2)      Consider every person you meet as someone who could potentially advance your career. Speaking with respect and without gimmick will put many more people in your corner.

3)      Think before you speak. Listen before you think.

4)      Make sure that when you have something to say, you think about what you want to convey. Use a 3-Act structure to help you get there.

5)      Be open and ready to engage in mature dialog.

6)      If you are re-using the text from one email to send to a different recipient, you better make sure that the name, company information and any other personalization has been updated appropriately.

7)      Re-read every email, note, and letter you write at least three times (see The Rule of 3Cs that follows to learn more about this).

8)      It is okay to say you don’t know something. Asking questions shows curiosity and intelligence, which is good.

I’m a sucker just like everyone else. I’ve proclaimed to the Universe and to the God-of-New-Year’s that I would lose 10 pounds, keep my house tidy, go to the gym three times a week and only have french fries once a month. I’ve tried swearing off of just about everything over the years. It’s never worked. Why?

I’ve had many a discussion on lots of topics over the years, and have polled people about a variety of things. I’m used to getting answers that span the Bell Curve—one, two standard deviations—just as you would expect. One day I decided to poll people about the success of their Resolutions. The answer was overwhelmingly: I failed.

The question is why?

New Year’s Resolutions are invariably about “loss”—we resolve to give up something or commit to something for our own betterment. Resolutions tend to have a binary answer –you either lost the weight, or didn’t. You either made it to the gym three times a week, or didn’t. But we, as humans, don’t like to give things up. What if instead, we turned New Year’s Resolutions on their head, and did something that was more about “gaining” instead of a “losing”? What if we were to give ourselves Themes for the year that weren’t about achieving a specific, measurable goal, but instead were about taking on a new way of being in the world?

My first-ever Theme went something like this: “For one year, I will only be dramatic when drama is necessary”. Now this was going to be no easy feat. At the time, I was living in Hollywood producing movies for Walt Disney Studios. I was surrounded by drama, over-the-top personalities and grueling schedules all the time. Was it possible for me to cut out the drama?

My Theme was really about being choiceful in my behavior. By taking a millisecond pause before responding to things, I was granting myself permission to decide whether I was going to respond simply or react dramatically. I was giving myself permission to choose to act differently.

It didn’t completely stick at first. I regularly had to remind myself to “pause before reacting.” By February, things were becoming more stable. By August, the pause was unconscious. My Theme had become part of my life.

New Year’s Themes are about changing your behavior and mindset. They are about giving yourself permission to act differently. They give you an opportunity to address parts of your life in a balanced, thoughtful way.

I’ve seen a middle-aged man work on “bringing more joy into his life”, and a girlfriend adopt the Theme of “increasing her portfolio of happiness”. A business client focused for a year on “making decisive decisions,” and a guy friend going through a tough time focused on “learning the difference between real and magical thinking”.

Not sure how to come up with your 2012 New Year’s Theme? Here are some suggestions:

• Out of work? Make getting a job my full-time job.
• Member of Congress? Put Americans, not my ego or Party politics, first.
• Not finding love? Act like Audrey Hepburn (or another person/character who seems to “get” love.)
• Feeling lonely? Focus on friendship and building a community of support.
• Overwhelmed by the insanity of your life? Spend a year NOT using the words “crazy”, “busy,” or the phrase “crazy busy”. You’ll be amazed how this simple word replacement can change your entire demeanor.

My 2011 Theme was “to only have people in my life who treat me like I deserve to be treated.” It was a challenging and sad year, knowing that some of the people in my life weren’t going to make the cut. Like a favorite well-worn sweater, I decided to “give” these people to Goodwill (the charity that takes clothing donations), knowing that someday someone would love them as much as I once had. Amazingly, once the heavy-burden people were gone, there was room for better-suited people to come in.

What will your New Year’s Theme be? In these troubling and unstable times, what Theme can you take on to change your life, and perhaps the world, for the better? Share your Theme on Twitter, hashtag #NYTheme.

October 18th, 6:30 – 8pm
For more info http://carryapaintbrush.com/category/events

Boston, MA – September 7, 2011 – Best-selling author, Susanne Goldstein launches a “Get Americans Back to Work Contest”. Three lucky winners will receive 3 months of pro-bono one-on-one career coaching with Susanne, author of Carry A Paintbrush: How to Be the Artistic Director of Your Own Career. Her message is clear on her YouTube video; she wants to help “Americans get back to work”. Goldstein, like most Americans, is fed up with hearing that the politicians are going to talk about jobs. She believes, “Government was never set up to be the Great Employer. Americans need to stop waiting for Washington to give them permission to get back to work.”

Goldstein knows how hard it is to find a job and find your career. With her diverse background in Hollywood movie-making, business strategy, user experience design, teaching, speaking and coaching she has helped countless individuals, teams, companies and audiences define what success means to them, and then move them to achieve it. She knows her methods work, and is willing to prove that, with a little coaching and some road-tested techniques, Americans can get back into the workforce.

While the folks in Washington “dance around the job issues over the next few weeks,” she encourages job seekers to enter “Susanne Goldstein’s Get Americans Back To Work Contest.”  Contestants must be 18 years or older, a U.S. Citizen, and willing to do the hard work it takes to get work.

Entry videos will be considered a contestant’s “job application.” The three people who can best demonstrate to Susanne that they are ready and willing to do the work required to land a job will be selected to go through her “A Little Tough Love & A Lotta Technique Training” program. ”My mentees will learn tools and techniques needed to find job openings, and then demonstrate to America how these methods can be applied to finding work. Even in the most unsteady times, people do get hired. My job is to teach people how to make themselves into a person that people can’t wait to hire.”

In addition to the one-on-one coaching from Susanne Goldstein, the winners will receive a free copy of Susanne’s book Carry a Paintbrush, a free Windows®-based netbook computer with a built in webcam for recording coaching sessions, a new haircut prior to one job interview, and a portfolio folder to carry into meetings. Contest information, entry form and rules can be found at www.susannegoldstein.com. All entries must be received by 5pm ET on September 25, 2011. Winners’ progress will be shared with America on YouTube channel – Follow Susanne – and on her website www.susannegoldstein.com.

To get one step closer to winning Susanne Goldstein’s “Get American’s Back to Work Contest” visit www.susannegoldstein.com.

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Contact: Kathy Horn

Roadrunner Talent and Media

914-573-3276

RoadrunnerTalentandMedia@gmail.com

Created and hosted by Larry Olson the show centers around anything and everything having to do with your career: finding a new job; getting more out of your current work experience; your health and retirement benefits; managing your boss; handling bitter co-workers; work/life balance.

You can hear the interview below or visit Working Radio.

SKIP to MINUTE 28 to hear Susanne on air.

Allen Pierleoni of the Sacramento Bee has put Carry a Paintbrush on his summer recommended list.

You can check it out in the “On their own” section online or on Page 3D of the July 18, 2011 paper.

Bestselling author Marc Cosentino has invited Susanne to co-lead a 3-day intensive interviewing workship at Trinity College. Marc’s book Case in Point is the #1 interviewing book on Amazon.com

Susanne will be Maureen Anderson’s guest on The Career Clinic Radio Show. Listen live on http://www.am1100.tv/. July 30, 1pm ET

Susanne will be attending the National Speakers Association Convention in Anaheim, CA as a first-time attendee.