So many people are afraid of failure that they fail to start. We look to paragons of success around us and never see the series of failures that happened along their path. For some reason we think we need to be immune from failure if we are to amount to anything in our careers, our businesses, our lives. Yet the very opposite is true. it is not failure but what we learn from failure that is the key to success.

Your company just went through another round of layoffs. So many of your colleagues are gone, just like that. You breathe a sigh of relief. At least you still have a job. Yet, are you really better off? According to a recent MSNBC article, the opposite may be true.

You never go far without access to your Twitter stream. Facebook is like a second religion to you. Your blog is essentially your baby. Whether you're online for business building, furthering your career, or personal endeavors, social media is a core activity in your daily life. For many it's even more entwined with their days than showering or brushing their teeth. So... what happens to your online life when you die?

When I chose the self-employment route, I had already owned my current home. Yet I am looking to the future toward a home that meets my desires for what I most want now (versus 11 years ago when I purchased this place). I'm not even in the analysis stage yet because the time is not right financially or otherwise for me to make the move. I had heard that it can be more challenging for the self-employed to qualify for a mortgage and that was before the debacle in the banking system. Now I wonder just how much more difficult it may be when the time comes.

We've heard the saying "if women were in charge of this it'd be so much better" and laughed it off as just our own gender bias speaking. Yet some recent studies show that there may be some fact to this statement. And, that is reason to give companies pause as they face an increased risk of these valuable women leaving their jobs.