Unique Ways to Stick to Your New Years Resolution: Immersion Travel, Volunteer, or Learn

In setting New Years resolutions, a lot of people focus on little changes: losing weight, trying to be a nicer person, recycling more, and not spending as much money. However, what if you made a big resolution? What if you decided this was going to be the year you actually made a difference – not only in your life, but in the life of someone else? These big resolutions take a lot of effort and planning; it is no easy task to just start having a positive impact on the lives, community, or environment beyond one’s self. How do you go about it? Where do you start? Do you volunteer? Or do you seek out an internship for a non-profit?

What usually happens is that we try and make a big resolution, but because of the difficulty of the task, our lack of knowledge revolving around just how to go about it, and because our life usually gets in the way, the resolution goes nowhere. Well, don’t let 2009 be like past years. This year you can stick to your resolution to be a positive light in the world, and to help you get there is the new book by Sheryl Kayne, Immersion Travel USA: The Best & Most Meaningful Volunteering, Living, and Learning Excursions.

Filled with over 400 pages of ways to better your life and the world around you, Immersion Travel USAis a book that anyone looking for meaningful change in their life should definitely have. Covering volunteer programs, education programs, internships, short- and long-term job opportunities, care programs, activist jobs, and much more, Sheryl has put together an indispensable resource.

Combining her years of adventure, writing, and personal exploration, Sheryl covers a wide swath of ways you can make your life more meaningful. What I really enjoyed about the book, however, is that these are not the usual programs everyone already knows about. Nor are they in the usual places. Rather, Sheryl has combed the United States in an effort to find ways for people to enrich their lives and the lives of others all while visiting new and amazing places.

Want to monitor the health of coral reefs? Well, then check out page 48 where the Reef Check Foundation is profiled. Or how about helping assist severely wounded men and women of the US Armed Forces? On page 77 you can learn about volunteering with the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project. Looking for a change in your career, but don’t know where to start? Immersion Travel USAhas an entire section devoted to just that, finding new work opportunities (both short and long-term) that revolve around working for the environment, the community, or for those in need.

Perhaps your resolution for 2009 is not as lofty. Maybe you just need to get away and learn about the world around you. No problem, Immersion Travel USAhas that covered too. How about partaking in a cultural immersion excursion in Havasu Canyon with the Havasu Native American tribe? Or perhaps dog sledding in Alaska is something you have always wanted to do. Either way, Immersion Travel USAhas more programs, opportunities, and experiences then you can possibly do in one lifetime. If you are looking for some help this year in sticking to your New Years Resolution, or you are just looking for something to inspire you, then Immersion Travel USA: The Best & Most Meaningful Volunteering, Living, and Learning Excursionsis a must have. Make 2009 your best year ever!

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The Best Business Books of 2008: Top Five List

As 2008 comes to a close, I thought it would be informative to compose a list of the five best business books for the year. This is not an objective list. How could it be? Nearly 70 times a year I provide my opinions on the current books I've read -- just my opinion, not the definitive judgment. And I can't read every book (though at times, I feel like I do) so I've missed a bunch of business books that probably deserve to be recognized.

So here are the business books that I thought were best. If you think I missed the boat or the mark on any business book, please leave a comment and let me know what you think are the best business books for 2008 and why. And thanks for reading!

The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need.Daniel H. Pink, Rob Ten Pas. Riverhead Books. 160 pages.

Every book Pink writes is the same -- brilliant -- and doing an illustrated career guide in the style of Japanese manga is an inspired way to communicate the basics of career development in a language best understood by those who need it most.

Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Voices That Matter).Garr Reynolds. New Riders. 227 pages.

I've sat through -- and perpetrated -- too many bad PowerPoint demos and Reynolds' wise and clear explications may not be the antidote, but at least now there's no excuse for mediocrity and boredom.

Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are.Rob Walker. Random House. 256 pages.

Why do we buy? Why are some brands cool and others corny? Walker doesn't have all the answers, but he asks the right questions. Following his curiosity leads to even more questions and a very provocative trip.

Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries).Jared Bernstein. Berrett-Koehler. 225 pages.

Finance is boring and understanding how our economy functions may be soporific, but Bernstein never got that memo so he comes up with an enlightening and imaginative lesson in how the micro and macro interact with various constituencies -- including the American public.

Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business.Crown Business. Jeff Howe. 320 pages.

As new affinity groups form around different products, needs and purposes, Howe examines the implications for business in particular and society in general in his tour of the new frontier of aggregated intelligence.

For some more 2008 winners, check out this list. Also of note:

• Selling: The Secret to Success
• Lead Well and Prosper: 15 Successful Strategies for Becoming a Good Manager
• What To Do When You Become the Boss