Ryan Johnson is a second-year PharmD candidate at the South Dakota State University College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions.
I’m sure you can recall a time when you made a New Year’s resolution that did not survive longer than a week or maybe even a day. You might want to work out at the gym consistently, run a marathon, eat healthier, learn a new skill, or break a habit, to name a few. These goals seem great, but without an action plan, they can create frustration and discouragement.
In a 2022 article published in Time, it is estimated that under 10% of New Year’s resolutions last a whole year, while, unsurprisingly, around 80% of resolutions do not make it past January. Even so, you try again with the same goals the next year on that magical New Year’s Day. For this reason, millions of self-improvement books are sold each year to guide people toward success. Similarly, student pharmacists often try to form or break habits to shape themselves toward perfection. It is important to remember that, although pharmacy school may be demanding, you do not need to be perfect, and your flaws are what make you unique.
A chance to step back
This year, I have created both personal resolutions as well as chapter–related resolutions to balance. For example, my New Year’s resolutions include spending more time outdoors, reading five new books, learning a few new songs on the guitar, visiting a national park, and getting better at fly fishing.
Although these goals may seem simple, they are all in areas that bring me joy, and whether I fully achieve them is not the point of the exercise. Instead, these goals provide me with a chance to step back from the fast-paced environment of pharmacy school and set aside time to do the things I love.
My challenge for you is to create a few short, low-risk New Year’s resolutions in areas that you enjoy and write them down.
Chapter goals come with support
In addition to my own New Year’s resolutions, my position as chapter president at South Dakota State University has allowed me the opportunity to help develop resolutions for our chapter.
Before the start of the fall semester, our chapter’s executive board met to plan out the year and develop our chapter goals. These goals, similar to a New Year’s resolution, would help guide our decisions and focus our energy throughout the year. Our chapter’s resolutions include promoting quality events by encouraging committees to responsibly use their budget, growing our mentor/mentee program by 20% by fostering a sense of unity in the chapter, and improving events that cultivate community outreach through pursuing new collaborations on campus and within the community.
The key difference between our chapter’s resolutions and my personal resolutions is the support network we have built within our chapter. By preparing an action plan with the executive board and relaying our goals to the rest of the chapter, we are far more likely to achieve these goals and see significant benefit to our chapter and its members than a traditional New Year’s resolution. In the past, we have seen great success from this goal-setting approach, and we hope to continue strengthening our chapter each year by bringing these written resolutions to action.
Happy New Year from our chapter to yours!