I was raised as an only child, this meant I had a lot of time on my hands. Therefore, opposed to going outside and socializing with others, I preferred to stay inside and read. This has resulted In me becoming more of an introverted person. Recently I have taken a job in retail where I am forced out of my comfort zone and have to engage with people. One habit of my introverted self that I cannot seem to get rid of is my tendency to say sorry. Even when something is not my fault I still cannot stop myself from doing it. After a while I noticed that when dealing with customers from Eastern cultures they acted embarrassed when I apologized to them for doing something rather minor and insignificant. They usually then began profusely assuring me that it was no big deal and telling me that it was okay. To me it seems that they felt as if they had committed a great offense to me. To me it seems that in Eastern cultures apologies carry a lot more weight than in Western cultures. I found this to be a very interesting concept which is why I feel compelled to write about it. The google definition of the word sorry is: “feeling distress, especially through sympathy with someone else's misfortune”. The second definition which applies more here is: “feeling regret or penitence”. In our Western culture “sorry” is as common of a word as “the”. We say it whether we accidentally bump into somebody or spill our drink on them. We say it so often it is hard to unlearn it. At the start of October I decided I would try to say sorry less. It was not in the manner of being rude to others by not apologizing for things I did wrong. My goal was to try to stop compulsively saying sorry. One thing that helped me significantly is pausing before responding. This helps because it gives you time to formulate an actual response opposed to just blurting out “I’m sorry”. You can also try asking a question. Sometimes we use sorry as a way to get someone’s attention. The issue with this is you may come off as passive and people may not listen to you. Instead of saying “Sorry for getting in your way”, try saying “May I move past you?” Another way you can transform “sorry” is turning it into a “thank you” statement. Instead of saying “sorry for being late”, try saying “thanks for waiting for me”. My personal favorite trick you can try is replacing sorry with another word. I usually try to replace “sorry” with “yikes”. This takes the responsibility off of you and instead just acknowledges that the thing happened. These are the methods I used to try to say sorry less. I hope these methods benefit whoever happens to need them. This website here greatly assisted me in my journey so if you are trying to do what I am taking a look at it may be a good idea.
https://www.thesaurus.com/e/ways-to-say/stop-saying-sorry/ Brody T.
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Between 1979 and 1981 divorce rates started going up, in 2019 research was done and discovered that 18% of kids under the age of 18 had experience separation or divorce of their parents. If you have divorced parents, you know the challenges of dealing with it; especially if you get a new family with it. I have divorced parents, I’ve had a couple of new parental figures in my life but around 8 years ago my stepmom came into my life, and she’s been with my dad since. It’s been difficult navigating my feelings towards her, I’ve had a rocky relationship with my dad and her for a while; it got particularly difficult to handle my relationship with them when my stepmom had my younger siblings. I already had so little time with my dad as it was and sometimes to me, it felt like I was losing him completely. Having these kinds of feelings with stepfamilies can get hard to deal with, and finding ways to cope with it can be challenging. Every situation can be different, but overall finding ways to cope/handle these changes can be helpful to learn how to maintain these relationships and feelings. With all that being said, these are a few methods you can use to help your situation…
Portia S. Have you ever seen the fascination that occurs when a group of people connect around a common goal? For me, teamwork has been an interesting force that has changed my life in many ways. I want to share my experiences and thoughts about the amazing power of teamwork and how it has influenced my journey in this personal blog. Power in Teamwork. I used to think that success in lacrosse/hockey came only from personal work when I originally started playing at a high level. I took great satisfaction and happiness in my ability to work independently and take on tasks by myself. But as I took on bigger and tougher projects, I came to understand that I could only do so much on my own. I realized then how powerful unity can be. When we worked as a team, I discovered that we could overcome challenges that would have been impossible for any of us to overcome by using our combined knowledge, expertise, and creativity. It soon became apparent that our combined efforts were significantly more effective than our separate contributions. Taking Note of Diversity My eyes had been opened to the beauty of diversity in teamwork. Working in a team introduced me to a wide range of experiences, viewpoints, and specialties. Differences could be difficult at first to work with, but I quickly learned to value the depth they added to our efforts. The team's varied points of view produced more comprehensive ideas, strong solutions, and well-rounded decision making. It became evident that accepting diversity sparked creativity and led to personal development for everyone involved. Communication as a Foundation A team's ability to communicate effectively is what keeps it together. My experiences being on many teams have taught me the value of respectful, honest, and open communication. We gained knowledge on how to give helpful criticism, communicate our ideas properly, and actively listen. The communication skills I developed in these collaborative environments proved to be extremely beneficial in both my personal and professional life, greatly improving my connections with friends and family. Success and Assistance Shared The mutual support and shared accomplishment that teamwork produces is one of its most beautiful aspects. There was a sense of accomplishment and togetherness when team members celebrated milestones and successes together. We were inspired to aim even higher by this fantastic energy. The team's assistance through difficult moments was also incredibly