Imagine you and your friends just bought a new board game. You open the box, eagerly waiting to play, only to find out there are no instructions — no rulebook, no objective and no explanation of how the game is supposed to be played. You’re simply thrown into the deep end and left to figure it out yourselves.

Unfortunately, I’m not discussing something fun like board games today. I’m discussing life. Fortunately — or unfortunately — life works much like our hypothetical board game.

There is no instruction manual for playing the game of life. We aren’t told what we need to do, or who we need to become. Those decisions are left to us, carving out paths that are entirely individual and unique to us — and, in the process, we tend to figure out who we want to be. One problem, however, is that the process — commonly referred to as self-growth — is essentially never-ending.

Unlike a board game, there’s no winner or grand final turn. We are simply expected to continuously move forward without a finish line in sight.

For some, that can be daunting. How do we know when we’ve done enough? Or what being “better” even looks like? Faced with an endless process, some may choose to forgo the process altogether. So, my friends and I decided to make our own rules. Because even though “self-growth” has the word “self” in the name, it doesn’t have to be a journey we take alone.

My friends and I are now all juniors, but at one point, we were uncertain college freshmen, confused about our path forward, who we wanted to become and how to get there. So, we came up with an idea.

Under our own sworn oath — which, for whatever reason, we take extremely seriously — we would hold each other accountable to personal monthly goals we set. We decided we’d call them our “monthly pacts.”

Here’s how it works — at the beginning of each month, everyone chooses a goal and swears on our oath to see it through. For the duration of the month, you’re expected to stick to the terms of your pact. By the end of the month, if you held yourself accountable, we’d all go out to eat and enjoy a nice dinner together — our first dinner being at Texas Roadhouse since it was within walking distance when we couldn’t have our cars on campus. On the other hand, if you didn’t stick with your pact, you’d stay home.

Okay, maybe that sounds harsh. But now that we’ve been doing this for what will be three years, we’ve never actually had to leave anyone behind. It was never meant to punish us for not doing something — it gave us a reason to follow through on our word.

Our goals vary month to month and person to person. Daniel, for instance, practiced Spanish for 30 minutes a day, which later inspired him to volunteer in Costa Rica a few months later. Lucas wanted to start his days with an energy boost, so he committed to jumping rope every morning for 30 minutes. Will meditated for five to 10 minutes a day, giving himself a couple of minutes to process what was going on in his life. I, for one, went on a social media cleanse and haven’t had TikTok or any other social media since — though I must admit I still dabble in Instagram from time to time.

What made our pacts meaningful was that it turned self-growth into something we could do together. At its core, it was still personal — each of us had our own goals, but we didn’t pursue them on our own. It was comforting to know I had others trying to improve themselves alongside me.

So, for any uncertain freshmen like my former self, or anyone who simply strives to change, I hope you can find people who will do the same alongside you. Growth may be personal, but that doesn’t mean it has to be solitary. Sometimes those around us — people who know your goals, hold you accountable and want to see you succeed — can make what may seem like an overwhelming challenge much more feasible. So, I recommend giving it a try — whether it’s adopting the “monthly pact” system or making your own version of it.

Lastly, to Lucas, James, Will, Nico, Daniel — and our recent additions to our off-campus house, Graydon, Denis and Delaney (who have been our friends for a long time as well) — thank you for always pushing us all to be better versions of ourselves.

Ronan Goddard is a junior majoring in philosophy, politics and law.

Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial.