It's All About the Kids (and it's all FREE)

There are various kid-friendly activities going on Saturday, January 31st. From the Dallas Morning News website...

• Dale Oliver, 1992 world yo-yo champion, will give a yo-yo demonstration at Bookmarks at NorthPark Center. 2pm
• African-American Read-In: The Dallas County Community College District's 10th annual gathering will feature readings of black literature by writers, celebrities, storytellers and performers. Author and motivational speaker Lisa Nichols and actress Irma P. Hall are scheduled to appear. Also, Dallas Black Dance Theatre will perform. Costumed character Lyndale the Literary Lion will be on hand to entertain kids at the celebration, which is geared toward ages 8 and older. Organizers recommend arriving early. 2-4pm
• Comedy magician Magic Mike will perform his interactive show. Showtime Saturdays are presented by Galleria Dallas and Slappy’s Puppet Playhouse, near the Play Place at Galleria Dallas (Level 3). 11:30am

New Year’s Book Recommendation: One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer

Judging by the date of this post it is a good thing that ending procrastination was not one of my New Year’s resolutions…or is it?

I asked several people what their New Year’s resolutions were this year. Many of them said that they did not make resolutions. As a whole, they generally gave two reasons:

1. People just break them anyway.


2. Why is January 1 a "magic" day? One should strive to improve oneself year round.
   

Both of these reasons are valid arguments against making resolutions, but they are also helpful hints of how to make resolutions more effective in the future.

1. People just break them anyway.
There is no point in making resolutions that you are not motivated to achieve. Sure, we all want to be thinner, healthier, less stressed, more fiscally responsible, less foul-mouthed individuals, but it doesn’t mean we’re all motivated to do those things. Instead of creating a laundry list of all the possible positive changes you could make in your life, focus on only the one (or two, no more than three) changes that you are truly motivated to pursue.

2. The Magic of January 1st
There is no magic in January 1st but it is an enduring symbol of newness and freshness. Of course we don’t wake up on that day magically prepared to be different people. Change, particularly change in personal behavior, takes time. A person isn’t born $8000 in credit card debt. It takes time to dig a hole that deep, just as it will take time to change the behaviors necessary to climb out. For this reason, I give myself the entire year to achieve my new year’s resolutions - 365 days to make the changes that I have identified. Maybe I’ll fall off the wagon a few times, but the wagon always stops long enough for me to get back on.

For a little help in the “how do I make a lasting change?” department, consider reading Robert Maurer’s “One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way.” In just 192 brief pages, Robert articulates the beauty of small, incremental changes, over the big, sweeping changes that people tend to associate with New Year’s resolutions. Yes, his “baby steps” approach takes longer to reach the goal, but it helps you to develop rock solid new habits (which aren’t easily broken) along the way.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/One-Small-Step-Can-Change-Your-Life/Robert-Maurer/e/9780761129233/?itm=1

Happy Reading and Happy New Year!