Before you head out to your New Year’s party or start popping the champagne, make sure you take a little time to contemplate what you hope to accomplish in 2009.  Sure, this year hasn’t ended quite as well as any of us had planned, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t give ourselves every possible advantage moving into this next one.  And, after all, that’s what YSN is here for – to help you find the success you’ve only dreamed of…without waiting a lifetime!

You’ve heard it before – people who set goals for themselves consistently achieve more than those who don’t.  So, let’s be frank, do you have them or don’t you?  Vague thoughts and half-baked answers don’t count.  Writing down our goals is something we all know will make us more successful…but somehow we don’t always get around to it.  Let’s change that right now!

Don’t put it off, start the process now.  If this ends up being all you do — hey, it’s something, which is always better than nothing.  If you want to take this to the next level – consider using our ‘GOOD to MASTER Goal Setting Guide’ below!

GOOD:  List 3-5 Goals
If you could only choose a few things that would make or break your next year, what would they be?  What would you like to accomplish beyond all else?  Make them as detailed as possible.

BETTER:  Now Add Timelines/Deadlines
Attaching deadlines to the things you’d like to accomplish is an even better tactic to achieving what you want in life.  Break your goals into the following increments: 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, and 5 years. Keep going if you feel inspired!  Include no more than 3-5 goals under each category to keep it manageable.

Jedi Masters: 188 Year Plan
Ever consider your 188 year plan?  Our friend Curtis Estes does!  Seriously!  Curtis is the author of Your Life By Design and one of the top financial advisors in the US who counsels some of the most successful people out there on leaving their legacy.  He claims that the average person can’t remember their great grandparents’ names…let alone what they did with their lives.  That means in 188 years, most people won’t remember any of us…unless we do something about it.  Building a 188 year plan sounds insane at first, but Curtis swears this is the key to building a lasting legacy, and we just love the idea of that!  Try it for yourself.  Or check out Curtis’ to see goal setting from a real master.

Don’t worry if you missed one our emails covering our 10 FAVORITE SUCCESS TIPS … we’re adding them to the blog so that you can get caught up in minutes.

How many times have you found yourself walking through a store, scanning hundreds of items a minute, disregarding most of them but occasionally stopping to touch something or pick it up to get a closer look? Now picture that same store – a supermarket, department store, warehouse or club store – and replace the sea of products with people. You heard me. Imagine every box, can, pair of pants, video, book, and bag of candy replaced with a person just like you. Visualize thousands of them…maybe more…maybe a million in any given store. Now, do that visual walk through again. Would you notice you?

With a billion young people entering the world of work in the next 10 years, let’s be honest, most of us look a heck of a lot alike. While we’re all certainly different and special in our own ways, at first glance we blend into the sea of hundreds, sometimes thousands of others. When you’re looking for a job, a promotion, a great new client, or to be considered for a special opportunity, standing out (in a positive way) is essential. But what do most people see if they come in to take a closer look? How often are you putting your best foot forward in person, or online?

Now that the economy has taken a downturn and great opportunities are getting harder and harder to find, this is the perfect time to build (or refine) your professional brand. Odds are, when someone goes to look for you online or learn more about you, they come up with little if nothing, but all too often they discover juicy little photos, online posts or fun facts that you certainly never intended them to see!

Do yourself a favor and conduct a personal and professional brand audit of yourself. Analyze everything that the outside world can see or find out about you with a simple search online. Consider, from a totally objective perspective, what kind of impression you’re portraying, then clean it up. Then do the same with your physical appearance. Start to be more intentional, purposeful, and proactive about what kind of image you’re projecting. Don’t assume others are going to take the time to “get to know you”. Make it your responsibility to grab and hold their attention. Because just like being one in a sea of products on shelves, you too often have a matter of seconds to impress upon others that you’re worth a closer look.

During the course of my career I was able to compile tips, techniques, and strategies which I feel can serve to advance one’s career and help you to stand out at work. I have to admit it was only through trial and error that I was able to put these things into practice. You make plenty of mistakes but you never give up you always want to try and move forward. It’s only through perseverance and determination that you are able to accomplish those things that seem impossible at times. Here are some attributes that have served me well in my pursuit of success.

Number 1. Know yourself – your strengths, abilities and limitations. Once you know your major characteristics you will be able to pin point the career path you should take and put all of your energy attention and passion into that endeavor. There is nothing worse that giving something your all while you are speeding along on the wrong career path, putting all your talent and ability to work doing things that you can never be the best at.

Number 2. Be a prudent risk taker – Think Big. To stand out at work and get ahead of the times calls for you to take risks. You should take risks only when they have been well thought out and planned. Never go hap hazard into any venture will out giving it some thought and developing a plan of action to get there. You also have to think big. When you develop a plan of action it should encompass the entire organization, or an entire department. It should never be just about you. Think big and try to develop win/win situations whenever possible. Think in terms of impacting the entire organization.

