When I was in the eighth grade I had a group of fans. I was good at speech and drama and my fans recognized something special about me in that context. When my parents came to “parent night,” my dad said he felt like I was a movie star.

If you’re one of the lucky ones, while you were growing up, you had at least one member of your family who was your fan. They recognized what made you unique and special.

It’s funny how throughout my life I’ve had fans. You know the ones. People who just really like you. They like being around you. They get you. Usually they’re friends or colleagues. So why is it that I have spent so much time, energy and money on trying to get those who aren’t my fans, who never will be my fans, to become fans. Yes, the efforts have been futile.

Seth Godin calls it your tribe. I know what he means. I think I’ll redirect my attention to those adoring fans. You know who you are. When the skill and the fan status align, that’s when I know the working relationship will be mutually-rewarding. Plus, I get a new friend in the deal.

Who are you fans? How much of your energy is focused on them?

When I worked in a corporate setting, I made it a regular practice to gather the group working on my project into a conference room. Our meetings were always fun, loud and interesting. There was a lot of joking and freedom to bring in ideas. Everyone was free to share their ideas equally regardless of rank, level or experience. We would laugh so loud at some of the crazy ideas, sometimes we’d be asked to be more quiet by one of those “hall monitor” types who believed their job was to keep things in order. Most of the time though, people would pop their heads in to see if they could join in on whatever project or challenge we were working on. The energy was contagious. Those “hall monitors” types could never shut us down because we had success on our side.

I feel an optimism in the air as 2010 begins. There is nothing really tangible to point to for proof. It is just a feeling. Most everyone I speak to is talking about how much better this year will be compared to last year.

So here’s an idea. What if we all agree it IS a better year? If we all agree and believe it to be true, won’t we most likely make it happen? There’s a lot to be said for our collective strength. When we agree to maintain an optimistic attitude, we will notice opportunities abounding. As opposed to to the opposite where all we see is the negative.

We are living in a transitional time where we are re-evaluating our collective values. Do we dare have the courage to step forward and claim our right to the pursuit of happiness? What does that mean, anyway? To me it means to live with true prosperity. A truly prosperous person enjoys robust health, wonderful and loving relationships, fulfilling work, the pleasures of life such as good food and also, the peace of mind of money in the bank.

With so many changes happening around us, both in our working and personal lives, there is a temptation to make assumptions. For example, when change is afloat (which there is a lot of lately), I assume the outcome will be the same as in the past or that if I apply to same strategies as I did in the past, they will work. The truth is that every situation calls for us to increasingly rely on our intuition to figure it out. Complex problems require research and fact-finding, but when it comes to making the final decision, it is usually most successful if we rely on instinct.