5 Things I Learned About the Drug Biz in 2023
What better time than 1/4 of the way through 2024 to finally reflect on 2023. Yeah, I have ADHD damnit so deal with it. I feel like its a good day when I even remember I have a website.
Here are my brief reflections on my drug safety project; its wins, lessons learns, and what is coming.
Lesson 1: Writing is Fun
I enjoy using writing to organize my thoughts, share ideas, and craft plans. Last year, I wrapped up two chapters of my drug safety book, penned two pro articles now under review, and launched this oddball ranting website. Looking to 2024, I've got three more articles in the review queue and a handful of presentations lined up.
Lesson 2: Valuable Feedback Comes from Unexpected Places
I've been blown away by the insights I've received about my drug safety ideas from all sorts of folks:
General Public: These are the everyday people without fancy degrees in addiction or counseling. Turns out, their feedback has been the most helpful. They've offered up practical advice and ideas to make my work better. It's easy to get stuck in the academic bubble, but if my ideas don't reach everyday people, what's the point, right?
Brainy Buddies: Got some academic pals who've given me solid feedback too. They've helped me see just how important drug safety materials are, and bouncing ideas off them has been a blast.
Helping Hands: Chatting with counselors and social workers has been eye-opening. It's shown me just how broken our care systems are and how burned out professionals within them are.
Lesson 3: It's Okay to Start Small and Grow Slow
When I first dove into this project, I had some pretty big expectations for how fast it would take off. But reality hit me hard—I've got two jobs and a family, after all!
One of the best lessons I've learned in business is that you don't need to go all out to see results. Right now, most of my results come from other sources, so I'm aiming to put about 5% of my energy into this project consistently and see how it grows. I'm chipping away at it day by day. Project Cynic is like a little seedling right now, and I'm cool with that. It'll grow in its own time.
Lesson 4: Drug Safety Trainings Are Coming!
Teaching and presenting are where I shine in my professional world. I've got a bunch of trainings lined throughout the US for 2024. I hate leaving my little community but traveling can be fun. Plus, I'm working on setting up some new services for my local community, like drug counseling that has already started and psychedelic-assisted therapy retreats by 2025 (fingers crossed!)
Lesson 5: The Stigma Around Drugs is Still Real
It's a bummer, but there's still mostly fear and misinformation out there about drugs. Thankfully, most folks have been supportive and encouraging about my work. Even those with different views have given me good ideas and helped me refine my own. And for that, I'm truly grateful.
There will always be those who are so inducted into fear that they won’t hear anything else. I used to focus a lot of energy on this group, but over the years I have realized that is not my job. Good luck out there.
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