transforming. We would support one another, divide the workload, and offer encouragement when it was most required. This network of support forged a strong link that went beyond our projects. Overcoming and Adapting Through Challenges I learned how to be resilient and adaptable when faced with problems through teamwork. It's not always easy sailing, and resolving disputes and conflicts is a common part of teamwork. Nonetheless, these difficulties offered chances for improvement of one's character and abilities. As a team, we overcame challenges to fortify our determination and come out of them stronger and more intune with eachother than before. Friendships The power of teamwork to create long-lasting relationships is amazing. People develop relationships with one another when they work together on projects or share objectives that go beyond the current task at hand. Trust and friendship can be developed by sharing the highs and lows of the journey together, and these bonds frequently grow into long-lasting friendships. These connections are based on understanding gained from personal collaboration with others, mutual support, and shared experiences. The friendships we make via teamwork, whether at work, on a sports team, frequently turn out to be some of the most significant and long-lasting relationships we have, serving as a constant reminder of the positive effects of teamwork. In the end
My own experience with the transforming potential of teamwork has led me to feel that working together with people may take our experiences and accomplishments to new heights, regardless of where we are in life. My work and personal lives have been profoundly impacted by the things I've learned, including the value of communication, the strength of togetherness, the beauty of diversity, and the support and resilience we acquire. To put it simply, teamwork has altered my approach to problems and objectives. It serves as a reminder that we don't have to travel alone and that collaborating with people who share our values and purpose may be really powerful. Accept the value of teamwork, and you could discover that it has the ability to change your life. Taylor M. I will always remember those conversations with my father that we had in the car after he was picking me up from school. In them we always talked about very profound and relevant topics, such as issues that close people had at the time, our problems or even where we saw the correct balance in life. My Dad always treated me as an adult and these conversations were no exception. In fact, he managed to teach me his method to solve problems: Drawing them. At first I laughed, maybe as you just did. However, I could have never imagined how momentous and influential the use of this method could have been for my future. I was proven wrong since that day because I have to admit that I base 90% of my decisions on this method and it has been the key for the biggest accomplishments of my life. In this blog I would like to share this method with all of you for your own benefit, but first I would like to introduce you to several concepts and practices that you should understand fully to be able to implement it. I have always enjoyed analyzing and understanding how the world works through mathematical concepts, these allow predictability and the ability to replicate them over and over. In a world where everyone works harder, wants to be happier, earn more money, have more fun, learn more, add more value, it is impossible to strive and keep achieving without a change in the rate in which tasks get done and the time they get. Being more productive is a well-known goal for personal development, however, the change in a rate is called exponentiality and it is a concept among many others that is already existing but is not being used by us, people that want to keep improving themselves over and over. The search for exponential phenomena in our lives can not only boost our development and growth, but also help us to get rid of exponential risks or consequences. We should want to be exponentially better because this will make a minimal effort result in massive results in every aspect. The technique of drawing a problem is based on plotting graphs or imaginary diagrams through the use of methods from different disciplines of science that allow us to relativise and look at a problem or decision from another angle, an angle that can be as accurate as mathematics but as broad as psychology at the same time. In case that the search for exponentiality has not yet started for you, I have brought you several examples of how this phenomena works, the benefits of understanding it and taking advantage of it, all centered around the most famous topic in the personal development industry: GIVING UP. Giving up is something that has happened to all of us throughout our lives, probably more than once. Even though it is obvious that not continuing will never bring you results, it is sometimes really hard to keep on track, since the difficulty is too high and the effort outweighs the potential outcome. Who has not been in that position? That time when all of your thoughts around a topic were negative and became more and more frequent, that time when the results did not match the effort behind them, that time when you really thought you had to give up. I have definitely been in that position and what I have learned is that the advice of keep believing in whatever you are doing is the most useful since life and projects are not linear, they are exponential. And giving up at one point may result in total regret since the next goal can be much closer, thanks to this phenomenon. To prove this I would like you to think about a time in which you have been successful and other time when you have failed and given up something that you completely controlled. Have the results come linearly, speaking in terms of time? Have the most important milestones come to you in set periods of time? I can assure you, the answer is no. Life and nature are exponential not linear, an example of this is when I go out to run, something that I do not enjoy at all and think about giving up all the time. If you measure the time that passes from the first to the second time that I think about giving up, it is very short and makes it very hard. However, if you measure the time that passes from one to the next, the thought of giving up once I’m more than half an hour in, the time has increased by thousands of times. Imagine that every point in the graph was