Federal Free File Opens Today

Federal Free-File with the IRS begins today. E-file your federal return and select direct deposit to receive your cash in as little as 2 weeks. Here is a table that provides estimated 2010 refund direct deposit and mailed check schedules.

2010 IRS e-file Refund Cycle Chart

How do you plan to spend the extra cash? Do you have an emergency fund or a savings account? Are there bills or other debts you need to catch up on?

Create a plan to budget your refund now so that it doesn't slip through your fingers when it arrives. One thing I have found to work well is to pretend the refund doesn't exist. After all, you have been without this cash for a year already. Why not save or invest the whole amount? Think about it.

Changed My Mind - It's My Prerogative

So I started to move over to WordPress but it didn't happen. In fact, I am spent much of my time these last few months, attempting to get my personal life in order so my business has suffered. Dealing with children with disabilities (be they mental or physical) is NO JOKE. Things are going better now so I'm hoping to get back on track with this blog by offering my readers more of the great tips, tools, techniques and advice that they so deserve. Looking forward to reconnecting with the blogosphere. :)

Moving to Wordpress?

I've been hearing for quite some time now that Wordpress is a much better blogging platform than Blogger. Apparently, using Blogger is risky because you don't actually own all of your content and are at the mercy of Google's will to maintain the platform. Call me crazy but that doesn't sound great to me so I think I am finally going to join the Wordpress revolution.

What's more, I've recently heard about this great ebook about Wordpress from a fellow blogging friend. It basically gets you started in the right direction to making a money-generating blog for your desired niche. That sounds like what I'm trying to do. I was also told that there are a lot more features available on Wordpress than Blogger.

So, it looks like I'm going to be a convert. As soon as I'm finished preparing myself by reading this great ebook about Wordpress, I will definitely be making the transition. I will update my regular Blogger readers here before I'm gone for good but I like to give you all the heads up.

I'd love to hear from you if you've had experience using Wordpress and Blogger. Tell me what you liked and disliked about both and which you prefer. I'm all ears (or eyes as the case may be). Also, if you've read this ebook about Wordpress, please give me your thoughts on that as well.

2009 National Dump the Pump Day

June 18, 2009 is the fourth annual National Dump the Pump Day. The day is designed to encourage people to get out of their cars and ride public transportation to raise awareness of the financial benefits of transit. Public transportation has the ability to save people money, conserve gasoline, and reduce the harmful greenhouse gases emitted into our environment.

On June 18, CTA will join with RTA, Pace and Metra, to participate in the fourth annual National Dump the Pump Day. Sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the 2009 National Dump the Pump Day encourages people to ride public transportation to go to work, to school, and for a variety of community and recreational activities.

Riding CTA reduces energy consumption by 40 percent and carbon emissions by 60 percent compared to driving. One individual using public transportation instead of driving a car saves the environment over 4,800 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year. A full eight-car train carries more than 800 people, which is equal to taking more than 600 cars off the road.

Please invite people you know to give CTA a try instead of driving their car. To welcome new riders and thank their regular customers, Transit Ambassadors will be on hand from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at:

95th/Dan Ryan/Red Line
Rosemont/Blue Line
Clark/Lake
Union Station
Route 59/Naperville-Aurora Metra Station
Join in on June 18 to ride CTA and encourage everyone you know to do the same.

Visit transitchicago.com today to learn more and plan a trip on CTA!

Writing, Writing, Writing

As you may very well know, I belong to quite a few article submission sites. Writing has always been one of my fortes so that probably isn't a great surprise. I've been hit by a writing bug lately so I thought I would direct your attention to some of my latest work currently being displayed on eHow.

Now if you don't know about eHow.com, you are really missing out. First, it is an awesome resource for anyone wanting to do just about anything. The site is composed of millions of how-to articles from how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to how to build your own robot. You can literally find out how to do just about anything. I even saw a funny article about how to fart silently or discreetly.

Not only can you find great articles, you can also make money writing your own. All of the articles featured on eHow are member-created. eHow pays its members a portion of the advertising revenue made on every article posted. There are many eHow members like xrayness who are making at least $1000 per month and there are several others making tens of thousands.

