Reflective Essay on Setting Goals

Reflective Essay on Setting GoalsBeing echtistic is the fast road to mediocrity (Diary Reference). We be always striving to become bring divulge versions of our self, constantly changing and adapting to raw situation and circumstances. Individual difference and perspective play an important role in decision making and outlook which can translate into all(prenominal)day pract ice rinks. Although individuals are unique, serviceable withalls can enable a damp agnizeing of nonpareilself and tap into capabilities that might not be apparent. The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscape, provided in having new eyes (Marcel Proust). Understanding oneself enables insights into areas for further improvement, in that appraiseof, determinations need to be interesting and specific in order to be successful. and soce the level of importance determines committedness and likelihood of persistence in aspiration circumstance activities (Locke and Latham, 20 06). By better understating individuals, commitment to oddments is much likely to be content specific relating to personalized attri preciselyes. Goals, at that placefore, cannot be vague and should be concentrated on areas of high competency (Drucker, 2008). Setting addresss can be difficult and ch wholeenging and could take effort in reaching a state of flow, an optimal state where the mind is stretched to its limit and a ace absorption in an natural process enables the accomplishment of something worthwhile (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). This state is compounded as the level of engagement is perceived as thought-provoking to ones capabilities, if tasks are too unproblematic then engagement might decrease, whereas anxiety might persist if tasks are seemed too demanding (Locke and Latham, 2006).The effect of self-motivation initiates the goal or challenging targets that individual strive for, this withal bridges the spreading between current state and the impulsed state (Lock e et al., 1991). Henceforth, without a clear direction, the goal can be very difficult to monitor and accomplish. The choice of personal goal depends on the various element outs such(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) as past performance (Spaulding, 1994). When looking at myself, I realised that although I sport accumulated diaries previously, I rarely come to find out long term goal and rather they are just sets of reproof that I have come to observe. And when I do have goals, in that location is no clarity and honesty, therefore, trim my commitment to follow goals (Baumeister, 1985, Latham, 1991). The nature of the module was climbed with an open mind which make me proactive and much enwrapped to specific goals I wanted to undertake to become a better version of myself. It took me a while, but understanding the context specificity requirement of goals led me to become realistic. Furthermore, setting goals that are not too easy as harder goals will lead to greater effo rt and performance in contrast to easier goals (Yearta, 1995).For any goals to be successful, the one who sets the goal needs to have a sense of purpose and interest, the commitment reflects the importance of the goal (Locke and Latham, 2006). The lack of motivation can correlate with the advancemention of the goal setting. Therefore, I decided to set goals that added and nurtured me as a record in my life. The specificity of my goal was reduced with interaction with masses and module tutors with the admirer of multiple reputation tests. Initially, taking the MBTI personality tests confirmed I was an ISFJ. Positive addressises aside, the test confirmed my distinction of having low self-esteem, not focusing on the wider picture and failing to set priorities. Furthermore, using the Twenty argumentation (Kuhn et al., 1954) encouraged me to stop swimming in the comfort zone and being honest in questionnaires showed me the shelter and an opportunity for character enhancement.T herefore, I utilise these results as a basis for setting specific goals. In secondary school, my capabilities and negativity were addressed in school reports, although academically capable, my characteristics did not show this. In hindsight, my posture form in Nepal also helped me formulate my goals. My line manager would usually delegate tasks that required a high level of communication and positivity. Although the capability was there my general outlook and self-efficacy were put under frightful blackmail and test. Lack of positivity and general communication skill became more of a deterrent and however problematic. This could be visible(a) in my academic performance, and my kindly skills when communicating my ideas. Lack of positivity towards goal setting and motivation was found to affect performance and create a state of high anxiety (Locke, 1968). And all this seemed inter colligate to my goals, at times goals will be too difficult to achieve or too easy for me to be make to carry them out. Lack of positive outlook has been related to negative feedback (Swann, 1987), and as an ISFJ, a lower self-esteem characteristics showed negative attributes. The other factor is the way in which university is orientated, during my localisation year abroad, the fantasy of time in Nepal was elastic, in contrast to the academic drag and timetabled approached put upon by the institutions. This factor increases my self-motivation and goal setting became more important for me, having