Hey Everybody! I'm Kristen, creator of Kristen's Guide

I originally created Kristen's Guide because I wanted a place where I could store all my notebooks, journals, etc. filled with all of the useful ideas and lists that I had accumulated during my life. It needed to put them all in something that didn't take up much room (decluttering), didn't take long to find things (time saving), and could be accessed anywhere (like when I was over at a friend's house fixing their computer and needed to remember the long list of free software I wanted to install on their system), so a website seemed like the best plan to solve all those problems. It also came in handy when friends and family members would ask me for advice. Instead of repeating myself, I could just send them a link to a checklist or article that I had written.

Eventually, Kristen's Guide grew into something much bigger, and now it's my job. I actually pay my bills with it. Who knew so many people would find my ideas so useful?

I get so many emails from Kristen's Guide visitors who asked similar questions or had similar problems, that I figured it was time to add a place where visitors could get together and talk to each other about the issues in their lives.

I know there are already lots of discussion groups out there, lots of forums and bulletin boards, but the more I looked for something that deals with the core issues of life as well as the daily stresses (big and little), the more I realized there wasn't anything like that out there (at least not for free). Most of the other communities were focused on one topic (e.g. cleaning, organizing, making money, parenting, being more efficient, memorizing more stuff, etc.). But true happiness doesn't come from having a perfectly kept home, getting hundreds of things marked off of your to-do list every day, or making millions of dollars. Happiness comes from learning how to combine and balance all aspects of our lives and doing what you truly want to do in your life.

My goal is to have a place where people could talk about more than just cleaning dishes or getting ahead at work. I wanted to create a place where people can sincerely talk about their goals and dreams for their lives, the problems they are facing every day, and how they are making their own lives happier. After all, the reason that we organize our sock drawer and try to make money is because we somehow think that it will make us happier. I also want to create a place where people can work together.

All of the great things that I've done in my life happened because somebody else was there to help me, and all of my greatest accomplishments happened because I was trying to help somebody else. I'm convinced that we all need to help each other find happiness and accomplish our dreams because when we help somebody else, we ultimately end up moving one step closer to fulfilling our own desires, achieving our own goals, and experiencing more happiness.

If you want to learn more about me, you can also check out http://www.kristensguide.com/who_is_kristen.asp

Happy day!