At the first of this year, I blogged about my respect for the approach that Chris Brogan takes with setting new goals. Tried his approach myself in 2009…I was pretty pleased with the results. Naturally, I wanted to challenge myself with Chris’ process again in 2010, which I did (and have), but I also said that I would be back in a few days to share with you my three words for the new year with you on my blog. I missed my deadline. I’m back now, and I’ll share my “key 3″ in just a minute.

Before I do…

As I climbed the sales ranks while still working in corporate America, I was conditioned to keep business and personal separate. Don’t discuss things like politics or religion or any other controversial subject for that matter. Don’t want to risk offending your buyer.  It’s that same conditioning that leads companies to fear social networking, blogs and the like. Understandable. You don’t want your employees to “blurt” anything and everything out there on the world wide web. It stays there. Forever. That’s why guidelines must be established, training given and appropriate management oversight put in place to ensure that employees don’t go to far off the corporate reservation.

And…

If 2009 taught us anything, it’s that we must bring transparency, openness and trust back into our working relationships. In short, we need to be more human with each other. It’s OK to share what motivates you or knocks you down in life. That’s all part of being human. And that leads me to the reason why I disappeared for just a bit.

You see, nine months after her Alzheimer’s diagnosis, my mother died on January 12, 2010. Though I knew it was coming, I was still knocked down. I had no clue what Alzheimer’s was really about before this happened. Perhaps, you don’t either. What I know now (and really wish that I didn’t!) is that the disease afflicts everyone involved. Frustrating, confusing and agonizing for the patient. About the same for the family members involved. The health and quality of life of many Alzheimer’s patients deteriorates over a period of years – not months. In that way, Mom was lucky. She isn’t suffering any longer.

The Alzheimer’s Association, which envisions a world without the disease shares a few statistics on their website, which might give you some sense of the disease’s magnitude:

• As many as 5.3 million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer’s.
• Alzheimer’s and dementia triple healthcare costs for Americans age 65 and older.
• Every 70 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer’s.
• Alzheimer’s is the seventh-leading cause of death.
• The direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer’s and other dementias to Medicare, Medicaid and businesses amount to more than $148 billion each year.

I pondered whether I would share this personal side of my life with you. In the end, I decided that it was OK. Tough things happen in our lives, which can sometimes knock the wind right out of our sails. People around us cannot help us or support us if they don’t know we need the help!

Finally, about those 3 words. My key 3 in 2010 are: Charioteer, Marksman and Physical.

• Charioteer- like the Charioteer at Delphi, I holds the reins of success in my own 2 hands.
• Marksman - this is about precision, practice, patience and teamwork.
• Physical - reminds me to get outside to connect with mother earth and exercise daily. Good health is a gift!

Conversation continues about the economy, the economic stimulus package, people losing jobs, higher taxes and on and on and on. Frankly, it’s depressing, and I don’t want to engage in the discussion.

I am a huge fan of Wallace Wattles and his landmark work -The Science of Getting Rich. He reminds us that “We must guard our speech. We must never speak of ourselves, our affairs or anything else in a discouraged or discouraging way.” The starting point for success begins with minding our attitude. Are you aware of what you are thinking and saying? You need to be! Energy flows where attention goes and negative thoughts and behavior will draw those same results to you.

So what can you do, in addition to keeping a lock on your thoughts? Take right action.

Right action is an essential ingredient to achieving what you want. It starts with a clear vision of where you are headed, faith that you can achieve your goals, gratitude for knowing you’ve already achieved them coupled with taking action NOW.

Far too many people sit around wishing and dreaming but they do absolutely nothing. I’m a Law of Attraction believer. I believe that we create our own reality, but notice that the last 5 letters of attraction are ACTION. Even if we don’t know “exactly” what action to take, it is important to do something.

I often encounter people who stop themselves from achieving success because they don’t know HOW it will happen. But our job isn’t to necessarily know HOW something will unfold. We just have to get moving. As we do, more will be revealed.

Moving forward in faith that you will achieve success leads to a chance meeting, a phone call from someone you’ve lost touch with, an article shows up that is related to your desire…you just never know what will come your way when you get into action.

Get out of the “gloom and doom” mindset! Remember that taking action will lead you in the direction of our goals. Stay open to new possibilities, have faith that success will happen and stay out of your own way. If you do, success takes care of itself.

Chris Brogan is President of New Marketing Labs. I love following his blog posts. On Monday, his post talked about how each of us is the president of our own career. I couldn’t agree more. It’s an excellent piece. You really should read it!

I have believed for some time now that we are the architect of our own lives. We must be accountable for the doing whatever we need too to achieve our career goals. What do you think?

Here is my response to Chris’ post:

Right on! Last year I gave a talk at Verizon titled Whose Career is it Anyway? I lack patience for people who cry the blues about how their company doesn’t do anything for their career. Of course, I believe they should, but who said they were obligated too? The investment that a company is willing to make in their people will vary, but one thing holds true. It’s up to each individual to manage their own career success.

Back in my corporate America days, my employers didn’t always pay for the classes I took to improve my communication, management skills, coaching skills, etc. Books are cheap and these days there are so many great FREE webinars on every topic imaginable. Or, read blogs – like this one!

There just isn’t any excuse. I worked to remain lay-off proof then and now as a business owner. People are buying. We just might have to work a bit harder or pay more attention to the opportunities that at first glance might not seem like they will lead to something. I keep my attitude straight and stay on my priorities and coach others to do the same!

So? What’s your plan?

1. Do you have clearly defined goals written down?

If you need to sell products and services, you better! I challenge you to focus on the 3 things – nothing more – the 3 most critical things you need to do to create value for your clients and soon to be clients. Learn new technology? Learn a new skill? Broaden your network?

**If you work for someone else, what’s your plan to take charge of your career? What do you need to learn? Who do you need to know? Do you need to seek out a mentor?

2. Is your attitude in check?

Now is NOT the time to focus on the negative or worrying about a “down” economy. Of course, focusing on what we don’t want is never a good idea. Soooo – be positive. See in your mind what you want success to look like and it will manifest in your reality.

3. How will you innovate in your business or career this year?

Now is the perfect time to be creative. Looks for what’s needed. Where is there a gap – either in your company or in the your customer market – that you can fill with what you have to offer?

Get going. Take charge!