one time, there is a clear tendency that we are not aware of, that also proves how giving up can be a terrible idea. Something really similar happens with results and effort, no matter how big your efforts are, the results will come exponentially, and I am pretty sure that this has happened to you sometime when lots of results came together while the effort was being constant or even less, for example at the end of the semester. Imagine that you have worked very hard and your results are very far apart from each other, just like the first points. However, if you keep working and don't give up, the results eventually come in shorter periods of time as the last points do, but if you give up and cut the graph before the results come in shorter periods of time, you will never discover the last parts of the graph with in this case (Inverse exponential) are the most interesting for development and growth. In summary, giving up is a very costly decision that we should think twice before taking according to the math behind the patterns results follow, taking the advice of believing in you and trusting the process is very valuable and not something we should not believe. However, there are points in which it is no longer worth continuing and this can turn out to be an exponentially better decision. Remember, if you have a problem or a decision to outweigh: Just DRAW it.
Luis D For as long as I can remember, I’ve always felt as if the people around me in my life had things they expected from me. Whether it was school, sports, or extracurricular activities I always got the sense that I needed to go above and beyond the norm to show them who I was and my potential as a person. I still feel like this sometimes now. Being the second born child of 2 immigrants who came from poor backgrounds made these feelings of having to reach expectations even stronger, because if they successfully settled here with no more than 100$ dollars in their pockets 20 years ago then why shouldn’t I do something outstanding considering the platform they’ve given me from birth? Watching my older sister make my parents proud by achieving things in multiple areas in her life amplified the amount of effort I put in so that I could be at the same level as her. I played many sports like swimming, soccer and dance. I played the violin in an orchestra, took music theory lessons, joined school clubs, programs and anything else that I thought would meet other people's expectations. Doing all of these things for most of my childhood burned me out, I'm not going to lie. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong but it was definitely a lot. But my coaches saw my effort in sports and praised me for it, my music teachers told me how talented of a musician I was, and my teachers at school would congratulate me on going above and beyond academically. What made me the happiest of all was when my parents would tell their family and friends back in their home country all of the things I was accomplishing here. They would tell my parents about how much they wished their kids could be able to do the things I was doing. This made me happy, because it made my parents proud of me as their daughter. I fully believed for so long that all of the things I was doing were expected of me, and that if I didn't do them I would leave others disappointed. Not until only around a year ago, I realized that I was doing so many things in my life for the approval of others and to meet high expectations that I thought would prove who I am as a person. I was faced with self conflict , because I didn't want to let my guard down and start to do some things in life for myself. I thought that it would make me look like a failure and a disappointment to those around me who thought I would continue this way forever. My parents always made sure to assure me that their number one wish was for me to be happy, and that everything else came second. I started to think about those words and changed a few things in my life that I knew would make a difference. I decided to start recognizing the things I was doing in life solely to gain the approval of others and drop them. It took some time of course because the structure of my life was essentially changing, but compared to a year ago I can confidently say I've progressed. I still do sports and activities I enjoy such as swimming and playing the violin, but the difference is that I do them for myself now. I’m not sure how many people can relate specifically to my blog, but if there’s one thing that I think whoever is reading this should take away, that would be to live life for yourself. Do things because you like doing them. Once you do, they will become all the more enjoyable. Aleyna K Have you ever wondered why some of your classmates get As and some get Cs even though they take the same class? That's because every individual understands, remembers and stores their memories differently. Learning and storing information is probably one of the most crucial steps in studying. This is why it will help your grades if you can find out the best way for you to store the information for a long period of time. Sleeping, linking the information together, self-testing, and writing it out can help you store memory for a long time. I personally use the writing-it-out method so I can recall it like muscle memory. One exception, however, is photographic memory. This is a lucky skill when it comes to studying for a test. People with photographic memory unknowingly take mental photos of a textbook, for example, and can recall it perfectly during a test. On the other hand, I have aphantasia, which is the opposite of photographic memory. One way to explain what that means is that I am unable to visualize and cannot create any pictures of familiar objects, people, or places in my head. It is basically impossible for me to picture my mom's face even though I see her every day. When I try to picture something, my mind goes black and I can feel the presence of an image somewhere in my head but can’t quite reach it. It's almost like the picture is locked up in a translucent box. Eventually, not being able to link information to an image in my head causes memory loss, which is why I rely on what I can use. I use my phone to manage my schedule and store memories by taking photos or videos. What my head can’t do, I try to make up for it by writing a word down several times for my muscle to remember, or using an external source that could store memories more accurately than my head will.
In conclusion, it is important to know what you are or aren’t capable of and use that to find the best way for you to learn, remember, and store that information. Sunsia Y. When I was younger and living in Dubai, I had a few weird experiences with people not treating us right because we were a little different from them but I never really thought about it much because well, I was a child. I moved back and forth from Dubai to Mumbai a few times during those years but I never really noticed much because it wasnt to a high extent. Then we ended up coming to Canada and moving here. The first few months I was here I didn't really get out of the house much and I would just stay indoors and have fun in my little bubble that I had created. I was sad and just missed my family too much but as I went into school and started actually meeting people it was great, amazing even but then I noticed it and as I started going out more it just kept getting worse. I didn't expect to go through something like racism in such an developed and forward country. When I would walk down the street kids would come out of their car windows just to scream dumb things like indian or asian (It was worse than that). This happened to me 4 times in the span of 3 weeks. I was devastated. Not just that but being treated differently even when I would talk to someone. I had people enunciate words to me and speak in a slower tone because they just assumed I couldn’t speak english. One day I sat down with some friends and family and my mom started telling everyone a story about a bus driver who treated her differently because she was brown. Everyone else joined her and we all shared stories about things that have happened to us because we were Indian. It broke my heart to see that so many people were going through the same things I was. I absolutely love the culture that I grew up in. We have so many different types of traditions and practices and I adore them all. I wish for a life of peace and kindness for not just me but everyone. I hope that people accept everyone as time goes by and that we come to a point where everyone is seen as an equal.
‘’In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist.’’ - Angela Davis Gurleen S In my opinion lot’s of people overthink or stress about finding their passion, what they want to be doing for the rest of their lives. When you think about it, it can be a very scary and intimidating thought, but for me, I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do. The fact of the matter is I love computers. Particularly programming and coding. Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes I hate it and never wanna touch the damn thing ever again because I will get so frustrated when I just can’t seem to get it to work, but when I do, it fills me with joy and I feel really good about myself (also called dopamine.) That is the thing I love the most when it comes to programming. The feeling of wanting to just get into a grove and not ever want to stop. This is what drives and actually makes me enjoy school a lot more than past years (I take computer science.) The thing is I feel like everyone should try to find their own programming, get out there, find what makes you feel good inside, and roll with it. I know that it really isn’t always as simple as that but you have to take charge and branch out to really figure out what drives you. Just 2 years ago, I had no clue I was ever going to get into coding, heck I didn’t have a clue about how to do anything even remotely close… but I took that step and decided to just try computers 10 and see how i liked it. One of the other key parts to why I enjoy it so much is the teachers I've had. They both have been so helpful and really passionate about it themselves which I think is one of the most important parts to finding your passion. Not only do you need to find what makes you happy, but also find that person that will push you in the right direction and help you when you feel lost. At the end of the day, it always comes down to you and your willingness to open up to not just new possibilities, but also the willingness to open up to the right people.
