We are still motivated and optimistic. The gyms are full to bursting at the beginning of January, the consumption of tobacco and alcohol is in sharp decline the first days of the first month of the year, the sale of salads, carrots, tofu and hummus is historic. You got it right, these are the symptoms of our New Year's resolutions.

Moreover, these resolutions often concern our food consumption, our expenses, our pleasures, but very rarely our way of being and acting, as if it were more difficult to measure, quantify and evaluate.

Stopping at nothing and looking for a good excuse not to have to promise myself to eat better, I jump head first into this subjectivity. This year my resolution will be different. It will be simple without being easy. It will be daring, even impossible because of my professional distortions. This year, I decided to give the benefit of the doubt.

Give the runner a chance

You will tell me that there is nothing there, that it is not a great resolution, that it is window dressing. I will answer you that you are surely right.

But giving the runner a chance is against nature when analyzing and commenting on politics. We quickly judge our politicians and their actions, put a label on their decisions and evaluate their performance based on a speech or two.

Could we do better in our analyses, in my analyses? Most likely. Could by giving the runner the chance and giving the benefit of the doubt we could give our elected officials the space and time needed for better decision making and execution, perhaps? At least I hope so.

This resolution, I don't know if I will be able to keep it for long, but I promise to try. Kind of like you at the gym.