the right strategy and clear direction became more immediate. In Nepal my schedule will include waking up early at 5 AM and chronic the day till 10 PM in the afternoon, becoming productivity for 13 hours straight. However, back in university, the concept of time became foreign for me where I had to determine the importance and prioritise tasks accordingly.Having been brought up in a resilient nation (Nepal) and moving schools constantly gave me a sense of disequilibrium, in turn, s haped my current personality of being observant and conservative. The lack of self-motivation translated into a pessimistic outlook in my life. Furthermore, an absence of positive emotions has hindered geographic expedition of myself. Identifying the cause of such traits can help me develop strategic steps into building skills that blossom into useful talents. Writing nearly the positive experience can also better mood levels (Burton, 2004) and personally the concept of writing diaries has led to the clarity of thoughts and furthermore the recognition of my current situations (Travers, 2011).Analysing further, there has been times where I have come to understand my personal characterises by being proactive. The martial art sport, taekwondo, has progressed me as a character and my self-confidence but has had belittled impact on my ability to articulate call downively. In relation to coaching, I find it personally difficult to assert my needs, which relates to my personality type (Myers, 1998). My personality type ISFJ, has a desire for structure (Myers, 1998) and closure, therefore creating a rapport and thinking on the feet can become an issue. In my placement year, I had ample amount of times where my coaching skills were tested. However, assertiveness was always something I lacked and furthermore translated into a character flaw. The ability to theoretically apply and analyse myself provided a greater insight into my personality which motivated my perseverance and accountability to this module.When deciding on a goal, I had a clear understanding of what they were passing to be. However, clearly stating and defining these were difficult. Having little experience in goal setting and in addition without a clear specific goal, my commitment would likely to erode (Locke and Latham, 2006). During my placement year in Nepal, work was flexible to deadlines and usually vague. It became visible that self-judgement and self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986), was amongst m any driving factors for my goal selection.My main goals in relation to the module was to better understand myself by being more conscious about the environment that I was involved in, therefore mindfulness was something that has become a hurdle for me to overcome. As an ISFJ, I can be caught up in catastrophizing, imagining a host of negative possibility (Myers, 1998) that can halt my advance of goals, therefore choosing a goal required me to be realistic. The absence of self-regulation and valued goal commitment, has impacted the quality of my performance. My cognitive emotional retort to explain behaviour usually caused further frustration and anxiety which lead to experiential avoidance when carrying out tasks (Gardner, 2004). In relation, my physical goals can at times be put off due to the irritation it evokes, rather than learning to be mindful and accepting all internal and external experience there is a desire to avoid di tense. The spiral of negativity is further stren gthened by social mirror theory (Mead, 1967) and the concept of looking-glass self (McIntyre, 2006), where personally the interpretation of my goal is seen more of a hindrance than character development in relation to goal setting. Conducting my placement year abroad in Nepal did little in terms of amending my bad habits and integrating back into university life these habits needed to be addressed. Therefore specific (Locke and Latham, 1968), personal and SMART (Lawlor, 2012) goals were more likely to get wind my continuity.My first goal was orientated towards physical exercise and fitness, with the bearing to climb Mount Snowdon in just my shorts. The aim was to preserve through ten weeks (Start date October 14th, fire date 2nd December) of cold immersion therapy, to increase my self-efficacy. My direction was following a workout telluric and video tutorial each week evidenceed by Wim Hof with challenges and techniques to attain this goal. I used an online application such as Evernote (Appendix 1) for routine designning, in the first friction match of weeks to get me started. As an ISFJ, the strong sense of responsibly and duty (Personality Page, 2016) made me more committed towards the goal.Once I started doing the deep breathing and cold ice showers, I felt the physical benefits instantly and this progress continued throughout the day. However, the hardest part would be to ensure that I kept sticking to the routine that I had allocated. My self-efficacy increased by seeing similar individuals keep abreast similar goals by sustained effort (Bandura, 1986) on social media which sustained my motivation and belief that such feats were possible through effort.My second goal was aimed at nurturing positivity, by doing 10,000 sun salutations (Start Date 27th November, dismiss date maiden January 2017). In regards to this goal, changing my outlook on life towards mindfulness and mental wellbeing. A perceived lack of positivity and ignorance has previous ly been problematic and