Every year we hear about “New Year’s Resolutions” and we’re asked if we’ve made one. In a few weeks, the news will be talking about how gyms have thinned out and people are quitting. Statistics show that only 8 percent of people will keep a resolution. Reasons why include no plan, unrealistic expectations and/or goals, time commitment, giving up too easily, etc. But let’s take a step back further and look at the origin of a “new year’s resolution”.
Babylonians celebrated New Year’s Day in March during pre-Christian times. The Romans changed it to January as the month gets its name from Janus, the two-faced god who looks backward into the old year and forwards in the new. He was also the head saint of bridges, doors, things with openings and endings. And so the Romans began making resolutions – mainly for the good of others.
But isn’t that what a resolution is all about? Making ourselves better, in any manner, makes us better to those around us. By challenging ourselves to make a change, we must first commit to that change, be sure we have a support system in place and set benchmarks. These create little wins, helping to add fuel to that difficult challenge. But either way we look at it – its work!
Recently, I saw CBS Sunday Morning’s piece on Amy Cuddy and power stances. I watched her presentation at TED in 2012 and was blown away. In literally just two minutes, we can assume a powerful stance and it will have a positive impact on us. It will offer a sense of confidence, power, and conviction and although it might be a “faked” feeling, it can continue to provide these feelings are until they become real. Just 2 minutes!
What if you could give yourself an extra advantage as you headed into a FDA meeting or hearing? What about before a board meeting? A job interview? Your next performance review? And the ways it can impact your personal life are just as endless.
So why am I not writing about regulatory? And who cares about New Year’s resolutions? The second question is easier because I kept one resolution, in 1992, to quit smoking. And at every doctors visit when I’m asked if I ever smoked, I give myself a small congratulations when I answer it. As far as regulatory, the recruiters here know far more than I ever could, but as we got half way through the year, I took a power stance towards our business and recruiters. We are the experts! If all we do, every day, as a cohesive, collaborative team, is regulatory affairs, then we have become The Leader in Regulatory Affairs Recruiting. As a group, we took our own power stance and re-evaluated our business, brainstormed, challenged, and continued to push forward together.
As we unveil who we really are, I will continue to offer short, meaningful insights, whether in industry or not, that I hope can impact each person, even if in smallest way.