Use 12 'big ideas' to find balance in the new year

Christmas is behind us, and once again we're in the midst of that strangely empty week between two major holidays.

If you're like me, your mind sometimes wanders during the days between Christmas and New Year's Day, as you ponder the challenges, opportunities and successes of the past 12 months.

This year was a particularly eventful one for me, bringing with it a career change that I couldn't have predicted last New Year's Day. But that change, and many other events of the year, have convinced me more than ever that I'm truly blessed.

Now, however, I'm looking forward to 2012. What can I do in the year to come to be a better, more balanced person?

For some advice in that regard, I'm turning today to a press release I received recently from Ethan Willis and Randy Garn, co-founders of Provo-based Prosper Inc., a distance education company specializing in areas such as entrepreneurship, personal finance and career and personal development.

Instead of suggesting that people make resolutions as they begin the new year, Willis and Garn offer 12 "big ideas" to help people build better balance regarding work, money and happiness. Those ideas are:

— "Look for your personal Polaris Point™. Just as the North Star, or Polaris, can be used as a navigational tool, you need to envision what you aspire to become, to achieve, to contribute, and to create — and how all of that relates to money and satisfaction," they write. "Once you find that fixed point on the horizon, you can stay on course."

— Be optimistic. The difference between success and failure, Willis and Garn suggest, often comes down to attitude.

— Believe in yourself. "Know your strengths," they write. "Recognize your value. And instead of being consumed by what you haven’t done, concentrate on — and celebrate — what you have done."

— Do what you love, and love what you do. You can do more than dream about finding what you love, Willis and Garn write. If you plan and persevere, you can achieve it.

— Be keen on money. "Money isn’t everything, but it is an undeniable part of prosperity," they write. "It’s OK — more than OK — to value it. Be sure, though, to mind how money actually interacts with your life and how you spend your energy and effort earning it."