It's pretty simple: if you believe you can be successful, you at least have a chance to be successful. If you don't believe, you don't even have a chance.

There are lots of definitions of flashpacking floating around. (This vagueness of meaning is attested to by the fact that my spellchecker doesn't recognize the word).

It's easier to turn over a new leaf with your finances or your fitness than it is with your relationships. People aren't math equations, and you can't fix a troubled marriage, an icy friendship, or simple loneliness with a better budget or a new workout plan.

Athletes use their bodies to pursue tough goals, and so the wise ones learn to handle their bodies well. You should, too.

Accommodation is a big vacation expense; sometimes a preventative altogether. But if you could get free accommodation, would you reconsider going away? Good news: there are lots of ways to get free accommodation on your next vacation! Here are some ideas.

Here's an open secret for you: Mindset is everything. If you think you can go out and do something great, you'll at least try, which gives you a shot to succeed. If you think you can't . . . you probably won't go after a tenth of what you might achieve.

It always creeps up on me, the end of the year. It seems like August through December fly by in about six weeks flat. Meanwhile, have I learned what I should from 2011? Have you? And what can we do to make sure that 2012 moves us closer to our ideals?

First of all, with time off at Christmas, we finally get a chance to relax. But if we're wound a little too tightly on a normal basis trying to stay afloat with all the activities of work and life, relaxing from the onslaught often means getting sick.

The other day I found myself in a funk. I was staring down a lingering project at work, I felt sore and out of sorts after some hard physical therapy for an injury, and I hadn't gotten enough sleep. The specific reasons don't really matter, though, because there will always be reasons to look on the dark side if you choose to

Most people will tell you that the holidays are about family, but our loved ones can easily get lost in the shuffle when we're swimming in so much stuff. I mean the stuff we do (baking cookies, throwing parties, driving to Grandma's house), the stuff we buy (food, gifts, more food), the stuff we handle (decorations, wrapping paper, the Christmas tree), and everything else that clutters up our Novembers and Decembers.

This post isn't (necessarily!) to convince you to travel full-time; instead hopefully it will help you understand the ever-increasing trappings of the "comfortable" life so you can make decisions accordingly.

Sure, the holiday schedule can be disruptive -- but that can actually be a good thing if it helps you change up your fitness routine to keep it fresh. Here are some ideas for taking the cold, dark, and haphazard schedule of the holidays and turning it into something you can use to your advantage.

Sometimes it's hard to be thankful. Even if it's Thanksgiving and you're surrounded by loved ones and good food, you might still be thinking about the downsides -- lousy job, no job, being out of shape, troubled relationships, or money worries. I'm sure most of us could come up with a long list of problems in two minutes flat.

When you approach your life with total gratitude, the resulting opportunities can be profound. Sometimes it leads to financial profit, sometimes other kinds.

Maybe if we start the practice of giving thanks out loud here in November, we can carry it on well past the holiday season. It's certainly worth a try!

WHO says you have to fight your way through hordes of shoppers on Black Friday? WHO says that everyone in the family must buy a present for everyone else, every year? Really -- who?

My advice: WALK MORE. Walking can be the easiest exercise you do, fitting so seamlessly with the rest of your day that it doesn't even look like exercise. Or you can make it into a tough workout. Do it your way, but do it!

Why do good things happen to people with sunny dispositions (alternately, bad luck plagues those already under the weather)? This may not be a coincidence. What if by playing a simple game for three weeks you could literally attract money into your life? Would you try it?

Do you dread the holiday season for what it does to your waistline? Do you wake up in January overweight and out of shape?

We obviously don't want to deprive ourselves of a cultural or otherwise special experience abroad, but we also don't want to return home with the worst souvenir of all: debt we can't afford.

But what about after the Halloween party is over? What if this week you started pretending to be somebody you could be -- your best self?

If you're getting regular exercise of any type, good for you. But ask yourself: Are you just "working out"? Or are you training for something? 

Want an easy way to consistently stay on track with your monthly budget? All you need is a few envelopes and a little organized commitment.

But wait! It's the perfect season to try something new in your diet, especially when it allows you to achieve several good purposes in your life at once. With this post I want to convince you to hit up your local farmer's market for whatever is in season -- and enjoy doing it.

With school back in full swing, this is a perfect time of year to enjoy fun family activities that won't break the bank.