Today’s column is recycled – it first appeared here back in 2008. I figured it might be a good time to dust it off and update it a bit, given that I’m so far behind on my holiday streaming viewing. And my holiday baking consumption.
2022! Another new year, another chance to set new goals, possibly even endeavour to surpass the records you may have just set this past year. It’s also another chance to make fresh New Year’s resolutions – and to try making it past mid-January before you’ve abandoned them all entirely, each and every well-intended one of them.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. You are far from alone. While some individuals (keeners) are quite capable of sticking to resolutions, the majority of us are far more likely to learn how to make beehives out of orange peels than we are to stick to resolutions.
I say, why set such lofty standards, only to berate yourself 60 days from now for not even remembering what your resolutions were? Lower your bar and set some achievable, realistic goals and resolutions. For example, this year…..
1. I will not use peanut butter as glue (again) when I break the handle off of my favourite travel coffee mug… What a mess in the dishwasher!
2. I will do more floor duty in the office this year. And I won’t just read a newspaper in my office while I’m on floor duty. I’ll learn how to do Sudoku! (Glaring 2008 reference left in while I vacuum up a very crumbly piece of gingerbread person)
3. I will NOT take a new listing after a detailed, well-researched presentation, unless my clients are within $100,000 (+/-) of my CMA.
4. I will memorize the code for my electronic lockbox key, rather than jot it down on a sticky note that I keep on the key. (2008, oh, you outdated time in history…)
5. I will NOT leave my electronic lock box key and sticky note with the code written on it at the Furry Fox Saloon, after stopping in for chicken wings at lunchtime (again).
6. I will attend at least one continuing professional education course this year, to sharpen my skills and stay on top of industry issues.
7. The course should really be something better than Distinguishing Cat Doors From Doggie Doors At A Glance.
8. I will learn how to use one of those new-fangled digital tape measures. (Are those things still around?)
9. What the heck, I should probably at least learn how to use a metric tape measure first.
10. I will arise by the first crack of dawn every Monday morning and write the best ads for my listings that I’ve ever done in my entire career.
11. I will not panic (again) when the ad copy deadline is four minutes away and I haven’t gotten past “Walk-out rancher…”
12. I will drink a can or two of Red Bull before my next open house. Thank God I woke up before my clients got home.
13. I will NOT agree to “watch the phones” while the receptionist goes for lunch again. Those things ring until you answer them!
14. I will do quarterly reviews, to ensure that I have adequately maintained the integrity of my New Year’s resolutions. I mean, how hard can it be to learn Sudoku?
Humour columnist and author Dan St. Yves was licensed with Royal LePage Kelowna for 11 years. Check out his website at danstyves.com.
