Do you know anyone who has made a New Year’s resolution and actually kept it? Certainly no one in my immediate family. Unless, of course, my husband resolves to continue his excessive ways in 2009, or never to exercise. Those goals would definitely be attainable; he has had years of practice.

Not that I am a whole lot better. I can resolve year after year to work less, take my weekends off and not stress out about newspaper deadlines, but where would that get me? I would have a better chance of keeping my resolutions if I resolved to work too much.

Yet, as a society, we go through the exercise of laying out in some organized fashion the things we would like to change about our lives — as if wishing would make it so. This resolution-making process must meet some deep psychological human need. Maybe it makes us feel in control, that we can organize change, rather than have change pummel us. (Just for the record, there is no way to control change.)

Whatever the reason, the start of a new year does seem like an opportune time to reassess our business and personal lives. So, for the intellectual exercise, what would you like to do better in the year to come?

From all indications, 2009 is going to present some challenges from a business point of view and, as in my life, business has this tendency to overlap into the personal. There is no doubt we will have to work harder to make our businesses strong. We will have to find creative solutions for age-old problems. But most of all, we will have to keep perspective.

Sure, the market is down — but life goes on. It is no fun losing money — even on paper. But it is only money. Do you still have your friends and loved ones? We all know someone who is starting this year without a loved one at his or her side.

Do you still have your health? I make my regular visits to Princess Margaret Hospital, one of Toronto’s cancer treatment centres. I can think of people whose monthly investment statements are the last thing on their minds. They are facing far greater risks than outliving their retirement income.

It is all a matter of perspective. Everyone has their challenges.

And the bottom line is: the bear markets will turn into bull markets at some point in the future and the economy will grow again. We just have to keep our eye on the horizon and not be afraid to face it head on.

I know it is hard to tell your clients to quit belly-aching. I acknowledge that won’t win you any referrals. But you do have to help them keep perspective. Perhaps you do that by bringing new processes into your practice.

If you don’t already make financial planning part of your practice, perhaps it is time to offer that to your clients. Or partner with an advisor who is expert in this area. A financial plan addresses long-term goals. Properly executed, it brings perspective and offers reassurance.

Or incorporate investment policy statements into your practice. One advisor mentioned a call from a distraught client commanding the advisor to sell a key holding. The advisor sent the client back to the investment policy statement for a dose of perspective. The client sheepishly called back and rescinded his decision. Getting it in writing always adds perspective.

At Investment Executive, we have resolved to get ahead of our newspaper deadlines and not be doing things at the last moment. That is when mistakes happen and the stress level builds. And that fits nicely with my personal goal, which is to work less and play more.

We’ll see how that goes. Good luck with your resolutions for 2009.

TESSA WILMOTT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF