I’ll weigh in on my picks for the highlights and low points of the freelance business during the past year in the next few days.

But first, a present. I’d just started wondering what to write this week that would get people pumped for the possibilities the new year will bring – and I’m optimist there will be a lot of them. Then I read something that reminded me of an email I got right before Christmas. An old friend had sent me a copy of a free e-book from Internet marketer Seth Godin called What Matters Now. I didn’t have time to read it before. But I today I did – and it’s just what I was looking for.

Godin, who’s written numerous marketing books over the last decade, asked 70 people – writers, thinkers, Internet gurus and more – to come up with one word they want people to think about in 2010 and explain why they picked it.

The 82-page booklet is best read like one of those daily inspiration calendars – a little at a time. Wired Editor Chris Anderson expounds on atoms, management expert Tom Peters on excellence, and money makeover radio show host Dave Ramsey on intensity.

Like it? Share it. It’s free and, as usual, Godin’s doing his best to make sure it goes viral.

Because goodness knows we could all use a little encouragement after the last 12 months.