani presents How to Deal with Criticism posted at Personal Development Advice, Tools to Improve the Quality of your Life, saying, “Whenever you decide to go against the grain and strive to reach some of your loftier goals, you can bet you’re going to come up against a considerable amount of criticism. For you to succeed in reaching these goals, you must learn to deal with this criticism in a healthy and positive way.”

HIB presents Real Happiness or Perceived Happiness? posted at Happiness is Better.

Marcus Smith presents What is the Most Important Skill in a Recession? posted at MarcusASmith.com.

Burak Bilgin presents Life Purpose: How to Discover it? posted at Distiller’s Corner.

axel presents Zen-Like Living posted at axel g.

Ryan Suenaga presents The Power of Paper and Pen posted at Uncommon Cents.

Dianne M. Buxton presents Let Your Manifesting Miracles Simmer in Delicious Anticipation posted at manifestingsuccess, saying, “This article is about amplifying your most positives thoughts.”

Jodi presents Self Development #2: Do It Now posted at Domain Named You, saying, “If you truly want to develop yourself, do it now!”

Chase Stowers presents The 28-Hour Day posted at Super Duper Blog-O-Rama!, saying, “A sleep schedule I found interesting.”

Relax presents 4 Strategies to improve your memory power posted at The Wise Curve, saying, “The good news is that memory can be improved. By following the four strategies below, your memory can become like a super sponge that soaks up information for a long time.”

Personal Finance

Debbie Dragon presents Tips for Growing Money posted at The Money Blog.

Great Management presents The Greatest Success Secret of All Time posted at Great Management, saying, “Sir Richard Branson swears by it and credits it as one of the secrets to his success. Check out an excerpt from A Touch of Greatness.”

Debt Free Destiny presents 5 Money Changes to Keep More of Your Money posted at Debt Free Destiny.

Destroy Debt presents 3 Basic Principles for Good Personal Finance Habits posted at Destroy Debt.

Erin Pavlina presents Are You Afraid to Be Rich? posted at Erin Pavlina’s Blog, saying, “Many years ago I had this odd mentality about money and wealth. I thought that rich people were all greedy, and that most of them had probably sold their soul to the devil in order to attain their wealth.”

Investing Angel presents I?m Betting On Oil posted at Stock Tips, saying, “What to do in a time of recession.”

Michael Cohen presents Traits Of A Good Investor | The Stock Investor – Stock Advice And Tips posted at The Stock Investor, saying, “These are the three most importnat traits of a successful stock investor.”

Lance Cooper presents How Trickle Down Affects You posted at Recession Money Matters, saying, “Think you are insulated from the stock market? Think again.”

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Loan Poem posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

Wenchypoo presents The Truth About the Economy and Job Creation posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.

Joe Hayes presents Forex Tips updated Sat Nov 15 2008 12:13 pm CST posted at Restoring Your Finances and Your Faith, saying, “Beginner tips for those thinking about trying to get into the foreign exchange (Forex) currency market.”

Lauren Rose presents Credit Card Skimmers – Keep Your Eye on Your ATM card posted at No Debt Anymore .org, saying, “With the holiday season in full swing, Credit card and ATM theft is increasing at an alarming rate. Here are 3 common ways thieves may try to gain access to your personal information using a skimmer device, and 10 tips to protect yourself.”

Buck Weber presents Selling Through A Consignment Shop posted at THE BUCK LIST, saying, “How to sell through a consignment shop.”

Joanne presents Beginner Investing: When Research Pays Off posted at Beginner Investing.

Relax presents Let’s talk about money posted at The Wise Curve, saying, “The good news is that being rich is not really difficult because it is just a state of mind.”

Maria Gajewski presents How to Bootstrap Your Life posted at Never the Same River Twice, saying, “Do you ever worry about coming up with money to get what you need or want in life? Do you see money as an obstacle to your happiness? If you do, you can learn some powerful lessons from the business world by learning how to be a bootstrapper.”

Livingalmostlarge presents My $170 Car Investment posted at LivingAlmostLarge.

The Investor presents Seven surprising things you may not know about Warren Buffett posted at Monevator.com, saying, “There’s no better role model when you’re starting out in investing than Warren Buffett, the self-made billionaire. Here are seven things you may not know about how he made it.”

Raymond presents Credit Card Offers For People With Bad Credit Or Poor Credit History posted at Money Blue Book.

