Basic HTML Version
READING
E
XPERIENCE
12: U
SING
F
AILURE
AS
A
S
TEPPING
S
TONE
TO
S
UCCESS
360
L
EARNING
TO
L
EARN
: B
ECOMING
A
S
ELF
-G
ROWER
Step 10—Reward Achievement
“Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction
that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.”
—
Theodore Isaac Rubin
Congratulations! When you reach an objective, celebrate your achievement with people who care
about you and who appreciate your accomplishment. Making your goals and achievements public will
help you feel positive while also adding powerful social motivation for continuing to set challenging
personal development goals.
The family has planned a celebratory
dinner for Sandra and Alicia at the end of
the semester. And, since they don’t have
to cook that day, they’re going to visit a
day spa for some real pampering!
It’s easy to make decisions when the choice is between good and bad. Another way to think of this is that
when your values are not in conflict, choices are easy. But the vast majority of personal obstacles and
difficult circumstances involve situations where two values you believe in are in conflict with one another.
This was the situation Sandra found herself in because she valued her family and helping out with her
niece, but she also valued doing well in school. In these situations, applying the Personal Development
Methodology, with its emphasis on assessing, planning, prioritizing, and adjusting, can help you sort
through competing values and appreciate that rarely do things come down to an “either/or” solution.
It is an interesting fact that popular movies and books make great use of the idea of competing values;
they give characters depth and complexities that make a lasting impression on audiences. With this in
mind, consider the movies you watch and the books you read and consider instances where a favorite
character had to deal with competing values.
Being Well, FeelingWell
One of the hallmarks of a person committed to self growth is having a strong desire to grow and develop in
all
aspects of life. So much of what we think of as “school stuff” is related directly to cognitive (thinking)
skills. But you are more than your thoughts; you have a physical dimension as well as an emotional
dimension. Have you ever tried to write a paper or finish a reading assignment while you had the flu? Or
tried to concentrate on taking a test while you were worried about money or bad news you’d just received?
As the Theory of Performance made clear, your performance as a student depends upon being able to
deal with personal and fixed factors as well as cognitive skills. Personal and fixed factors can be a real
challenge because they’re usually not overtly addressed in a school environment. With this in mind, the
remainder of this chapter will introduce critical aspects of being well (physical well-being) and feeling
well (emotional well-being).