Taking Stock and Moving Forward in 2018

January of a new year invites reflection over the previous year and an opportunity to reorder priorities and goals for the coming year. If holiday conversations with my extended family in the kitchen are any indication, new year’s resolutions get mixed reviews. While family members’ perspectives varied by generation, there was agreement that looking back and looking forward simultaneously at this time of year has some value.

At the moment, many of my family members fall in the young-adult, millennial category. Opinions on new year’s resolutions were typified as being “mostly silly” and pointless: “No one really seems to stick with them. Everyone wants to lose weight and work out more. Why would you wait until January for that?” At least one cousin hopes to be leaving the parental home by year’s end. January 1 doesn’t seem to hold much significance for this generation because the structure of their lives includes built-in breaks and major events such as going off to college, enjoying spring and summer breaks, graduating from college, starting new jobs, moving to new locations, getting married, and so on. All of us have been long-term students and have had those kinds of opportunities for fresh starts and refocused perspectives. 

The youngest members of my family expressed such aspirational goals as “being nicer to my sister, doing my homework earlier, practicing music every day.”

The older adult generation in my family is facing the new year with thoughts along the lines of “maintaining what I have going on right now, getting rid of stuff, purging and lightening up, and letting go of the little birdies I raised.” The exception is my brother-in-law, a comic relief provider, who professes that he is going to “gain weight and grow a beard” in the new year.

While the senior generation also dismissed the idea of waiting until January to make resolutions, their general themes revolved around the idea that “this is as good a time as any to reflect back and think forward.” For this generation, enlightened by years of experience, their priorities often center on enduring values such as increasing quality time with family and friends.

My other family with which I’m concerned is you, the APA membership, and how you are preparing for 2018. Given the average age of the APA membership, which is about 58, many of our members are likely to have experienced multiple life-stage transitions. Through our APA Well-Being and Burnout Initiative, we know that some of our members are feeling overwhelmed and overloaded or experiencing burnout. I hope they will take this time to look at changes they can make in their practices and work life that will enhance their professional satisfaction and well-being—in fact, that’s something we all should be doing proactively to ensure that we are our best selves for our patients and our loved ones. (For some guidance and useful tools, see psychiatry.org/burnout.)

APA itself has had many accomplishments over the last year and is headed for some major changes in 2018. As I’m sure you know through Psychiatric News, APA’s staff have moved into a modern, light-filled building with views of the U.S. Capitol, which serve as a reminder that we are in D.C. to advocate for our patients and our profession. While the design of our new headquarters looks to the future, APA, too, is taking a look backward. APA’s collection of historically significant objects and documents has been taken out of storage and is being put on display on a rotating basis in a new library, while large graphic panels in the hallways recall APA’s history, psychiatry’s accomplishments, and major figures. When in town, APA members are invited to drop by and visit the “APA Members Room,” where they can work, use Wi-Fi, make calls, and so on.

Yes, this is the time of year we often take stock of our situation, remember the ups and downs of the past year and what we have learned from them, and make plans to move forward. Happy New Year! ■