The external activity I chose upon entering this class, was to become excellent in my posture. Coming into this class I knew I would do anything asked of me for that almighty final grade, but I had no idea I would actually be doing something for me as well. The very first week of class our professor introduced us to Orlick's wheel of excellence. This wheel includes seven critical mental factors that provide framework to becoming excellent. Ever since that first week of class and over the past 15 weeks, I have been anchoring myself tightly to these seven crucial elements. I started with commitment and focus, I knew I wanted to give everything of myself I could give, and I had the drive to do just that. I knew I had to be dedicated, self-disciplined, and have some passion towards what I was doing to keep me at optimal performance. I knew without commitment and focus these next few months would be a tough and unenjoyable hall. To help with my commitment and focus, I wrote my goals for myself down on paper. I also kept a personal journal tracking my progress of my posture each week. This allowed me to see the type of progress I was making as the weeks progressed, as well as showing me what seemed to work well that particular week, and what had not. By seeing this, I was able to either build upon the progress I had made, or adjust myself and my goals, accordingly.
The next part of the wheel I focused on was confidence. This section of the wheel by far, was one that I really spent a lot of time on. In order to become confident in my posture, I took on many different approaches and strategies. I dressed up more and wore fancier outfits, to bring out my confidence. I looked at, and surrounded myself with powerful positive imagery. Posters of business women, standing erect and displaying the ut-most confidence. I stood tall when I walked, and sat up right during long lectures and car rides. I knew I was the only one who could give myself the confidence I needed , but an unexpected pleasant surprise really gave my confidence a huge boost mid semester. My Grandmother (who was unaware, I had taken on this external activity) gave my posture a lovely compliment, which gave me that extra "mid-semester" boost I needed to keep my focus and commitment at its best.
The next sections of the wheel I chose to combine together, they were: distraction control, mental readiness, and ongoing learning. I chose to clump them together because I feel they are elements that work off one another the most. With each new day of working on my posture I needed to continually be mentally ready, I needed to continue to learn something new about myself and my body, and I needed to handle life's silly distractions, for they will always be filtering themselves into my life somehow.
The wheel of excellence has given me a lot of knowledge over the semester, the elements on the wheel do work interdependently and by strengthening one element it can have an effect on another one. I really used it as a guide for my own personal pursuit of excellence both with my external activity and in my life in general. I find life to be exactly like the wheel of excellence, excelling In my posture not only gave me a good grade for the class, but it also allowed me to juggle with better form and live a healthier lifestyle. These sort of things do seem to have a domino effect. What I have learned in this class, I have applied to many aspects of my life. I can apply the wheel of excellence to everything and adjust it according to whatever I am doing. Orlicks book simply detailed each aspect of the wheel and gave me more insight into how to get the most out of each of the elements.
It's surprising how much impact this class truly had on me, often times I will find myself saying "now Samantha, if a Martian landed in front of you, at this very moment, how would you describe this situation or word to him/her?" This question has helped me get better grades on papers, relate better to children and has made me really think critically, and outside the box. It's true that my posture and form has greatly improved and I will continue to keep up with all my work after this class comes to an end, but I believe I have gotten something greater out of this class, and it is something that I will carry with me, as I grow each and every day. Like Orlick says, "The heart of human excellence often continues to beat when you discover a pursuit that absorbs you, frees you, challenges you, or gives you a sense of meaning, joy, or passion."
My personal journey through this class has had it’s ups and downs; nonetheless, I have taken away many positive and empowering ideas. The lessons learned from the book, as well as the classroom discussions helped me see clearly what areas of my life need improvement. The book was a helpful tool that laid out a plan for excellence. My outside activity was meditation, and with the discipline of the in class activity of juggling, it became easier to apply the lessons to both areas.
In the beginning of the course, I started off with expectations that were way too high; that is, I expected myself to meditate seven days a week. It’s safe to say, this was not a very realistic goal. I decided to dedicated at least one day a week to meditation, which proved to be much more effective. I applied the lesson of commitment, by designating time to devote toward my goal.
