The best thing about hope is that it springs eternal, especially at the beginning of a new year. 2009 is behind us, 2010 lies ahead and we have to believe that the coming year will be better than the last.

There is, of course, no telling. I recall in late 2008 looking forward to the calendar turning, hoping that with a new year the craziness of that fourth quarter would settle down and enable us to rebuild our economic prospects. Alas, the recession wore on. And on. The downturn has now lasted more that two years, and it simply has to be over. Doesn’t it?

Time will tell. In the meantime, those of us who have any say over investment and job creation should go about our business with the intent of bringing about growth. We don’t have any other choice, really–nor would we want to do anything else. As bad as last year was, we survived, and most of our companies are leaner and meaner for it. That’s the silver lining.

So we get up, we go to work, we look ahead, we make decisions, we take risks. Just as we always have, and just as we always will. As I alluded to in my final FindYourNerve.com post, we are blessed to operate within the most productive, dynamic, and resilient economic system the world has ever seen. As each of us does our part, the whole will take care of itself.

On October 1st we launched a new executive microsite called FindYourNerve.com. In that day’s post, I explained that the rationale for the site was that at some point we need to get past what’s happening outside the walls of our organizations and address what we can actually control, and it all begins with our personal mindsets.

With that in mind, the results of our first weekly FindYourNerve.com poll are quite interesting. They show that business leaders’ views of the future are split right down the middle, with about half choosing to be optimistic (and making decisions accordingly) and half continuing in fearful uncertainty (or worse). The results are fitting, I think, since every good economic story we read in the press seems to be balanced by a bad one these days.

Of course, no one really knows what’s going to happen, but the way we choose to believe events may unfold can become self-fulfilling. As I’ve been traveling around the country on my book tour I’ve met a great many people with a variety of outlooks and perspectives. On two separate occasions within a single 24-hour period last week, I ran across people in the magazine business who cited emails from their bosses representing both ends of the spectrum.

One said that she and her staff received an email that was unfocused and full of fear from the one person who should instead have provided a steady hand. She said it really discouraged her and certainly didn’t help her remain in the frame of mind she needed to succeed. The other told me about an email he received from his boss full of encouragement, instruction, and a healthy perspective on the real challenges he and his team were facing. As a result, he was motivated to continue persevering.

I’m not suggesting that anybody should adopt a Pollyannaish view of the future, ignoring the possibilities of a continued slump and putting our companies at risk. But I do believe that how we view the difficulties we face affects how the people around us view them as well, which has a real impact on the results of our efforts.

I encourage you to keep visiting FindYourNerve.com each day to get a brief bit of encouragement from the contributor of the day. And pass it along to your friends and colleagues. A little optimism can go a long way.

It’s time we all found our nerve.

That’s the idea behind FindYourNerve.com, a micro/social/website that launches today based on the idea that re-igniting the economy starts on the inside of every company. At some point, we all need to get past what is happening outside the walls of our organizations and address what we can actually control. It all begins with our personal mindsets.

FindYourNerve.com is intended to help provide a needed jump start to our collective corporate confidence. Throughout the fourth quarter, the site will offer an opportunity for visitors to peer inside the minds of a cross-section of corporate leaders via compelling polls, fascinating facts, and daily insights related to business growth penned by more than 60 leading CEOs, bloggers, authors and athletes. Every weekday during the fourth quarter, the site will post a contribution from a different expert.

Economic indicators seem to be improving, but uncertainty is still widespread. The ultimate goal of FindYourNerve.com is to instill in corporate leaders a renewed sense of confidence. Just imagine what would happen if every CEO in America resolved to get back to business as usual at the same time. The impact would be immediate and impressive.

I encourage you to visit FindYourNerve.com today and every day over the coming weeks and months. Please pass it on to your friends and colleagues as well. You never know what a daily dose of encouragement might do.