[Note from the Proprietor: In case you're wondering what it's all about, well, we're smack in the middle of BLOGAPALOOZA! Hey, you're welcome to join in the fun if you like! All ya gotta do is click that cute little link and read all about it!]

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Guest post by Anita Bruzzese who writes over at 45 Things

January: Job happiness means seizing opportunities I learned successful people say they didn’t just “luck” into it. They used curiosity, optimism, persistence, flexibility and took some risks to reach their goals.

February: Business clichés drive people nuts: To wit: change agent, authenticity, transparency, create a new paradigm, at the end of the day and start a conversation, to name just a few.

March: Why are you working so much? Feeling like what you do is never enough seems to affect most of us at one time or another. But the problem is that working too much ends up hurting us the most, because the stress causes us to look for someone else to blame.

April: What dogs can teach us about work I learned that my Golden Retriever knows a heck of a lot more about work/life balance than all the experts in the world.

May: Feeling dumb may be the smartest thing you’ve ever done After attending SOBCON, I met a whole bunch of terrific bloggers that taught me what it meant to be a blogger and part of an online community. My world hasn’t been the same since.

June: The real decision ’08: Should I work while on vacation? I decided to leave the laptop behind, and spent a week unplugged and unconnected to my career. But I did connect with my family. Priceless.

July: “You’re such a total dumbsh**t for not taking that promotion…or maybe not…” Sometimes turning down the brass ring may be the smartest career move you’ve ever made.

August: Would you rather have your pinky toe cut off? A game of “would you rather” with my youngest son turned out to be full of lessons about making good career — and life — decisions.

September: Are you being naïve or just plain stupid about your online reputation? became a valuable lesson about how what others write about you online may come back to haunt you professionally.

October: Ten uh-oh signs at work taught me that people want to – need to – laugh about how grim the job news is these days. Laughing is better than crying. Always.

November: Get rid of the big fat lies – and the little skinny ones – on your resume Demonstrated that once again, lies will always catch up with you. It might be five years, or it might be 15, but the number of top bosses who lost their jobs because they fudged resume information showed that truth always matters.

December: Seven random (and sorta weird) facts about me showed me that once again, the blogosphere is a bit different than my other work as a journalist. It’s OK to put myself in a post. People like it. Especially when I spill my guts about how weird I can be.

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Anita Bruzzese is a syndicated workplace columnist and author of two career books. Her website is www.45things.com

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[Further note from the Proprietor: Hey, if you're interested in having your own "best of 2008" posts highlighted right here at the Middle Zone, then by all means, click on this link: (BLOGAPALOOZA: What I Learned From 2008) and read all about it! BLOGAPALOOZA will be open for entries from now until Sunday, January 25.]

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