One thing that I found extremely helpful was the goal setting principles sheet we received in class. Around that week I had been starting to slip in my level of determination toward my external goal. I needed a strategy of how to remain focused and on track. I began to think of ways to do so; but any positive solution would soon fade from the forefront of my mind, only to be replaced instead with some irrelevant knowledge from Psychology of Learning. The sheet gave me a way to visually see, and stick to, the steps I would need to take to achieve. The ‘specific/measurable’ part broke down the bigger, daunting goal into smaller, more doable actions. To stay in the meditative state of mind throughout the day, I decided to take five diaphragmatic breaths whenever I felt myself getting distracted or unfocused. Learning more about diaphragmatic breathing was also extremely helpful. I have found practicing this can significantly decrease my anxiety.
The lesson on focus was useful to me not only with meditation, but also with school, and even in my work. This focus also helped me to be more aware of and stop negative self talk. I began to be more aware of the energy of thoughts I was thinking throughout the day. When I would feel myself slip into a negative frame of mind, I would use the word STOP to immediately correct my thinking. I found this to be very helpful to keep myself in a motivated and positive state. I would often follow the word ‘stop’ with a diaphragmatic breath to literally stop myself and regroup.
Throughout the journey of this semester, I realized that confidence and positive images play a huge part in excellence, success and overall happiness. I believe that I am a confidence person in most parts of my life, except for school. Since I have always had trouble in this area, regardless of effort and preparation, it is easy to fall into the frame of mind that I will not succeed to my liking (and also being a perfectionist, ‘my liking’ sets a pretty high bar). The two lessons of confidence and positive images, allowed me to see that if I am using a lot of negative self talk, it does not leave much room for positive thoughts of success. These positive beliefs in myself are essential to create the success imagined.
This class has been, by far, one of my favorite classes I’ve had all of my years of schooling. The experiential learning technique was extremely helpful in applying the teachings in my outside life. Also sharing a journey of improvement openly with the rest of the class created a more cohesive and comfortable learning environment. I realized that the road of excellence is not easy for anyone; it takes trial and error, failure, and a change of plans to figure out what works for you. Psychology of Optimal Performance enabled me to look holistically at my life, and to see where I need to adjust my focus for the future.
The external activity I chose upon entering this class, was to become excellent in my posture. Coming into this class I knew I would do anything asked of me for that almighty final grade, but I had no idea I would actually be doing something for me as well.
ReplyDeleteThe very first week of class our professor introduced us to Orlick's wheel of excellence. This wheel includes seven critical mental factors that provide framework to becoming excellent. Ever since that first week of class and over the past 15 weeks, I have been anchoring myself tightly to these seven crucial elements.
I started with commitment and focus, I knew I wanted to give everything of myself I could give, and I had the drive to do just that. I knew I had to be dedicated, self-disciplined, and have some passion towards what I was doing to keep me at optimal performance. I knew without commitment and focus these next few months would be a tough and unenjoyable hall. To help with my commitment and focus, I wrote my goals for myself down on paper. I also kept a personal journal tracking my progress of my posture each week. This allowed me to see the type of progress I was making as the weeks progressed, as well as showing me what seemed to work well that particular week, and what had not. By seeing this, I was able to either build upon the progress I had made, or adjust myself and my goals, accordingly.
The next part of the wheel I focused on was confidence. This section of the wheel by far, was one that I really spent a lot of time on. In order to become confident in my posture, I took on many different approaches and strategies. I dressed up more and wore fancier outfits, to bring out my confidence. I looked at, and surrounded myself with powerful positive imagery. Posters of business women, standing erect and displaying the ut-most confidence. I stood tall when I walked, and sat up right during long lectures and car rides. I knew I was the only one who could give myself the confidence I needed , but an unexpected pleasant surprise really gave my confidence a huge boost mid semester. My Grandmother (who was unaware, I had taken on this external activity) gave my posture a lovely compliment, which gave me that extra "mid-semester" boost I needed to keep my focus and commitment at its best.
Continued -
ReplyDeleteThe next sections of the wheel I chose to combine together, they were: distraction control, mental readiness, and ongoing learning. I chose to clump them together because I feel they are elements that work off one another the most. With each new day of working on my posture I needed to continually be mentally ready, I needed to continue to learn something new about myself and my body, and I needed to handle life's silly distractions, for they will always be filtering themselves into my life somehow.