a hindrance, therefore, creating a SMART achievable plan was the first objective. The purpose was to flourish the effect of positive psychology (Seligman, 2010) and capitalise on them. ISFJ are recognised for suppressing their feeling and usually, the backseat drivers, recognising such traits was useful analysis as these habits were becoming a hindrance in social aspects. utilise goal setting theory (Locke Latham, 1960), and further understanding psychological flexibility in the present moment (Biglan, 2008) allowed me to alter the goal in manageable chunks which increased my commitment to the goal and a stir up towards desired achievable targets.Researching on Duhiggs work on changing habits, I addressed my habit in a way that would benefit the outcome of my goal. It was to not create new habits but changing the active ones (Duhigg, 2012). I would previously, as a habit, be demotivated to do salutations, especially on a Wednesday (due to sports commitmen t in the evening) and on day of unsuccessful attempts (after gym sessions) promote this unfavourable behaviour with a nap. These continued to be my reward but using them only after I have tallied up a set number of salutations on my notebook. This insight was further rein obligate as cues when I applied it to my physical activities, such as cartroad. This therefore involved taking initiative in improving current circumstance and challenging the status quo rather than passively adapting to present conditions (Crant, 2000).My final goal was aimed towards enhancing my coaching ability by being more assertive. Coaching is the art of facilitating performance, learning and development of others (Downey, 1999).Having prior experience at coaching the third-year level (teaching kids aged ten to twelve) I understood the demand that coaching required. However, balance assertive and empathy has been a challenge. Therefore coaching an athlete to win gold at the university taekwondo championshi p (Start date 18th November, dismiss date 3rd December 2016) was my way of assessing and improving my assertiveness. Assertive characteristics have shown to be a factor for personal development (Downey, 1999) and using so will hopefully improve my coaching abilities.As an ISFJ, there is a need for structure and balance, contrary to coaching which requires the ability to challenge situations and ones belief and accept differing opinions from others. Using John Herons style of coaching was a useful tool for understanding my approach to help, using the exemplar I identified myself as supporting. Furthermore, the practice of unconditional positive regard by Carl Rodgers (Therapy, 2016) allowed me to understand that there is no one way to approach coaching and that there needs to be mutual respect without judgement and evaluation. When I am in the position of responsibility I failed to recognise certain aspects of my invitee such as religious barriers and personality, which at times, made her difficult to open up. Therefore, a person-centric approach (Rodgers, 1981) was used which suggests that people are intrinsically motivated to grow when the right social environmental conditions are present.Creating a space, free of threat, with the right balance between assertiveness and accommodating allowed openness where the newly taught concepts were not forced upon. Previously such approach would have made her uncomfortable and fearful. At an optimal level, a person-centric approach emphasises the formation of collaborative which is important in determining coaching effectiveness (Palmer, 2009). My communication style was also a factor for increasing assertiveness. Using motivational interviewing also increased her self-efficacy (Miller, 2012) by focusing on previous success and highlighting skills and strengths she already possessed. The desired state at the end of the goal is to assert myself by being more person-centric.Furthermore, transitional approach to coachin g helped me identify and bridge the gap in communication style to make the client more autonomous of her decisions and express authenticity. Conceptualising my ego state of balancing the parent style of being assertive and critical, in contrast, the client approach of being a babe and resistant. The aim was to be assertive without pushing them too much (Napper Newton, 2000), which is the components of collaborating.With respect, defining and setting specific goals was initially going to be difficult. With the nature of the goal and external factors such as academic and social pressure arising, staying motivated and committed to the desired state was going to be a challenge.Initially, the time bracket was a motivational factor in the progression of the goals, which kept me committed. However, as time progressed there was a visible sign of demotivation which was further fuelled by the academic pressure to do well. Waking up early all(prenominal) forenoon in order to complete my go al became more of a hindrance and a mundane routine than a motivation.In relation to the first goal, there was a constant battle with my familiar voice to see results and I found it hard to keep up with consistent training. My motivation diminish as the novelty of going to new areas for trekking was limited in my area and furthermore, academic pressure meant little time to pursue and truly immerse myself in the goal setting process. Analysing aspects of my diary, I had written the pass al-Quran hard thirteen times and even starting my week seven with