Kieran M I was diagnosed with severe scoliosis at the age of 12, I thought it was the end of the world and I'd be alone forever. Which was not the case whatsoever. Scoliosis is an abnormal lateral (lateral = toward, from or side to side) curvature of the spine. There are 2 different types of curves, there’s C curve and there’s S curve, which is the shape of your spine from a rear view of the skeleton. A non scoliosis spine is a 0 - 10 degrees and a rotation under 5.I remember researching scoliosis as it's not something very commonly talked about, yet 1 of 10 girls have the condition and 1 out of 70 boys do. Most cases people are born with scoliosis and as they grow older the curve gets bigger and worse. I got diagnosed with an S curve, I have 3 curves the biggest one being 54 degrees with a rotation of 10, that means my spine isn’t only curved but physically twisted inside of me. Due to a severe curve I was placed in a Boston brace to slow its growth. I was told to wear it 23 hours of the day, I was only able to take it off for a shower everyday and physiotherapy .Due to having to wear the brace for many hours I had to quit gymnastics, dance and wasn't able to participate in my grade 7 gym class. Which was hard, sports were everything to me. They were something that connected me to others and made me feel a part of something more than myself. Yet even simple tasks like tying my shoes, picking up a pencil off the floor and even placing my arms by my side became extremely difficult. I'd ask others for help but many times people thought I was lazy and told me to do it myself.They didn't know it was nearly impossible for me. Scoliosis is a physical health condition, but no one ever talks about how it could affect someone’s mental health. It affects every person very differently. For me personally it caused a lot of anxiety, it was this feeling of being alone. I never knew anyone who was going through what I was going through. It also made me very conscious of my left side, due to my middle curve being the biggest of the three, they over corrected my third curve to hopefully help the second curve even out a bit. While it was helping me it made me self conscious. One side of my body was like it used to be and the other side was the shape of an hourglass. I’d do everything to hide this, but I now wish I embraced who I was with my scoli brace. I wish I knew there are many teens that are going through the same thing I was.
Therefore I now spread awareness about it. Catching it early on is the key to prevention. Olivia H To learn more about scoliosis : https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/scoliosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20350716 Discipline is the practice of following a set of rules in order to maintain order and authority within oneself. Many people discipline themselves for their own benefit, while others do it for the benefit of others. Let's be honest: most of us try and fail to maintain control over ourselves in some way. One of the best examples of this is procrastination, which occurs when we try to push ourselves to complete our work on time but end up leaving it until the last minute. Discipline is a practice, and every day you try counts because it's all about small victories or progress. It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” – J.K. Rowling. This quotation is unique because its core purpose is to help us live our lives the way we want to live them, free of outside distractions. It is the decision to do what you should be doing, to work toward a greater goal while remaining true to yourself. This allows you to work toward long-term happiness. Long-term happiness is the feeling you get after putting in a lot of effort and seeing the results. Consider working out or studying: both require you to stay focused on a larger goal so that when you achieve it, you feel motivated to do it again and again. Short-term happiness, such as scrolling through Tiktok, Instagram, or playing games, is fleeting. While these are not harmful in moderation, scrolling through social media keeps you focused on what others are doing rather than what you are doing. As teenagers, life can be stressful with relationships, school, and adjusting to adulthood, which is why it's critical to focus on what makes you happy and let go of what doesn't. "Create habits that serve you, and replace habits that don't," Lev said in our YEY lessons. Making your bed every morning, writing in a journal, or brushing your teeth before bed are all simple ways to improve your discipline. It can also be anything that makes you a better version of yourself, such as going to the gym, studying, or picking up a new hobby. Discipline is one the best ways to make your life fun, as it has for me. I used to take everything for granted, antisocial and always cared about what people thought about me, before I started doing small things that made my life better. I made my bed every morning, pushed myself to talk to people, and learned to cook. Now, I try to be productive in any way every day, go to the gym, and take out of my life what doesn’t make it better, like scrolling through TikTok endlessly. Discipline has made mine and many others’ lives much better, which is why you should do things that are fun, and
don't forget to live your life to the fullest- you only live once after all. Anooj C An article to help you get started: https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/self-discipline We always want to be a better person and we want to be successful. So today I am going to write a blog about self-actualization. Self-actualization is the continuous fulfillment of growth motives. The meaning is difficult, but surprisingly simple. Just set your own goals and make a step for how to achieve them. Maslow’s theory of self actualization is extremely important and popular. As shown in the picture, Maslow’s self-actualization is divided into five stages. The first stage is the basics which is food, water, house, heat, breathing, and sleep very simple and easy. If the first stage is achieved, move on to the next stage which is safety of body, employment, resources, morality, the family, health, property etc. If the second stage has also passed, move on to stage 3. Stage 3 is relationship which is friendship, family, sexual intimacy. Almost everyone should have made it to stage 3. The next stage is a bit more difficult, which is esteem including self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others. If you've come this far, try stage 5, the last step. I think stage 5 is the most important and the hardest one. Stage 5 is self-actualization which is morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts. If you complete every stage then you will know how to make your future self actualization and you will be a better person and you can reach your own goals. Based on Maslow's theory of self-actualization, you can set your own goals and make steps to how to achieve them, and approach that goal. Then you will know how to make your future self actualization.
