And a quick note on the arrival fallacy
Last Friday, we celebrated the graduation of second-year Family Medicine residents at a lovely soiree organized by our local residency program. I was elated to join my husband and our friends in celebrating this huge milestone in their careers.
Now, to anyone graduating this summer, I have a request…
Please savour it.
You’ve worked so hard, for so long, to arrive at this point. You deserve to be thrilled with finally achieving your goal.
It’s all too easy to fall into the arrival fallacy, which is when you experience depression or sadness upon accomplishing something momentous. Although there isn’t a lot of research on this phenomenon, I know I’ve experienced it after every graduation.
If you find yourself thinking, “it’ll be better once I [graduate/get promoted/reach a specific goal]”, you may be setting yourself up for feeling less-than-ideal once you actually reach important milestones.
To combat this feeling, my (completely not evidence-based) strategy is to keep celebrating your success. With others, by yourself, on multiple occasions, and ideally with dessert.
My husband has managed to stretch his birthday - emphasis on day - into what he now calls birthday week. For the past decade, I’ve scoffed at his suggestion. Now, I think he’s onto something, especially when it comes to attaining big goals.
This graduation season, make sure to celebrate yourself and how awesome you are. You deserve it.
Stay well friends,
Dr. Kuhnow
留言