Happy New Year to Everyone!!!
Every year it seems a few unlucky reporters get tasked with asking politicians what their New Year’s Resolutions are…….
When I worked as a staffer for different politicians I always dreaded this part of the Christmas holidays. You always tried to get the most creative resolutions so you boss got the most prominent spot in the list when it was published.
I went through a few years as a City Councillor doing the exact same thing. It was trying to get creative, some times with input from my staff. Some years I tried hard to keep them…..other times they were pretty quirky and quickly forgotten……and I can never recall a reporter every calling me in June and saying “Hey Councillor! What happened??”
As my Ward has gotten busier each year…..and 2018 was exceptional…..Thanks Doug Ford! (Bit of a growth spurt saw it doubling in size) the demands on my office never seemed to diminish during year. I now have five Neighbourhood Improvement Areas as opposed to the previous three.
The result is a few years ago I decided to stop making New Years Resolutions. It became a shift in attitude. i felt it was a better outlook on my year to continually strive to improve both myself and the Ward which I represent at City Hall.
Benchmarks are the norm for me. Projects myself and my staff looked after get tracked with what we consider to be achievable goals. 90 days is the norm I consider be the acceptable limit to get something done. i do the same for my personal projects.
It might sound a little boring but I find it’s a productive use of everyone’s time!
All my Best,
Paul