Eunseo H There’s more information for self actualization https://www.betterup.com/blog/self-actualization Overthinking, also known as rumination, occurs when you dwell on the same thought or situation over and over again to the point where it interrupts with your life. Overthinking usually falls into two categories: ruminating about the past or worrying about the future and lucky me, I fall into both categories. Overthinking is something we all do at some point. Everyone worries at least once in their life, overthinking doesn't necessarily mean when you overthink about your grades or future. When you compare your limits to someone else’s strengths, you are overthinking. When you obsess over someone else’s “irrational beliefs,” you are overthinking. When we overthink, we over plan and when we over plan, we overfill our life. I'm an overthinker, and there's no limit to how much I can think about. I think about the most irrelevant things, from the time I almost drowned when I was four to what my life will be like in 20 years. Overthinking has never come to me in a positive way; it is always related to bad or negative thoughts. I mean, who ever overthinks in a positive way? When asked what I should do in this situation, I was always told to "just don't think about it" or "do something to distract yourself." These words are easy to say but really hard to put into action. We are thinking all the time, and yet, we never think about how much time we spend thinking. That might sound like an addiction and if you relate, don't worry because you are not alone. When I eat too much, I would tell myself “I’m overeating, I need to eat less”. When I study too much, I would say “I’m dying, I need to stop studying”. But when I think too much, I can’t just say “I’m overthinking.” I need a different approach to unclog my brain. But the problem is that we don’t consider overthinking as a problem. When someone says that overthinking is bad, we often assume that only negative thoughts are wrong. And by that definition, it automatically means that positive thoughts are good. I think most of us agree that negative thoughts are related to Worrying, Complaining, Anger, Feeling sorry for yourself or Blaming others. Similarly, we can agree that trying to solve problems, Studying, Understanding knowledge, Planning, Visualization and Setting goals are positive thoughts. What most self-help advice says is, scrap the negative thoughts and double down on the positive thoughts. This might sound like good advice but the truth is that when you overuse your brain, just like a drain, it can get clogged. And this will result in Foggy thinking which leads to bad decision making. All that being said, how can you actually help yourself to think less? Researchers have found a 4 step process to stop overthinking..
Allow yourself to forget about yesterday and tomorrow. No matter how much you want to accomplish in the future, or how much you've suffered in the past, appreciate the fact that you are alive. Melina M Procrastination can be problematic. Procrastination is the action of delaying something. I know about this firsthand because I’ve said to myself for the last month, “Today I’m going to start writing my blog.” I never get around to it, either because I’m busy doing sports or just scrolling TikTok on my phone. It’s not just my blog that I procrastinate about, but basically everything I do that other people aren’t relying on. I have a social studies project that should be much more complete by now, but lo and behold, it’s untouched. Since I have been neglecting it, now I have many things to do on top of it, creating this wall of work that I need to chip away at. The procrastination is so bad in fact, that since typing that last paragraph, I’ve left and played video games for an hour and a half. I’m typing it in between rounds just to get some words in. Basically, procrastination can make things hard to get done. It’s not just procrastinating work though. Another form of procrastination is sleep procrastination. Sleep procrastination is when you delay getting into bed or delay falling asleep while in bed. This might happen because you feel that you haven’t done enough in a day or just don’t want to go to bed yet. I suffer from this the most. It stops me from getting the energy I need to make it through a single day, which causes me to put off even more work I need to get done because “I’m too tired.” My dad will be going to bed and will find me asleep with the lights on with papers on my desk, and he will just turn off the lights and go to bed. The worst part about procrastinating is that the longer you do it, the more anxiety builds up making you not want to do it more. By the time you actually get around to doing what you have been putting off, it’s a very stressful task to complete. Some things that I procrastinate on aren’t stress-inducing, like eating healthier. Still, the tiny voice in my head tells me that I could be doing better, doing more. The only way to not procrastinate indefinitely is if there is a deadline. That’s the whole reason why work eventually gets done. Things like going to the gym or going to bed earlier don’t have a deadline, however, and that’s why I can’t be bothered to better myself. To be a better person, I brainstormed solutions to fix my procrastination problem. Then I thought about how having a deadline helps me get things done. So, to get things done I’m going to create deadlines for everything I want to do. Get a better sleep? Deadline. Start having healthier snacks? Deadline. To keep track of all my deadlines, I used an app (IOS only) Event Countdown- Calendar app. Some of its features are locked behind a paywall, but all the basic stuff is free. I know that just getting stuff done won’t be enough for me, like just getting a good night's sleep, so I’m going to reward myself when I get things done. It might just be taking an hour's break to watch YouTube, or if something is bigger, it could be buying a game I want or watching a movie with a friend. Either way, I’ve procrastinated enough. It’s time to do something about it. Lucas D
