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It’s always interesting to see how a year finishes up, compared to your hopes and plans at the beginning of the year.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions these days but I do have a goal planning session around the middle of January each year and put the results of that onto a PowerPoint presentation in full colour, along with images and some Scripture from the Bible that is relevant to the theme of my goals, print it off, laminate it and stick it on my office wall close to my computer monitor so it’s visible in front of me every day.

I also share it with my business coach although I was doing this before I started attending sessions with him three years ago.

Some might not see the benefit of this but in the 1980s when I used to attend Amway meetings they spoke about affirmation cards and the power of dream building.   These were pretty much the same as goal setting. If you don’t know where you’re headed then you’ll pretty much end up nowhere or perhaps somewhere far from where you might have hoped to be.  And it’s important to keep your goals visibly in front of you for those days when things don’t seem to be going right and you’re almost ready to give it all up.  I’ve had those days and I bet you have too!

I want to wish you all a prosperous 2009, whether that be through finances, personal achievements or some other goal or goals you have for your life.  I hope that 2009 brings with it much contentment and a sense of satisfaction at the end of it.

For us as a family, we pray and hope that it will bring peace and new things.  Many of you know we lost a daughter this year and so we enter into a new one with some sadness and hope for better things to come.

Happy New Year to you all!

new year, resolutions, goals, plans, dream, achievements

Tags: Aussie Bloggers, Self-employed by Kathie Thomas
5 Comments »

A month ago I was thinking social networking is going crazy.  What do you think?

At that time I had received a number of invitations to attend new networks that have been established.  I must be on everyone’s invitation list – it’s getting out of hand!  And perhaps it is.

However, just recently I relented and decided to join a couple more networks, actually about 3 or was it 4?  Ning.com really seems to have lent itself nicely to brand new networks on an almost daily basis and it’s so easy to set up and use.  And you can create your own templates or use one of theirs.  Many applications to add or build onto the network makes it easy for those who just don’t have an IT person in the background to install and set up software for them.

So I’ve joined 3 author’s networks (as learning from my peers is a great way to improve myself as an author as well as promote my books) and another business group called Sta.rtUp.biz.  Over 20,000 members at that one and if you consider joining, be prepared to be bombarded with lots of comments on your page within a short time of joining – they encourage people to welcome all the newbies.  To me it amounts to spam but you can delete the comments on your own page and leave what you want there.  And there are some excellent forums there for people in all types of businesses.  I’ve already made some worthwhile connections and only been a member a very short time.  And somehow I’ve gained a lot of points although I haven’t yet fully worked out what they’re for. Some kind of ranking system for active networkers I think.

Anyway, if you check the menu to the right you’ll see a list of my social network pages under the “Connect With Me” blogroll category.  Feel free to pop in and pay a visit if you desire!

social networks, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ning, Authors, Christian women, business groups

Tags: Social Networks by Kathie Thomas
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I wanted to go ask a specific question the other day on two writer’s forums I belong to but both were closed. Both were with Ning and I was in a fix because I wanted to post my question now!  So, what should I do?

• I posted at Twitter

• I sent an email to another forum

• I did some research at Google

• I kept revisiting the Ning site waiting for it to open again.

What do you do when you can’t get into the group you want to participate in?

Tags: Forums, Having Fun by Kathie Thomas
1 Comment »

I’ve been doing a series of blog posts at another blog I own about Christmas in Melbourne.  But many of you may not be aware of that blog so I wanted to bring it to your attention here.

For those of you who do not live in the southern hemisphere, the thought of a warm summer, wearing summer clothing, being on the beaches and needing to hit the pools might be quite foreign. And yet, many of us still enjoy the traditional hot meals with turkey, or pork, even put shrimps on the barbie, as you might have seen in adverts about Australia.

I encourage you to click on the image or the link above and learn a bit more about Christmas in the area where I live.  In the meantime I hope you have a good time with your loved ones, get the rest that you need and that it’s not too stressful.

I want to thank everyone for their participation in comment discussions here at this blog or for simply being a reader.  I hope that you have sufficient break during the Christmas/New Year period so you can return to work refreshed and revitalised for 2009.

As you read this, my husband and I are also planning some time to ourselves, visiting with family and just taking a break from it all.  It’s nice to have him home on leave now and not having to leave early in the morning for work.  We can actually relax and have lie-ins for a couple of weeks.

Tags: About Blogging by Kathie Thomas
1 Comment »