Well, it’s another year.

If you were reading last week, you’ve already dissected 2003 by figuring out what you did and what you didn’t do. This week, I’d like to take it deeper.      Who are you trying to become? What are you trying to achieve?

These are questions about purpose and fulfillment. And through the years, I’ve found that if you concentrate on purpose, details tend to handle themselves.

The paradox is that most people concentrate on the detail. They have endless lists of “things to do.” You probably have some kind of electronic device that lists everything you need to do every day of the week for the next year.

Is that helping you in your quest to become who you want to be? Or is it simply about meeting your deadlines and commitments and making “quota”?

One of the big differences between me and you is that I have not had any kind of day planner or appointment book since 1998. Oh sure, I have a calendar online that tells me what I have to do and when I have to do it. And yes, I’m fortunate enough to have someone else make a schedule for me, but I didn’t start out that way.

In 1998, when I decided not to have a day planner, I didn’t have anyone do anything for me. I did it myself. All I had was a database of all the people I knew and their phone numbers (it now has their e-mail addresses as well.)

Some of you are saying, “Oh Jeffrey, I could never do without my Palm Pilot.” That’s the problem. You spend more time fiddling around with that thing than you do with your own success.

Why don’t you browse through your day planning device and note how many times you recorded the word “think” or “read.” My guess is that it didn’t happen once.

How important are thinking and reading to your success? They’re everything.

Knowing that, ask yourself how many entries you have to spend time thinking and reading in your 2004 calendar? I’ll bet it’s not enough.

Want to know why your New Year’s resolutions fade to dust by February? It’s because you have not set aside the time for personal achievement.

Here’s what to do:

1. Start with the big things. Who do you want to become? What are you trying to achieve? The answer to those two questions will set the stage for your actions.

2. Start at the beginning. Before you can take an action, you have to have a philosophy and an attitude. It took me 10 years to develop my philosophy. Attitude took longer. That’s taken me 35 years, but only because I work at it every day. Whatever success you are trying to achieve, attitude will be at the fulcrum point of it. Whatever failure you encounter along the way, attitude will help you emerge from it with the proper frame of mind.

3. Think more and read more. Why is it that the things you put off due to “lack of time” are the very ones that will create time?

3.5. Find one good mentor this year and begin building a relationship with him or her. You have heard the statement “don’t reinvent the wheel.” So why do you continue to try? Find someone successful, wise and willing. Figure out a way to build a friendship without asking for a handout. A little hint: Asking someone directly to be your mentor is asking for a handout.

I have issued you the challenge. I have asked you the hard questions. I have given you the answers.

All you have to do is take the actions. Come on. It’s a new year. Turn over a new leaf, one that leads to your oak tree and not someone else’s.

Free GitBit: I’d love to share my philosophy with you. Go to www.Gitomer.com. Register if you’re a first-time user and enter the word PHILOSOPHY in the GitBit box.

President of Charlotte, N.C.-based Buy Gitomer, Jeffrey Gitomer gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service. He can be reached at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com.