The new year has one thing in common with the last year: We have no idea what to expect.

Most economists predict another shaky one. Some foresee an uptick in hiring late in the year. Maybe not. So last year's career advice goes for 2010.

Last year at this time I urged you to grab hold of a new mindset with the rallying cry that won a Civil War victory: "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!"

It was not easy to embrace. The inclination to hold on for dear life kicked in big-time for many.

So after a year of one of the weirdest economic spells in most of our lives with predictions for more trying times ahead, the question is: What will you do differently this year?

Will you do things you need to, but haven't, which includes this 2009 advice:

• Have your long and shorter here's-who-I-am-and-how-I-make-a-difference spiel ready to share at a moment's notice. This is your well-crafted, meaty over-view of your career that you'll whip out at formal meetings and impromptu moments when asked to "tell me about yourself."

• Stop spending time on wasteful job-hunting activities like blindly sending out resumes and letters asking everyone for a job. Target people and organizations who have a need for what you do.

• Stop talking about your title and figure out your value so you can wow another company.

• Nix the idea that getting it done is enough. Someone said, that which gets done can be measured. But that which is done well can be measured and rewarded.

• Hone your hyper-human skills — those that can't be performed by machines and make us superior, says Richard W. Samson, director of the EraNova Institute. They involve conscious perception, pursuing ethical objectives, imagination, subjective decision making, hypothesizing and social skills.

Most important, will you take another stab at that new rallying cry? The one where, despite all you lost and is still unknown, you muster your strength and go full speed ahead anyway.

When I wrote that last year, I based it on how a self-employed man told me he was entering 2009. "I'll be accelerating things," he had said. "Working on new fronts."

How'd it go?

"I had a good year," he said. "I tried new things. Some didn't fly, but I learned. ... I played to win instead of playing not to lose."

So how about it? It's 2010. Why not damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!