The wheel of excellence has given me a lot of knowledge over the semester, the elements on the wheel do work interdependently and by strengthening one element it can have an effect on another one. I really used it as a guide for my own personal pursuit of excellence both with my external activity and in my life in general. I find life to be exactly like the wheel of excellence, excelling In my posture not only gave me a good grade for the class, but it also allowed me to juggle with better form and live a healthier lifestyle. These sort of things do seem to have a domino effect. What I have learned in this class, I have applied to many aspects of my life. I can apply the wheel of excellence to everything and adjust it according to whatever I am doing. Orlicks book simply detailed each aspect of the wheel and gave me more insight into how to get the most out of each of the elements.
It's surprising how much impact this class truly had on me, often times I will find myself saying "now Samantha, if a Martian landed in front of you, at this very moment, how would you describe this situation or word to him/her?" This question has helped me get better grades on papers, relate better to children and has made me really think critically, and outside the box. It's true that my posture and form has greatly improved and I will continue to keep up with all my work after this class comes to an end, but I believe I have gotten something greater out of this class, and it is something that I will carry with me, as I grow each and every day. Like Orlick says, "The heart of human excellence often continues to beat when you discover a pursuit that absorbs you, frees you, challenges you, or gives you a sense of meaning, joy, or passion."
My personal journey through this class has had it’s ups and downs; nonetheless, I have taken away many positive and empowering ideas. The lessons learned from the book, as well as the classroom discussions helped me see clearly what areas of my life need improvement. The book was a helpful tool that laid out a plan for excellence. My outside activity was meditation, and with the discipline of the in class activity of juggling, it became easier to apply the lessons to both areas.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the course, I started off with expectations that were way too high; that is, I expected myself to meditate seven days a week. It’s safe to say, this was not a very realistic goal. I decided to dedicated at least one day a week to meditation, which proved to be much more effective. I applied the lesson of commitment, by designating time to devote toward my goal.
One thing that I found extremely helpful was the goal setting principles sheet we received in class. Around that week I had been starting to slip in my level of determination toward my external goal. I needed a strategy of how to remain focused and on track. I began to think of ways to do so; but any positive solution would soon fade from the forefront of my mind, only to be replaced instead with some irrelevant knowledge from Psychology of Learning. The sheet gave me a way to visually see, and stick to, the steps I would need to take to achieve. The ‘specific/measurable’ part broke down the bigger, daunting goal into smaller, more doable actions. To stay in the meditative state of mind throughout the day, I decided to take five diaphragmatic breaths whenever I felt myself getting distracted or unfocused. Learning more about diaphragmatic breathing was also extremely helpful. I have found practicing this can significantly decrease my anxiety.
The lesson on focus was useful to me not only with meditation, but also with school, and even in my work. This focus also helped me to be more aware of and stop negative self talk. I began to be more aware of the energy of thoughts I was thinking throughout the day. When I would feel myself slip into a negative frame of mind, I would use the word STOP to immediately correct my thinking. I found this to be very helpful to keep myself in a motivated and positive state. I would often follow the word ‘stop’ with a diaphragmatic breath to literally stop myself and regroup.
Throughout the journey of this semester, I realized that confidence and positive images play a huge part in excellence, success and overall happiness. I believe that I am a confidence person in most parts of my life, except for school. Since I have always had trouble in this area, regardless of effort and preparation, it is easy to fall into the frame of mind that I will not succeed to my liking (and also being a perfectionist, ‘my liking’ sets a pretty high bar). The two lessons of confidence and positive images, allowed me to see that if I am using a lot of negative self talk, it does not leave much room for positive thoughts of success. These positive beliefs in myself are essential to create the success imagined.
This class has been, by far, one of my favorite classes I’ve had all of my years of schooling. The experiential learning technique was extremely helpful in applying the teachings in my outside life. Also sharing a journey of improvement openly with the rest of the class created a more cohesive and comfortable learning environment. I realized that the road of excellence is not easy for anyone; it takes trial and error, failure, and a change of plans to figure out what works for you. Psychology of Optimal Performance enabled me to look holistically at my life, and to see where I need to adjust my focus for the future.