By Rolf Crocker

It's crazy to think that, as I write this, it's already the end of the year.  Like many of you, I ask myself, "Where has this year gone?"  For me, it's been an amazing year - some phenomenal successes, a couple of gut-wrenching events but overall, the satisfaction of seeing slow and steady growth and forward progress.

So now, we're on the threshold of 2010.  What does 2010 hold for you?  Do you have a plan?  Will you set some goals, personal, professional, or both?  Where do you want to be this time next year?  An analogy I use when I teach on Strategic Planning is that most of us would never contemplate taking a trip without our GPS, Google Maps or at least a good, old-fashioned Road Map from the AAA, but we'll run our lives for weeks, months and decades with no thought as to which road we need to take to get us to where we want to be.

One of my favorite Jack Welch quotes is, "Control your destiny, or someone else will."  In the spirit of that concept, here is what I recommend everyone do sometime in the next three weeks:

1) Create a space of two to four hours of 'Quiet Time'.   This means getting away from the distractions of work, home, friends and life.  It could be locked away in your home, at a Starbucks, or a walk through the forest - it doesn't matter.  It only matters that you can quiet your mind and think.  Bring with you a legal pad or journal and your writing instrument of choice.

2) On the first page, write out what was successful for you over the last 12 months.  It could be personal or professional, large or small.

3) On the next page, write out what wasn't successful, where you felt you could improve or, if you had it to do over, what you would have done different.

4) From those two pages, write out those things that, when you go through this same exercise 12 months from now, you want to look back and know that you've accomplished successfully.  It could be one thing, or it could be a bunch.  The challenge here is not to overwhelm yourself with too many goals.  If you find you have several, list them all out in no particular order, then re-do the list in priority order.

5) From that list, develop an 'action plan' of specific steps you need to take to accomplish those goals.

6) Give a copy of the Goal List and the Action Plan to a good friend, mentor or your Significant Other and ask them to help keep you accountable by asking periodically how you are doing with your list.  It's so easy for that thing we call 'life' to get in the way of working our plan.  It's easier to keep on task when you know that someone is going to ask you about it.

Don't let this next year happen to you - you need to take steps to happen to it, if you catch my drift.  This miniscule investment of two to four hours will give you an ROI (Return on Investment) of hundreds of hours in success, satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.  Double-your-money-back guarantees if you're not absolutely delighted with the results.  Call now!  Operators are standing by….

Wishing you and yours a Joyous Holiday Season and a blessed and prosperous New Year!

Rolf Crocker is a national Vice President with Associa, CEO of M&C Association Management Services in Stockton, CA  and he can be reached at