Let’s face it–we go into the holiday season every year with the best intentions of staying in shape but come out a few (or 10) pounds heavier. It is inevitable–there is simply too much great food, holiday parties and drinking that bring a wave of calories that our body is just not used to taking. The irony in all of this is that most of us then follow our holiday binges with a list of New Years resolutions focused on getting back into shape.

Instead of devoting our attention to taking pounds off, we’ll take a proactive approach and look at ways we can keep from putting the pounds on in the first place. It won’t be easy but with a few tricks and a hefty serving of will-power, we can all avoid the holiday overeating.

2007 is quickly coming to an end. The holiday decorations are up, cards have been mailed out and presents have been purchased. Soon, the only thing left to do will be to set my New Year’s resolutions! The problem with these lists of goals for so many people is that we set ourselves up for failure in a number of ways. To look at why we fail at our New Year’s resolutions, let’s take a look at some best-practices for goal setting and apply those to our year-end goals. We’ll look at alternatives for some of the most common resolutions that we set and then some general tips for achieving your goals.

It is hard to read the news or turn on the television without noticing a new story on global warming and then hearing great ideas to “go green.” We’ve seen light bulb innovation in the form of CFL’s, solar panels being used for alternative forms of energy and massive changes to automobiles through the use of hybrid vehicles. These are all great steps forward but there’s still one relic in our homes that remains greatly unchanged–the toilet. Sure, we’ve seen the gallons-per-flush specifications for toilets decrease in an effort to save the water our civilization greatly depends on but I’m not convinced this is enough.

To really save water with toilets, manufacturer’s need to devise a hybrid toilet that mixes the water-saving technique of the men’s urinal with the traditional toilet. The urinal is a brilliant water-saving device because a lot of water isn’t needed to rinse away the waste. Why isn’t the same true for toilets?

You’ve surely noticed by now that the New England Patriots are currently in the midst of a perfect season in the NFL. Everything is going their way and the nation has taken notice. The media coverage is phenomenal and most sports shows are devoting a great deal of time to this amazing team. While watching the game against the Pittsburg Steelers yesterday I heard John Madden mention that the Steelers have been studying tapes of the Patriots all week in order to find weaknesses. This happens for every game played in the NFL but it then made me think back to my own job and how I study our competition to find ways of exploiting their soft spots. Once the wheels were turning, I realized that the New England Patriots are just like any other business and we can see quite a few similarities between what happens on the field and what happens in our own lives. In no way am I a Patriots fan–even so, I think they are a facsinating team to watch and learn from. Let’s have a look.

I had a very interesting email come in this morning from one of my readers asking me how for a little guidance on blogging. He is about to launch what sounds like a very interesting blog and wanted to know how I was able to get my blog off the ground. I answered his email and then decided I’d write a quick post on the topic so others can possibly get a little motivation and learn what has worked well for me recently.

There are so many topics to write about and an equal number of ways to promote a blog. That being said, I want to point out that these are ways my blog gained a readership. Other blogs have succeeded in completely different ways. I wouldn’t say any particular way of bringing readers to your site is better or worse than another. As such, let’s open a discussion in the comment and share with each other various ways we’ve succeeded on this topic.

Most of us have been there. We’re young and want to make a big purchase for a home or automobile but we haven’t established substantial credit to get a loan. Perhaps we’ve damaged our credit and need the backing of a person with a strong credit history in order to get the loan […]

Customer Service in America is generally so poor in quality that the topic has become an embarrassment for so many businesses. The old adage, “The customer is always right” may not be true but it was a guiding light for employee behavior and response to customer issues. That phrase has been lost along with all semblance of customer-focused service and I think it is time we overhaul our thinking towards this crucial aspect of business.

I have been paying close attention to the way businesses treat their customers for quite some time now. In order to write this post, I started opening my eyes even further to see what I notice with the businesses I frequent. The problems are often simply annoying and not enough to drive me away entirely yet many are simply too much to take. Let’s take a look at some of the general problems we are all encountering and try to come together in the comments section to start a discussion on the subject.

It is really easy for us to go out and adopt a pet from our local shelter. The cost is almost nothing and even after getting shots for the animal, toys, a comfy pet bed and all of those other fun things, we’re still not looking at a lot of money. Food is relatively inexpensive too so why not rush out and get a new friend today? Well, if you’re looking at the actual value of the money you spend at the second you spend it, you’re not taking into account opportunity cost.

Let’s take a look at what it actually costs to own a pet by using a popular example. We will look at how much money you’d have when you retire if you invest those pet dollars instead of actually adopting the pet. I think you’ll be shocked at how much you could have by age 55!