I am still new to the whole eHow compensation program so I'm just now getting my butt in gear to take advantage of its income potential. Here's a short list of my latest articles:

• How to Use Twitter Effectively
  
• How to Establish Yourself as a Subject Matter Expert
  
• How to Eat Fufu
  
• How to Create a Training Class
  
• How to Build a Quality Website
  
• How to Find True Love
  

Vacations Are Absolutely Necessary

This past weekend I had the opportunity to take advantage of a time share package as a referral by my aunt. I had never experienced the fun of a time share before now. It was...AWESOME!

First off, this was a much needed vacation. It has been a few years since I've actually been out of the state so I was glad that my destination was sunny Florida, especially in the dead cold of a Chicago winter. Things have been really hectic with me trying to balance all of my commitments. I have had many speaking opportunities lately and my 2009 special has had me VERY busy with coaching clients. Not to mention, I am sooooooo late with launching my new website update. Matter-of-fact, I can't believe I fully designed and launched the Life Coach Support Network's new site already.

Also, this being Valentine's Day weekend was a great plus. I hardly ever celebrate this holiday for lovers because my daughter's birthday is the 13th. Lo and behold, at 16 years old she thought that spending her birthday in Florida with her mom was...er...what's the word these kids say today? LAME! So I packed up my son, my boyfriend and myself and off we headed to sunny Florida on a Greyhound. That was kind of crazy but we did it to save a little money on transportation. Plus taking the bus really was an adventure. I collected a shot glass from every state we stopped in including Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Georgia.

The resort itself was FABULOUS. We stayed at the Mystic Dunes Resort & Golf Club. Our 1-bedroom suite included a full kitchen complete with dishes, an in-room laundry, sofa bed and a jacuzzi tub in the bedroom. The grounds were ginormous and included 7 pools, a mini-golf course, a park, restaurants and a full-range golf course. The best way to get around the resort is by car or golf cart. I don't recommend going without a car rental as we did this time but we survived because I brought groceries with us and we were only staying for the weekend. Week-long stays would require a car.

It was a lot of fun. We played mini-golf, swam, took long walks, watched the Disney World fireworks from our balcony, took a tour of the resort and much more. I did end up buying the timeshare which I originally planned on not doing but I just couldn't pass up the offer. The key is to hold off until the salespeople get to the very last bare bones offer. Don't immediately buy. They will most likely drop the price three to four times before they give up and there's often freebies in it for you as incentives.

So my advice to you today is to TAKE A VACATION! Whether it is a stay-cation or you're lucky enough to go farther, just do it. It is soooooo worth it. I came back relaxed and ready to work.

Oh and as an added tidbit, my new timeshare ownership allows me to extend the same offer to friends, family and associates as my aunt did for me. If you want to take advantage of all the amenities a timeshare has to offer for just a fraction of the price, let me know and I will extend a referral your way. Just email me your request.

You can also take a stay-cation in Chicago or many other cities using a Go Card.

Life Coach Support Network Official Launch

The Life Coach Support Network Has Officially Launched!!!

The much anticipated move of LCSN from Google Pages has finally arrived. As you may know, I am the owner and founder of the Life Coach Support Network which is an online networking resource for coaches and also a directory for potential clients to find a coach. Take a look around the new site and please, by all means, offer your feedback and suggestions for how we can be better. Visit our contact page via the link under Navigation on the lower left-hand side of this page or send an email to info@lifecoachsupportnetwork.org.

SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP OFFER

There is still time for you to take advantage of a limited offer available to only the first 50 coaches who register for a membership to the Life Coach Support Network. For more information about the many benefits inclusion in the Directory of Coaches has to offer visit http://www.lifecoachsupportnetwork.org/introoffer.htm.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

One of the many benefits of an LCSN membership is your ability to display your expertise and market your coaching practice and/or other services related to personal and professional development. LCSN is calling for member-only submissions to its newsletter which will be widely distributed to over 1000 coaching professionals and interested clients around the world and growing.

LCSN is currently seeking articles, events and workshops for inclusion in the March and April editions of our newsletter. Remember, you must be a member in order to qualify for submissions.

