Hey look! It’s another New Year! Another chance to build that fantastic future you have been thinking about! Aren’t you excited?

Perhaps after a year like last year, you feel some skepticism. You may wonder how much more stamina, optimism and sheer survival you’ll need to succeed.

The month of January often finds us thinking a little schizophrenically. On one hand we’re excited about what lies ahead and we hope the New Year will roll in like a shiny new penny. On the other hand, we remember too many New Years past that started with a bang and ended with a whimper. We fear that this New Year might roll over us like a dark heavy cloud. One minute we’re up, the next minute we’re down and pretty soon we’re worn out even before we start doing anything.

What’s a woman to do? Make New Year’s resolutions! Call upon your deepest desires and buck up to your sturdiest resolve! Surely, this is your year!

And it may well be. But when you’re already stressed, tired and worried, you may wonder how setting even bigger goals will help?

Let’s pause to recognize that over the years many of us have been programmed to focus on performance, to do our best—to make a difference—and to make a pile of money in the process. The New Year’s resolution strategy fits this programming.

But what if you were to take a different approach? What if you were to ask yourself, “What do I value about my life that I want to maintain in the coming year?” What if, instead of seeking quantum leap improvement, you sought to protect something precious?

Suppose your answer is, “My health.”

Now you have a different proposition. Instead of making promises about weight loss and daily workouts, you can brainstorm little ways to maintain your health. These might include eating better and getting more exercise, but they might also include reading uplifting material, hanging around with positive, successful people and talking about building things rather than surviving hardship. These are ideas that appeal. None of them require a gym membership, a major time commitment or venturing out into the cold. Maybe, just maybe, you can begin to improve your outlook by maintaining something that is important to you—your health.

What if you also kept track of the ways you take care of your health each day? Simple notes in a daily journal create evidence of your caretaking and progress. This might cause you to see how effective you can be at making yourself happy. And maybe this happier, more effective you will start to attract a new kind of attention that opens up new opportunities. Gradually, in a quiet and private way, you begin to change your life while taking good care of yourself.

I am reminded of a photo I saw recently of a bald-headed woman, a cancer survivor. Her story is one of persistence, belief and gratitude, as is the case for a growing number of women we know.

What struck me about this particular photo was the look in the woman’s eyes. Her gaze was steady, her eyes clear. There was a sense of great wisdom that shone from her eyes, as though she knows we can’t really understand her story unless we, too, have been there. But it doesn’t matter. She is powerful in her serenity as she encourages women to take care of their health, to seek goodness and to have patience, hope and faith in a new day.

These are quintessential messages that women have offered for generations. It is what we teach our children when they have a bad day at school or suffer a heart-breaking loss on the athletic field. It is the counsel we offer friends struggling with big decisions or deep disappointment. “Tomorrow will come. Your heart will heal. You will do something exceptional in time.” It is a quiet message of truth, steeped in experience.

2010 has arrived, bringing each of us a new chapter. How will you make it exceptional?