Number 3. Set Goals that Stretch You. You have to get out of your comfort zone. Establish some goals that are attainable with effort. When you have goals that stretch you chances are you’re excited, enthusiastic, passionate, and energetic in the pursuit of those goals. Goals that are easily attained don’t ignite any type of fire within.

Number 4. Keep your horizons and interest broad. Never limit your career perspective and outlook. There are always other possibilities and different roads to travel. Learn new things at every opportunity because you never know when your increased knowledge base is going to enable you to take on greater responsibility in the form of a promotion.

Number 5. Learn from failure and mistakes. It’s okay to fail and have set backs. Every person that has achieved any type of note worthy success will tell you that they have failed not only once but sometimes three or four times. Use your failures as learning experiences that catapult you forward to take on the next challenge. Make amendments and adjustments based on the lessons learned from past failures. Never let failures impede your progress.

Number 6. Remember the first person plural – think in terms of we. Share your best demonstrated practices with your co-workers, teammates, department, and the entire organization if possible. When you help another person meet their goals and objectives it in turn helps you achieve the career advancement you seek. Always look for ways to help others.

Number 7. Keep your sense of humor. Never get characterized as a person who can never have fun or is always serious. You can be perceived as unapproachable and this can limit your career advancement and keep you from getting ahead and standing out.

Number 8. Develop your interpersonal skills – communicate well. It is imperative that you enhance your ability to communicate. Look for ways to improve your presentation skills. If you are able to communicate with every level of employee within an organization, including upper management, this will do more to help you stand out.

Number 9. Work hard – very hard. Be the first one to work and the last one to leave. When you work on a project try to get it done efficiently and effectively. Make working hard a habit. Become known as the person who works harder and smarter than all others within your department.

Number 10. Be committed to the vision. Find ways expand on the company vision or mission. Be exceptionally committed to the cause.

Number 11. Share the responsibility and the credit. Look for ways to recognize your peers, and upper management. Be quick to praise others for their accomplishments.

Number 12. Keep your word. Develop a reputation for integrity and honesty. Do what you say you will do. Others will begin to trust you and look to you for answers and you will become known as a person with a good reputation.

Put these things into action consistently and you will begin to stand out at work in the sight of all involved.

To Your Great Success

Mel Richardson

Read more from Mel at his weblog: Moneycashfinance.com

Remember the last time you cringed when you heard the way someone described who you are or what you do? Maybe you’ve found yourself sweating over how to describe yourself or your latest project. How about those business cards of yours, that bio, your website or that promotional reel you created? Those giving you any stress? All of these issues are part of a process called Branding, and it has a lot more to do with you and your success than you might think.

Companies focus on branding when marketing new products or businesses to consumers because they know that public perception can make or break their success.  In your career, it’s helpful to consider yourself as a product that you have to sell or promote to clients, employers, admissions boards and colleagues. What’s your personal branding? What do you want other people to think of when you pop into their minds?

The way you are perceived by others is directly proportional to your success. Here are a few tips for developing a solid personal brand:

1. Think about the things you want to promote about yourself, not the stuff you want to hide.
2. Create a branding statement: Who am I? What am I proud of? What am I good at? How am I unique or different?
3. Leave a lasting impression on everyone you come in contact with – even the ones you don’t see. Pay attention to grammar and tone in your e-mails and phone calls. (One of our favorite tips for very important calls or phone interviews: Look in a mirror when you are speaking and smile. Your smile can translate into a positive impression to the person on the other end!)
4. In person, make sure to smile, look the other person in the eye and give a confident handshake. Pay attention to the way you dress.
5. Speak loudly, confidently and with certainty.

Have you ever heard the term, “Children enter school as question marks and leave as periods?” It refers to the process of molding young minds to an extreme – until they stop questioning and start accepting what they’re told. It doesn’t end in school either. Sometimes the pressure to become just like everyone else comes at us from all directions: from our friends, our families, colleagues, and even trusted advisors and mentors.

So, how do you know when to take the road less traveled? Here are a few tips to consider before you make your bolder moves:

1. Weigh the pros and cons of your decisions. Know what you’re getting into before you start out to avoid being sideswiped by the unknown.

2. Hedge your bets. Don’t put all your energy or resources in one place, so you’re not devastated if that one thing falls through.

3. Avoid risking more than you’re willing to lose or walk away from.

4. Have back up plans. What if Plan A fails? Plan B? Plan C?

5. Have an exit strategy in mind, in case you have to abort your plan midstream.

6. Make sure your digressions don’t have the potential to hurt other people or cause serious problems that are hard to fix.

7. Learn from the experiences of others. Understand what risks other successful people have taken that have paid off, and what risks didn’t work out so well. Ask yourself “Why?” in each case.

8. Make sure the risk is worth the reward.

9. Once you make a well-informed decision to take your own path, don’t waste time second-guessing your choice. Put your energy into your new project or plan and work like crazy to make it happen.

The most important thing when taking your own unique path is to make sure that you’ve made your decisions carefully and strategically. Big risks can certainly bring tremendous rewards when they work out. Just give yourself and your loved ones the peace of mind knowing that you’ve done your homework before you give it your all.