One year from now, what do you hope to feel when you look back on 2009?

What will make the year a success? What will you and/or your business have learned? Accomplished? Tried?

To ensure that success, what three things must you start doing right now?

These are great questions to ponder from both personal and professional perspectives. There are no right answers and the possibilities are vast. Go ahead and think big.

But to succeed, you need to choose, you need to focus, and you need to start now. One small, concrete step at a time.

Would you like some help selecting your top three? Or identifying those small, concrete steps? We would be happy to help make your 2009 a fabulous success. Call now: 413-527-3737.

I did some shopping over the weekend. Recession, or not, it's crazy out there.

The worst part? Everyone looks so miserable. Being miserable is not the way to spend your time.

So refuse to be miserable!

Go out smiling! Look for opportunities to acknowledge and share the trials and tribulations with those around you.

• Smile in dismay with those stuck in line with you behind a checkout situation that should be illegal.
• Smile in commiseration with the person who arrives in disappointment at the same empty shelf you just found.
• Smile knowingly at the shopper who would like to get through all the parked carts just as you would.
• Smile admiringly at the clerk who just quelled an explosive situation with incredible tact.
• And smile at those few who look excited. Perhaps they are pleased at finding the perfect gift for someone. Even if they are simply tickled by a low price, you can be happy for them.

I actually do this. I don't grin ear-to-ear all the time; that would lead people to assume I'm deranged. But I refuse to suffer at the hand of events far beyond my control. Smiling is simple and completely within my control. It makes me feel better, and it makes other people smile, or at least lighten and brighten a little.

And I just ignore the handful who are clearly furious that I might actually be enjoying myself.

OK, so maybe it is drooping a little. Maybe a few tiles have cut loose. But the sky is NOT falling!

As a matter of fact, I just returned from the Northampton Chamber Meet & Eat where we discussed the impact of the economy on our businesses. The vast majority at my table reported, almost with embarrassment, that they were doing well. The most concerned person was a professional photographer, who is doing well right now, but worries about the spring. Yet she attributes her troubles to the negative impact of the digital age on her business, not the economy.

This other side of the economic story did not surprise me this morning. I hear good news daily. Many of my clients are having a great year. And yet this is not what we hear in the news. Taking nothing from those who have been hit hard, I see too many gross generalities emerge from each hard luck story.

And I see too many Chicken Littles squawking and clucking in horror. They commiserate and blame every disappointment on the big nebulous economy that is clearly beyond their control. Rather than reflect, seek opportunities, and take action, they wait to see what scraps are dished their way.

Change is inevitable and every change brings opportunity. An economic downturn is just one more change.

If you get specific about the change, you are more likely to find the opportunity. Stop generalizing. Start asking more questions. Find out who and what is changing. Focus on emerging needs and possibilities.

In the meantime, squelch the Chicken Little in you! We will all benefit from more people looking for the opportunities!

If you would like some help finding your opportunities, give us a call at 413-527-3737.

Keep in mind that external factors like economic problems:

• Have nothing to do with who you are
• Have nothing to do with what you have accomplished
• And may not even affect your dreams

External factors primarily affect what you have to do to achieve your dreams and how quickly you can do so.

• Stand tall
• Take stock
• And chart a new course to your destination

Best regards,

Ann Latham

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© 2008 Ann Latham. All rights reserved.