ADVERTISING

A select number of ad spaces are available on the new LCSN site. You may submit your proposal for ad space and requested pages to info@lifecoachsupportnetwork.org. Text and banner ads related to personal and professional development, business and select other topics of interest to LCSN members may be accepted. NO ADULT or ads in poor taste accepted. LCSN does not accept link exchange requests; however, resources of great significance to its members may be considered for addition to our Coach's Toolkit or Client Support Center.

My Updated Website

So I know it was a long time coming but yes ladies and gentlemen, I did finally update my primary website at http://www.niquenyafulbright.com. Now I am attempting to put together some decent training classes. I did change the color to purple as one of my readers suggested so THANK YOU.

I am being pulled in all sorts of directions at the moment. I guess that is just one of the many blessings of being gifted in so many areas. I am trying to take it all in stride. I must say that I am having a difficult time maintaining my commitments to myself to do it all so I have been revamping and revising my action plan almost daily, lol. I am hoping to settle into a decent groove so that I can balance my work and home life much the same as I have impacted my clients to do.

Make 2009 Your Year to Prosper & Shine

Okay, it's that time again!

In celebration of the New Year, fresh goals and a new perspective, I am offering a seriously discounted coaching special for the entire month of January. Yes, this is an even better deal than my birthday special.

For any NEW client who schedules a FREE introductory coaching session from January 1st through 31st, you will lock in a special price of just $20.09 per hour for every session scheduled in the entire year of 2009. That's right! You save over $100 off of my normal coaching fees but you'd better act fast as introductory coaching sessions are already being filled!

To schedule your free introductory coaching session simply email me or call (773) 368-3575.

MAKE 2009 YOUR YEAR TO PROSPER & SHINE!!!

New Year's Resolutions

It's that time again. Time to review the past year's accomplishments, trials, challenges and transitions. Time to see what worked and what didn't work. Time to evaluate goals and realign one's self with "the plan".

2008 has been an interesting year for me. I started it off with the hopes of making 2008 my year to be great and in many ways it has been. I landed several media interviews including my first television spot courtesy of Anthony Ponce and NBC5, I watched myself appear in a small cameo in the Dark Knight in the scene just after Bruce Wayne threw his lamborghini in front of a police convoy, I helped three times as many people as I did last year and in the process doubled my income.

On that same token, 2008 has also been filled with several major challenges and disappointments. The year began on a severely injured ankle of which my doctors gave me little hope for recuperation, my daughter's mood disorder progressed alarmingly and for all my mediation skills my unruly neighbors have made it impossible to cohabitate in peace. Needless to say, many of my goals have gone uncompleted and at times even I have found myself overcome with a feeling of despair and hopelessness.

Despite these issues and drastic deviations from my plan, I am happy to say that I am coming out this year ahead of the game. I wanted to increase my writing, which although not as much as I would have liked, I have done so. I intended to gain more coaching clients and speaking engagements which I did. I cleared my life of negative people and in the process found love.

That is what it is all about. Setting goals, creating a plan and then holding on to that plan with your passion and purpose in check. Life will happen but it is how you choose to react and "pro-act" that really makes the difference. You can either let those unexpected difficulties creep in, hinder you and leave you immobilized or you can stand up, overcome and keep moving. I could sit here and rattle off the number of things that I have not accomplished although I had every intention to or I could focus on what I did do, where that leaves me right now and plan for how to move forward.

The new year is a natural time to reflect and start afresh. Doing so requires clearing the clutter from your life, whether that clutter is things, negative people or your own fears and stagnating self-talk. It starts with a personal choice followed by immediate action. Choose it, state it and then do it. Accept that things may not always go according to plan and know that you may need to alter your actions in the interim but the point is to keep on working toward that prize.

I am preparing for the new year with a personal evaluation that includes celebrating my successes, being thankful for every blessing and forgiving myself for my shortcomings and failures. I will be posting my new list of goals for 2009 in the next week or so and of course I will be looking to you, my faithful readers, for support and help in holding me accountable.

To your dynamic success and happy living!

Niquenya