Rethink, Refocus, Redo!!!

It's finally 2008, and Happy Belated New Year to all of our people!!! We really appreciate your readership, support, and ideas, so keep it up! The time has come for everyone to re-evaluate their lives and determine if you are on the right course. Reflect on this past year. Did you accomplish all of your goals? Did you make sure you handled everything correctly? Did everything always get paid on time? For most people, the answer is no. The beginning of the year is always a great time to get your affairs in order and start on a new course, especially if the last one was not particularly successful for you. Don't just concentrate on new (sometimes repeated) resolutions that usually do not last long. Think and focus on SOLUTIONS...that will keep you on a steady path to where you want to be!

The Stages of Change

New Year's is "an excellent time for change," says Prochaska, coauthor of Changing for Good (William Morrow and Company). It "represents a new beginning" and brings with it a sense of "getting down to work" after the holidays. The problem, he explains, is that people equate change with action. Yet action, he believes, is only the fourth stage in the process of change.

Action cannot take place, Prochaska argues, unless it is preceded by the following:

• Precontemplation—feeling that the situation is hopeless or denying that there is a problem.
• Contemplation—accepting that there is a problem and beginning to think seriously about changing it.
• Preparation—developing a firm, detailed scheme for action.

In other words, there's no such thing as making changes cold turkey, even when people think that's how they've accomplished something.


P.S. Preferred Spots

Friday, January 11

Do It Free Friday, Buffalo Wild Wings (University) featuring Good Look Entertainment and Swagger and Company, FREE admission all night.

The Underground Soul Tour presents...Soulganic, Tempo, Charlotte, NC, $10 advance, $15 at the door.

Karaoke Fridays, The Other Woman Sports Bar, 7200 Albemarle Road, Charlotte, NC, FREE admission.

Saturday, January 12

Profiles @ Tilt, Tilt on Trade, Charlotte, NC, presented by Double F and The Funklabb, ladies FREE all night.

The Black Winter Party, Presto's Bar and Grill, 445 W. Trade Street, all Capricorns FREE before 11:30.

Sunday, January 13

Allen Iverson and the Denver Nuggets bring Club AI, Jillian's (Uptown), Celebrity Pre-Game Party.