New Year's Resolutions: DECA-Style

Catherine Horton, High School Division President

While there’s no magic wand that suddenly resets our world on January first, a new year means it’s time to both reflect and look forward to new possibilities.

While most of us are setting common New Year’s resolutions like working out, focusing more on school and overall self-improvement, I have some other resolutions on my mind— DECA resolutions! What better way to kick off 2021 than by creating #NextLevel resolutions focused on leadership, competition and community service.

If you want to take your DECA leadership to the next level, now is the perfect time to start! Set your goals for what leadership opportunities you want to pursue. Possibilities might include leading a chapter committee, joining your chapter’s leadership team, running for an association office or even seeking an executive office. There is no time better than the present to start your DECA leadership journey.

Competition season is right around the corner! Start strong by creating solid study and practice habits. To prepare for role-play events, set a goal of completing one mock role-play a week and create a study schedule to prepare for your exam. For written events, review your paper to check for penalty points and areas of improvement, then seek feedback from others. Once your paper is perfected, start practicing your presentation in both high-stress and low-stress situations so that when competition day arrives you will be ready for anything. By setting goals to work hard this competition season, you will take your chance of winning DECA glass to the next level!

Focus your next DECA New Year’s resolution on community service. The new year is full of possibilities, so get creative to make an impact on the world around you. Work with your chapter to start new community service initiatives and projects for the upcoming year.

The year 2021 will be a time for growth and opportunity within DECA. Start your year off at the next level with strong goals that will make you a community-oriented, competition-ready and experienced DECA leader.

On behalf of DECA Inc. and the Executive Officer Teams, I wish everyone a healthy, happy and successful new year!