There are five other mini-segments to present in this New Year's 2010 Post. The first comes from writing my new book. It's really largely about the "basics," and in particular about thoughtfulness and civility. I think thoughtfulness-civility-grace-decency-kindness-appreciation pays off ... Big Time ... on the bottom line. And I think it pays off when you look in the mirror or raise your kids. And, incidentally, I think it's directly related to resilience—that is, going gently in the world serves the community and keeps the heat (emotional reaction to tough news) a little lower.

The third word is serve. In my new book I call leadership a "sacred trust,' and I think it is. To steal shamelessly from Robert Greenleaf, I am a keen fan–adherent of "servant leadership." Leaders work for those who "report to" them—not vice versa.

Word four: contribute. We Group I-ers (see above) simply have an obligation—a pressing obligation—to give back and lend a helping hand. I live in an other-than-high-wage community, and I deeply deeply appreciate the enormous amount of time and energy my wife is contributing as Board leader of our local daycare center. (This is hardly her first major act of community service-leadership; it's simply the one most on my mind at the moment.) Contradicting to some extent my Group III mention above, I am a strong adherent, assuming you're not Bill Gates, of supporting (time, $$) local efforts where you can have direct impact. (Perhaps from local "fanatic" service will grow the desire to expand the stage on which you work.)

Next up, and next to last is ... learn. The best way to stay fresh and vibrant, and thence useful, in my opinion, is to seek new experiences and learning opportunities. Like all of these "words," it takes thoughtfulness (planning) and work—though presumably this work, in every case, should largely be an act of joy.

The final word? My old friend ... EXCELLENCE. I never get tired of it, and I hope you don't either. It's a wonderful standard, a wonderful aspiration, a wonderful way of life (the aspiration to).

So my Aim2010 is to focus on these words:

Resilience.
Thoughtfulness-Civility.
Serve.
Contribute.
Learn.
EXCELLENCE.

Peters starts his reflection with resilience, then moves on to the keywords here. Click through for all his thoughts.

1. I will live in the present moment. I will not obsess about the past or worry about the future.

2. I will cultivate the art of making connections. I will pay attention to how my life is intimately related to all life on the planet.

3. I will be thankful for all the blessings in my life. I will spell out my days with a grammar of gratitude.

4. I will practice hospitality in a world where too often strangers are feared, enemies are hated, and the "other" is shunned. I will welcome guests and alien ideas with graciousness.

5. I will seek liberty and justice for all. I will work for a free and a fair world.

6. I will add to the planet's fund of good will by practicing little acts of kindness, brief words of encouragement, and manifold expressions of courtesy.

7. I will cultivate the skill of deep listening. I will remember that all things in the world want to be heard, as do the many voices inside me.

8. I will practice reverence for life by seeing the sacred in, with, and under all things of the world.

9. I will give up trying to hide, deny, or escape from my imperfections. I will listen to what my shadow side has to say to me.

10. I will be willing to learn from the spiritual teachers all around me, however unlikely or unlike me they may be.

From the Brussat's Spirituality and Practice site, some real food for thought.

Carol Bartz, CEO of Yahoo! in her first speech as a new CEO

Actress Jane Fonda and her voice lessons before a new play

Speakers who participated in major speech competitions: Writer Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson on her first PowerPoint presentation and Ignite! talk; Anne Medlock and her "near-TED experience;" and marketer Jennifer Cohen, who gave her very first talk at Ignite!

Posted on International Women's Day, speeches by author and activist Isabel Allende, Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, scientist Nalini Nadkarni and singer Nellie McKay

Our top women speakers series, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Bishop Kathryn Jefforts Schori, athlete and disability activist Aimee Mullins, First Lady Michelle Obama, Governor Jennifer Granholm and chemist and professor Carolyn Bertozzi

Top women commencement speakers highlighted by one of our speechwriter-readers: performers Meryl Streep and Melissa Etheridge; writers like Gloria Steinem and Anna Quindlen; first ladies Michelle Obama and Barbara Bush; executive Carly Fiorina, impresario Oprah Winfrey and playwright Margaret Edson

Debra Davidson, a sander at the Martin Guitar Factory and my tour guide there

Blogging entrepreneurs Katie Kemple, who used experience bellydancing to improve her speaking, and Leah Garnett, who took her inspiration from performing on guitar.

Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who raised the issue of women getting talked over in meetings, and Sonia Sotomayor, who used storytelling in her confirmation hearings to good effect.

Kenneth Cole CEO Jill Granoff and Elle Group chief brand officer Carol Smith, both of whom highlighted challenges women face in workplace speaking and presenting

Speaking from the nonprofit sector were The Acumen Fund's Jacqueline Novogratz, who ably demonstrated how to speak up for a good cause, and Red Cross President Gail McGovern

Author Elizabeth Gilbert, whose TED talk demonstrates great speaker presence

Denise Graveline's examples of great woman speakers for 2009. I specially agree with the selection of Elizabeth Gilbert after I watched the TED video.

Women's Wear Daily checked with magazine editors and found--no surprises here, methinks--that letters to the editor, while not completely dead, are far outpaced by emails, tweets and blog or website comments, as well as commentary on readers' own blogs. From the article:

Glamour receives 30 to 40 handwritten notes a week, compared with 1,000 e-mailed letters. Both are a fraction of the 5,000 comments glamour.com receives online. New York magazine editor in chief Adam Moss noted the publication gets roughly three snail mail letters and 100 e-mails a week — that’s only 1 percent of the feedback it compiles. One story on nymag.com can illicit [sic] 3,000 comments in a week on the site. In effect, letters to editors have not, or will not, die. Instead, they’ve simply morphed into different forms.

Now that we've settled that, perhaps I shall elicit an RSS subscription to my blog's weekly writing coach feature for the author of the illicit usage seen above....

For years I've been preaching about the power of a personal thank-you note. It's not exactly the same thing, but maybe it's time to rethink.