Do you remember what your resolutions were? Remembering them is a first step. It is like coming back from a holiday, you tend to forget that you had made a resolution anyway.

But why are they important?

Your resolutions -- whether they are from New Years Eve or from the day you left the hospital - - are like a personal business plan. And why would you follow a business plan?

You need a plan because you are a responsible person. The best way to understand this is by (side) stepping into the investment game.

Everybody is free to invest in whatever market and using whatever instrument. If you share you life with a partner you might want to keep him or her updated about these investments. The other one might be just interested - how are things going? You dont talk a lot about it lately. Everything alright? -- or you partner shares the same risk if you are married in community of goods.

But even more important is that you plan because you owe it to yourself. If you want to earn a ten percent investment return a year, but you loose three every month, for the last twelve month, then you are not flying according to schedule.

And this could be due to many circumstances. The market went down in the same way. You merely followed the main stream, so if that was your plan, you are doing alright. But if the market is going into another direction, you should wonder why you deviate from it. Why is your route different?

In the end it is about what you wanted and what you have achieved and the difference between these two. In the end, it is about selecting the right priorities and about learning from mistakes; most of all, those where you follow a different voice than your own one.

2006 Hans Bool