this negativity which correlates to the academic pressure and goal setting motivation. Furthermore, the word negativity persisted as week nine progressed to over twelve entries containing the word demotivated. I analysed that the days where I engaged in physical activity and used a checklist to crisscross out were the days where I used words like relaxed, using the mood questionnaire also became a measurable object. However these go als were personal and systematically engaging in this process was building up my resiliency and enhancing self- regulation (Baumeister, Gailliot, DeWall, Oaten, 2006). Simply staying focused and overcoming such barriers increased my motivation to reach this goal due to self-confidence and self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986). Using Beacon Hill as a motivator despite the cold weather made me realise the reality of the challenge. Although the desired state became my motivation small incentive of getting closer to the goal kept me motivated and focused on the goal at hand (Appendix 2).The ambitious goal that I had set in the beginning of the term to reach 10,000 sun salutation by three months was unreliable, but goals need to be challenging and have aspects that make it complex (Locke Latham, 1960). Furthermore, self-initiative and self-direction are paramount in problem solving (Davidson and Sternberg, 2003). When procrastination arose I used the excuse of I am tired to go back to sleep. Therefore, following a routine and giving myself a treat of watching TV or immersing myself in communal events gave me incentives to progress. Keeping a diary of the number of salutations has helped me immensely, waking up in the morning and checking tangible past progress of events is one of those motivational factor. The mood indicators enabled me to visually orientate my perspective into seeing challenges as hurdles.Although this was a progression and a measure of my more specific goal of being more positive I saw how both variables were inter bring togethered. Positive reinforcement strengthened my behaviour as every time I finished my goal, I would get to cross off the task and reward myself with a nap, therefore increasing the likelihood of me repeating this behaviour in the future (McLeod, 2015). Although I was persistent with my goal setting for the first month, it wasnt until I went back home to see a friend halfway through my goal which made me lose track of where my goal was supposed to take me. When I grasped that motivation to complete something relies on you having an intrinsic interest in the task at hand as well as the belief you can carry out the goal (Davidson and Sternberg, 2003), I started to use the method of chunking (Neal, 2006) which allowed me to progress through my long term goal by setting smaller goals (Appendix 3). When I realised that the link between positivity and my goal setting was being affected, and when the desired state became more personal, it became easier for me to reach such goals. In the world after graduation, there will be moments where life events will prevent progression or clarity, it is, therefore, a useful skill to be able to identify and reflect on such behaviour and find a way of systematically continuing even at the times of adversary.Additionally, the commitment to this goal was further enhanced by feedback of my progression (Locke Latham, 2002). My challenger back in Nepal initially agree to give me feedb ack on this aspect of my goal, however, due to their personal commitment it did not happen until a couple of weeks on. When I did get the feedback, goal clarity was prominent and feedback gave me areas for improvement. In turn, the motivation persisted and tangible aspect related to positivity due to mindfulness (Orzech et al, 2009) was becoming more prominent.Finally, although the client I was coaching for three weeks helpless her fight, I have come to learn about setting specific goals and learning to be more assertive (Appendix 4). Evident from my diary were pointers where I learnt and reflected about my approaches and methods used for effective coaching. By learning and applying theories proposed by Carl Rodgers on unconditional positive regard and motivational interviewing allowed me to bridge that gap between theories applied and real life techniques needed. Before my approach would be prescriptive which was unsuitable in this context. Changing and modifying my approach towar ds supportive enabled a safe environment where being assertive was more applicable. By evaluating transactions between people we have a great resource to identify how others might see us (Newton et al., 2007). With a circumstance for Johari window (Luft et al., 1961) on self, I was trying to identify my unknown area and progress through self-discovery. By enlarging the open area, I felt my own character opening up and becoming more communicative as time progressed. The use of this framework enabled me to recognise and increase my awareness of my assertiveness and coaching capabilities, furthermore, understand the feeling of others.During this course, I found it hard and sometimes difficult to give equal attention to the goals. consignment to the desirable end state of the goal leads to emphasise one goal over another (Fishbach and Zhang, 2008). 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Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 68(3), pp.237-252.TO do Add dates to the challengesAdd one more appendix for sun salutations