Improve Yourself: Prizes, Prizes, Prizes!

The “Improve Yourself! 2010” challenge is simply going to be awesome.  I am really excited to announce the line-up of prizes that will be given away to the participants and to give praise to our fantastic line-up of sponsors.  If you have not signed up yet, you really need to get in on this challenge by stating your intentions in the announcement post.

The Line-Up of Prizes

First of all, I want to say that the list below represents the minimum prizes that will be given away in this year’s challenge.  We have some amazing sponsors, but if we get additional support the prizes will get even better!  If you’d like to contribute to the cause, please contact me.

The books below will be shipped to each winner with the goal of helping you to Improve Yourself!  Most will be new, while some will be gently used versions that have already blessed the lives of another.

Week 1 Kick-Off: The Happiness Project

Want A Happier Marriage?

Great! Grab our 7 simple steps to improve communication in your marriage (in less than 15 minutes):

Get The Guide

Unclutter Your Life in One Week

The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

Week 2: The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness

Week 3: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Week 4: QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life

Week 5: The Big Moo: Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable

Week 6: Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex

Week 7: The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate

Week 8: No More Mondays

Bonus Giveaways (randomly throughout):

Gift certificate for free attendance to MarriagePrep101 workshop (a $420 value!)

A Simple Marriage e-book (you can buy your own in my sidebar)

“My Hands are Clean, Are Yours?” baby carrier sign from My Hands are Clean

GRAND PRIZE WINNER: $100 Amazon Gift Card

All told, we are talking about a total prize value of at least $750!

How Do I Win All This Great Stuff?

First of all, you MUST sign-up for the contest by leaving an appropriate comment in the announcement post. Other than that, the weekly winners will be selected at random from the comments on each weekly post.

By leaving a comment updating the group on your progress that week, you’ll have a chance to win the prize that week.  Don’t forget, you MUST subscribe to Engaged Marriage via either RSS or Email to be eligible for prizes.  If you are selected but aren’t subscribed (I’ll have a secret code only visible to subscribers), the prize will instead to go the next random commenter.

Please look for the kick-off post about goal-setting on New Year’s Eve.  To get things started off right and attract some last-minute participants, I’ll have some extra ways to win prizes and we’ll be giving away THREE books for Week 1!

Aside from the first week, I’ll be posting every Sunday.  Every week, you’ll need to post your update in the comments before Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. Central time in order to be eligible for the prize.  Hopefully, this is simple enough, but please leave a comment on this post if you have any questions.

Please Visit and Thank Our Awesome Sponsors!

I am particularly thrilled by the response I have received by those willing to sponsor the prizes for this challenge.  Without them, we couldn’t possibly offer such fantastic prizes.  Here is a list of the sponsors committed to helping out with Improve Yourself! 2010:

Carrie from Make Mine Happen (@thegirlburgan on Twitter)

Louise from MomStart (@momstart)

J. Money from Budgets are Sexy ( @budgetsaresexy)

Brad from Enemy of Debt (@enemyofdebt)

Patrenia from Personal Finance Notebook (@patreniaspears)

Michelle from MarriagePrep101 (@DrMichellexo)

Kristin from My Hands are Clean, Are Yours? (@mydoodlebop)

If you would like LOTS of attention and link-love throughout this challenge, please contact me about a sponsorship opportunity!

Share the Love!

Finally, please don’t forget to spread the word about “Improve Yourself! 2010”!  Tweet this post to your followers on Twitter and share it on your Facebook page (using the “Sharing is Sexy” buttons below).

If you have a blog and want to help others improves themselves and their marriages, please consider adding the “Improve Yourself” button to your site! You can grab the HTML directly from my sidebar and put it up to spread the good word.  Thanks to Brad from Logos4You.net for preparing the banner and button for the challenge.

Thanks to everyone for your incredible response.  I can’t wait to see the collective progress we’ll make over the next 8 weeks!  Stay tuned for the kick-off post on goal-setting on New Year’s Eve and add your specific goals to the comments of that post.  And don’t forget to get involved in the discussion by becoming a “fan” on the Engaged Marriage Facebook page.

Don’t miss the other Improve Yourself posts…here is a running list:

1. Improve Yourself! 2010 Announcement.  This is the place to start and sign-up by leaving a comment with your area of focus.
2. The Prize List.  This is where you’ll get the details about the awesome prizes and learn about our generous sponsors.
3. Week 1: Set SMART Goals.  Learn about smart goal-setting and leave your specific goals for the challenge in the comments.
4. Week 2: Baby Step Your Way to Success.  Learn how you can achieve any goal by breaking it down into small, easier-to-handle tasks.
5. Week 3: Prioritize Your Time for Progress. Learn the importance of focusing on important, but not urgent, tasks to improve your life and achieve long-term effectiveness.
6. Week 4: YOU are Responsible for Your Progress. Quit making excuses, take ownership for your results and do the work necessary to make your goals a reality.
7. Week 5: Don’t Be Perfect, Be Remarkable! You do not need to be perfect, you simply need to be remarkable in what you do. Don’t you think you can be remarkable in the way your handle your finances?  In your approach to fitness?  In your marriage?
8. Week 6: Stick With It! I applaud you for sticking with your commitment to yourself and your fellow challenge participants. You are now in the minority as we close in on the finish line. Don’t Quit!
9. Week 7: Communicate for Success Communication is a certain key to success in nearly all aspects of life.
10. Week 8: Don’t Accept Mediocrity! Always get better even if it’s only in small increments.  Life is just too short to do otherwise.

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