Passionate about  your dog's health? Have you ever contemplated feeding them organic meat? Plenty of people have, enough to create a successful business for Marie Moody who launched Stella & Chewy’s in 2003.

Courtesy of Psychology Today:

Sometimes reaching your potential is just a matter of a positive outlook. Here are a few simple things you can do now for instant results:

1.    Watch "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. See it online at www.Oprah.com. This is a deeply moving segment that may be the best ten minutes you've ever invested in front of a computer.

2.    Spend a little while watching the sunset with your mate. Nothing extra is necessary. Just sit and take in the natural beauty of the sky and appreciate being able to share it with the one you love.

3.    Sit quietly by yourself. It doesn't really matter where or when. Just let your feelings bubble up and then experience the thoughts flowing out of your mind. Clearing your head and heart will give you extra energy to get through the rest of the day.

4.    Write a thank you note to your mate. When was the last time you thanked your partner for just being who he or she is and being with you? Doing this in writing will give your partner something to cherish for the rest of his or her life.

5.    Take out your oldest family photo album and look through it. The experience will fill you with fond memories and perhaps make you a bit wistful for days gone by.

6.    Play with a child. Most kids have short attention spans; ten minutes of quality time from a loving adult can make their day. It will also help you stay in touch with the child inside of you.

7.    Visualize or imagine a positive outcome for any issue. Medical doctors recommend visualization to patients with chronic and potentially fatal illnesses. If it can help them, it can do the same for you.

8.    Go to bed with the one you love ten minutes earlier than usual. Then spend that time just holding each other. Let the feeling of warmth from your mate move through you.

9.    Hang out by some water. Studies show that hospital patients who can see a natural body of water from their beds get better at a 30 percent faster rate. If you're not near the coast or a lake, try taking a bath. Doing so is also healing.

10.  Dance like nobody's watching. Shake, twist, and jump around. Let yourself feel the joy of moving to your favorite music.

In ‘One of the coolest things we’ve ever seen’ news, Nike created GRID, a competition designed to encourage individuals who are already active joggers to identify themselves as “runners.” Players compete by running from phone box to phone box, entering a unique identifier code and following the instructions their given. Players are able to compete individually or in teams. Additional incentives include points, badges, and prizes for speed, routes, and "various unlockables," There are currently 2,834 players and 323 teams.

Our favorite part of the game is the GRID Website which gives you further insight into how inventive the creators are.

If you were to add up the money you flush down the toilet via ATM fees, you'd be disgusted. As mint notes, ATM fees have reached an all time high, up 5% (the average is $2.33) with no sign of relief. Not to mention additional fees you may incur from going outside of your bank's network. Overdraft fees would attack you next. What's a thrifty consumer to do? First, consider you're spending somewhere in the ballpark of $620 per year on these fees.

Take a look at the five steps to reduce these pocket pickers.

Aside from stomping feet and rolling eyes, we've yet to see massive fallout from Facebook privacy concerns, let alone a large exodus. Though, when it comes to privacy, Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shown, how shall we say . . .lack of concern.

Yesterday, one longtime Facebook user, DJ Jacobs, (DJ had been using the service since 2004) sent me (and his 1,002 additional friends) a goodbye note. The note is a great representation of the frustrated user experience and echoes many of the annoyances I've heard from users over the years.

The letter serves as a reminder to companies willing to throw user privacy out the window: devoted users will only be pushed so far before realizing your cons have far exceeded your pros. Or in the case of Facebook, your pros have become your cons. As we journey through this 24/7 communication age, one must wonder whether it's wise to broadcast every like, status, interest and group affiliation to a $30 billion dollar corporation.

Perhaps more importantly, for Disciplanner users, ask yourself if Facebook is really helping you achieve your goals, or contributing at keeping you from them?

DJ's letter is below:

"Dear Facebook,

I'm writing to say goodbye. After over 6 years, I'm leaving you. I feel like I hardly knew you. But then again, you certainly know me. You know what I told you about myself. You knew what others told you about me: what I was doing, what I liked, where I went, what I was buying and more. You let others put up pictures of me without my knowing it. Not once, not twice, but three times you shot first and asked questions later with regard to protecting my privacy; not to mention your founder's questionable respect for other people's privacy throughout facebook's history. You've always opted everyone in; now I want to opt out.

Come to think of it, your entire purpose is to sell my information to advertisers. I don't begrudge you, it's a brilliant business model. How could a search engine know more about me than a site I load with my personal information, interests, personal connections and history? You even built-in a "like" button to better understand my likes and dislikes within the facebook universe; recently expanding your thumb[s up] into my eye wherever I browse. But I'm worried about what you are doing with all of this data and how you protect it. On top of that, facebook, your Terms of Service basically state that you own my data as long as I have an account with you.

I know you consider yourself a "social utility;" Outlook on Steroids. I think that's right. A utility provides basic services at low, regulated prices: electricity, telephone, TV and, now, social interaction. The convenience of this utility is great, but the price is too high. I want my privacy back. Unlike the world of real utilities, where my choices are limited to one, two or three service providers (potentially capping my Quality of Service), the Internet gives me dramatic choice.

Video - Vimeo
Photos - Flickr
Email - Gmail
Chat - Skype
Link Sharing - Twitter
Blogging - Tumblr
Events - Punchbowl
Networking - LinkedIn
Killing Time - Any book

All of these sites provide significantly higher service quality than you. But that's not all. The best part about all of these sites? They are each owned by different companies. I don't have to rely solely on your technological ability to protect massive amounts of my personal information. More importantly, I don't have to rely on your "good intentions." I'm disaggregating myself in an attempt to reclaim what little protection of my privacy exists in the modern internet world. By the way, that goes for you too, Google. So, if you need to reach me, just send me an email. That technology isn't exactly out of date and the email server won't tell everyone what I had for breakfast.

It was oatmeal.

Best of luck to you in the future.

DJ

DJ Jacobs

Credit Sesame brings us a great post (and infographic) about the real cost of financing your life. From a home mortgage to a car, college loans to credit card debt, Credit Sesame gives a fascinating look inside financing a lifestyle.

View the infographic here

We recently launched our new tracking system to help you monitor your goals. How is it working out for you? Are you finding it easier to input times and get around?

We're always interested in your feedback. If you're having trouble with any part of disciplanner, comment here or send an email to colin@disciplanner.com

A video tutorial can be viewed here

Get your goals on!

This month, we’ll be releasing GoalSpark, our newsletter that profiles a business, website, or service to help you achieve your goals.  The GoalSpark newsletter provides you with tools you need to accomplish personal goals you encounter every day, from fitness to finance and entrepreneurship. Profiles in upcoming GoalSpark newsletters include Runkeeper, Money Strands and Jack Rabbit Sports.

We’re discovering the latest web apps, testing the newest sites and researching new ways for you to succeed. Have an idea for GoalSpark or know of a business you think should be profiled? We'd love to hear from you. Send an email to Colin@disciplanner.com

• Use our goal tracker to log your hourly goal progress.
• We’ll graph just how far you’re getting (or not getting) on your goals.
  

• Disciplanner exercises are goal plans written by our members.
• Members use these plans to discover the latest and greatest ways of accomplishing goals or learning new activities.
• Help us share knowledge by writing about an area you’re an expert in! 

• Disciplanner members track, share and accomplish goals by connecting with users around like minded interests.
• Have a friend that’s a yoga guru?  Know someone who can speak six languages? By inviting your friends, you’re spreading this knowledge and making Disciplanner better!
• Send boosts to other members to encourage their progress and compliment their exercises.