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| Reading a case study |
It seemed perfectly fitting to start the 100 Days of Productivity Challenge. I had seen so many of my fellow studyblrs take on the challenge and it seemed to make them all more aware of the amount of work they got done and how they went about it. These were two things I definitely felt I needed to hone in on. It was also daunting and exciting that I would be held accountable for 100 days. While I have chosen not to make them 100 consecutive days, the significance and the impact these days have had on my life have not been diminished. As someone who strives for academic success, but who struggles with motivation and self-doubt, I could have just as easily said that this task was too hard to take on.
What I seem to have forgotten is that it is absolutely okay to have a lack of motivation and self-doubt.
It seems counter-intuitive, doesn't it? When has anyone ever directly admitted to their weaknesses, their shortcomings, in order to achieve success? However, we all should. Most people don't tell us that those "negative" feelings are normal; even more so, necessary to address and be held accountable for when in search of the efficient and successful path(s) toward your goal, or goals.
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| Logic and Philosophy workings... |
Failure can and will happen at least once in your life (for those of you that think you're infallible). Failure is a reality I am very familiar with. I say that with a certain sense of pride. While, yes, I have more potential than that, and, yes, I perfectly capable of having a good academic track-record (or at the very least, just better than the one I've had), that has not been how my decisions have paved the way toward my goals. You see, two things that must be outlined in those thoughts.
- Acknowledging your strengths
- Taking responsibilities for your faults
It is highly crucial to constitute both those in order to move along your path. Without those two working together, interdependently, then it becomes extremely difficult to walk most of the time along your path. You will find yourself just sort of tripping, crawling, and panting your way through, and, let's face it: life is hard as is, no need to make it any harder on us than it has to be.
Take the class from which the picture above is taken from: Philosophy & Logic. Firstly, I went into this class thinking it would be more about philosophy than logic. I never thought it would have this "equation" formatting for reasoning your way through philosophical questions. This class was teaching us that math was really everywhere. Someone decided they wanted to be able to prove verbal arguments in some mathematical way. Always interesting. I was overwhelmed 3 or 4 classes in. I felt, however, and was aware that I was drowning in a cup of water. I understood that part of that feeling was caused my utter un-enthusiasm in class and my lack of effort to work past confusion and sort of waiting to catch some sort of break I could consider "masterization" of the material. It sounds utterly pathetic, now that I write it. I also know that I was probably better of actually working at the class. My response was dictated by my fixed mentality (I'll be referring to this term in other posts as well, you can here Dr. Carol Dweck give a TEDTalk on this concept here and here). One of the problems with a fixed mentality is that we really don't take challenges in stride. We see challenges, not as potential for new or better understanding, but as a challenge to our intelligence.
However, it is absolutely possible to change mentality. For me, the 100 Days of Productivity Challenge was absolutely a way to change that mentality. I have not regretted it... yet (this joke will make sense once you see the linked videos above lol).
And, I'm happy that I'll be on this journey with all of you right there by me :)
So, Day 1 was Tuesday, October 20, 2015. Here it began.
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| Bullet Journal: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 |