I can guarantee that every single person reading this has had an argument. It could’ve been as minor as which sports team is better, or something more important like worldview. No matter the subject, chances are neither party involved learned much of anything. In a perfect world both of you would carefully consider each other's opinions and restructure your own view with the knowledge you’ve gained, but we don’t live in a perfect world. The world we live in is often aggressive, inconsiderate and not a good environment for learning. So it’s up to you to shape your points and tailor your delivery to each person you encounter, but how? Well let’s start with the simplest, yet seemingly most seldom done task before you argue. Fully understand and consider the views of others before attempting to critique it. The goal of arguing is not to win, but to learn. Failing to fully consider someone else's opinion will result in deconstructive bickering, and neither of you will learn anything. To form an accurate and impactful argument you must first fully understand the other person's view, once you’ve done that you may even consider changing your own. Open with curiosity, not aggression. Proving someone wrong isn’t enough to change their opinion, you have to ‘soften the blow’ slightly to avoid things becoming heated. When people get angry, they act irrationally and don’t take well to alternative ideas, avoiding this is the most important thing to do during an argument. Ask them to explain their ideas, establish a sense of comfort and open mindedness. Once they see you’re not trying to attack them, they’re going to be far more open to your ideas and views. Take time to think before arguing Many small arguments are the result of poor communication or a simple misunderstanding. Before you jump in and try to convince someone they’re wrong, make sure you aren’t just caught in the heat of the moment. Ask yourself if there's an alternative way to see this, or if this is something truly important. Remember to calm down, never argue while you're angry. It’s a habit most of us fall into because of what i mentioned above, when we are angry we don’t like to consider we are in the wrong. Starting an argument while either party is mad is pointless, on top of neither person learning anything, you’ll probably come out more upset than you were before. Like any other kind of socializing, this takes practice. You’re not about to go convince the entire class about pickle ice cream just because you’ve read this. Everyone is different, adapting your arguments to everyone you meet is a skill that takes years to develop, and can never truly be mastered. The best thing you can do for yourself and others is to stay open minded, and never stop trying to learn about the world and the people around you.
Michael B Music, what is it? Music is the structured arrangement of instrumental sounds and vocals to create a mixture of noise that appeals to the brain, otherwise known as a song. These things called songs can be very powerful in ways. Music has been a form of entertainment since the age of humans. Every culture has their own diverse variety of genres. Music has played a very large role in my life ever since I was young. My dad introduced me to all kinds of legendary bands which got my whole interest in music started. My dad is a huge music nerd, so he has been teaching me all sorts of things about music and artists over the years. Sixth grade was really the year I started to develop my own taste in music. I didn't really know how to find the artists I liked so I spent most of my time watching music videos. Those music videos are what really sparked my interest in the rap scene. My music taste has been all over the place in the past years but it is never bland. I always listen to a wide variety and have multiple playlists for various occasions and moods. Music is one of my go to coping methods, there is always something available. I listen to music to work through my problems, to hear and feel through sound that what I'm going through, I'm not doing it alone. Whenever I'm struggling, I know I can always find comfort in my songs. Music is a great strategy to help cope rather than turning to self destructive methods. Music is also a great way to bond, communicate, and find a sense of belonging. Music can develop great communities based on different genres or artists. My best friend and I started our whole relationship based solely because we both liked Lil Peep, and $uicideBoy$, we ended up having way more music taste in common and just kind of went from there. Making music is also a great passtime. I recently downloaded a software that allows you to create beats virtually called FLstudio. It allows you to create your own creative sound, or re-create the sounds of other artists. You have complete control of the sounds. Hewitt L |
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