FIRE Getters presents Retirement – All Is Well If Our HEART Is Well! posted at FIRE Finance.

The Dough Roller presents How to Survive (and Thrive) in a Recession posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “Some tips on how to survive a recession.”

Robert Brus presents Blog | posted at The Site Rush Preview, saying, “You will learn the ability to Make Totally Insane Amounts of Cash Even in a Armageddon-Like Economy Where Over 90% of People and Businesses are Closing and Going Broke!”

Personal Health

Andy presents How To Stop Binge Eating posted at test, saying, “Are you sick of your out of control eating? Do you eat in private? Do you hide food and eat it until your stomach is about to burst? Have you tried every diet out there without any lasting success? Have you lose weight only to gain it back? Are you finally wondering How to Stop Binge Eating once and for all?”

Aparna presents Beauty and Personal Grooming: Body odor posted at Beauty and Personality Grooming, saying, “Does your body odor repel others? The ultimate social disaster, a bad body odor may take your confidence to its lowest level. “Do I smell bad?” could be the most embarrassing question you may have to ask. But is preventing unpleasant body odor difficult? Sometimes yes, a shower or a body spray may not do the trick.”

Jeremy Day presents 11 Little Steps to Better Health posted at Insight Writer, saying, “For anyone interested in improving their health this is a great way to start!!!”

OrnaRoss presents Good Things I?ve Gained from Having Cancer #2 posted at Orna Ross, saying, “cancer can have positives”

Tony Huynh presents Why and How I Broke My Addiction to Caffeine at LimitlessUnits.com posted at LimitlessUnits.com, saying, “When I took account of what I was doing, I realized that I had a physical and mental dependence on a drug. Any substance that could affect me like this was making me weak. I resolved to quit caffeine immediately.”

Alvaro Fernandez presents Games for Brain Health – Novelty, Variety and Challenge posted at SharpBrains, saying, “How gaming can be good for your brain.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of personal development using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of personal development, blog carnival.

Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. My picks this week include posts on interviewing by groups, defining yourself to succeed, interviewing with multiple companies, looking good to the boss, and the Boston Globe Magazine’s Careers Issue.

From the Wall Street Journal: For Job Hunters, The Big Interview Is Getting Bigger

“Anxious about meeting a key hiring manager? Your job-search jitters may soon intensify when you confront the ultimate stress test: a panel of interviewers. Group grilling has long been popular among academics, government agencies and nonprofit organizations — sectors that prefer decisions by a consensus of constituencies. As the job market becomes more competitive for people at every level, this practice is spreading to law firms, management consultancies and high-tech businesses. Employers, who now have the luxury of being picky with candidates, see selection committees as an efficient way to measure applicants’ mettle under fire.”

Wally’s Comment: If you interview with an organization that uses groups to interview, you need to master some additional skills and devote some extra time to preparation.

From Marshall Goldsmith: Change the Way You Define Yourself

“One of the greatest challenges that we face, when we try to improve ourselves – as leaders, partners, friends or family members – is the challenge of changing the way we define ourselves. I must have heard this phrase a thousand times, “That’s just the way I am.” As long as we keep saying “That’s just the way I am” to ourselves we increase the probabilities that “That’s just the way I am always going to be.” I believe that (with very rare exceptions) we can all change our behavior. By definition, the only behaviors that we cannot changes are either shaped by genetic preconditions (we are born that way) or environmental factors (external forces that prohibit us from changing).”

Wally’s Comment: How you define yourself can boost or limit your career achievement. This is an example of why so many of us read everything that Marshall writes.

From Microsoft’s JobsBlog: Interviewing with multiple companies

“As a job seeker, you might think you’re not harming anyone by withholding the fact that you’re interviewing with multiple companies, when in fact it could take away some of your career options. It’s exciting to have several companies interested in you, but it can be hard to manage interview and offer deadlines while trying to figure out which one really is your dream job. So here are my words of advice.”

Wally’s Comment: A helpful post about how to handle the situation where you’re interviewing with several companies and trying to decide which one you love best without getting left at the altar.

From US News and World Report: 10 Ways to Make Your Boss Love You

“Want to become your boss’s favorite? Here are 10 habits that, if cultivated, will have your boss showering you with lavish praise.”

Wally’s Comment: This is a stellar piece. Read it for a great summary of how to look good without sucking up.

From the Boston Globe: The Globe Magazine Careers Issue

Wally’s Comment: Several great articles about trends and techniques.