Our world is changing rapidly with the advancement of technology, and we as a society have more options to be spending our time as well as more "gadgets" that can distract (or help) us with our daily activities.
A Life Plan is a way of looking at the "big picture" of your life and honing in an appropriate definition of success.
Most of us have been conditioned to define success in narrow terms. Too frequently we judge our own success, and the success of others, by what is accomplished at work. Successful people are often described as those who have a good job, make good money, or have reached the top in their field. The Life Plan that you will create will debunk this myth and look at your life as a whole and see how other factors such as family, friends, community service, exercise, church, and other critical areas of your life will shape your definition of success.
"If you want to be successful, you have to take 100% responsibility for everything that you experience in your life. this includes the level of your achievements, the results you produce, the quality of your relationships, the state of your health and physical fitness, your income, your debts, your feelings -- everything!"
I couldn't agree more.
Questions (Please answer or of the following questions)
1. Have you ever set a goal that you really wanted to accomplish, but didn't? What happened? Why where you not able to accomplish that goal? How do you think that NOT accomplishing goals set hurt you?
2. If you could change one thing in your life what would it be and why? Since you can't most likely change it, how can you accept responsibility for that "thing" and how could that help you today?
3. Do you agree with the statement by Jack Canfield? Why or why not?
I agree with Jack Canfield’s statement about success. Responsibility is the keystone in one’s success because without responsibility one cannot fail nor succeed. Nothing will happen until someone takes upon themselves responsibility.
ReplyDeleteOf course we are each born with inherent responsibilities as human beings, but with choices we also learn to take on greater responsibilities that will ultimately bring greater satisfaction and happiness. Someone who has no responsibility, or rather is unaware of their responsibilities cannot be successful because by definition success is an endeavor that ends favorably. How could someone with no responsibility endeavor to do anything? On the other end of the spectrum if someone knows their responsibilities well, they have the opportunity to act and succeed at what he or she does.
When we realize we are each responsible for every aspect of our lives, we will be capable of achieving success because greater responsibility means greater capabilities of attaining success.
I have never been a huge New year's resolution kind of a guy or goals in general. I knew myself too well and figured my goals (resolutions) would never make it past the day that they were set. This way I was never disappointed. At age nineteen I became involved in volunteer services for my church where it was highly suggested to plan and set goals. I wouldn't say I was forced but still did it mostly out of obligation. This is where I saw the good effects of planning and goal setting. I saw them materialize into actual events and personal progress. Since This time I have strived to set goals. One goal I have often set is to get up earlier than I absolutely have to and study and or exercise. I know the benefits of a fresh mind in the morning and I always feel good and am happy when I do it. However I usually fall off this routine fairly quickly. I just can't stay committed. Procrastination or justification win out when I have set this goal in the past. This does make it more difficult to set future goals when you make attempts and fail. Your mind holds failures in its vault only to let them out when you think of setting another goal. This tugging reminder makes you feel you are just setting yourself up for more disappointment and in order to protect yourself you refuse to write the goal down making it permanent, or not set it at all.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jack Canfield. I believe you do have to take responsibility for everything, good or bad in order to move forward. Instead of blaming your struggles and failures on someone else, or letting someone else take credit for your accomplishment, it's your job. I know in my own life I’ve had to stand up and take responsibility for the accomplishments and failures but honestly I'm glad I did. I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't take responsibility for my actions. It's made me all around a happier person. I think when a person stands up for themselves and takes responsibility for what they do it'll help them get further than they would if they didn't.
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ReplyDeleteI do not agree with Canfeild’s quote completely. I have learned that a lot that happens to us as humans is chance. We may try to do everything right, take all the right steps to complete a task, to get where we want to go, but still not accomplish what we sent out to do. I do agree in taking responsibility for our intentions. If our real intention is to achieve a goal for a good reason, then the person is responsible for acting on this intention but not for what happens after that. More times than not, those with good intentions to succeed will do so in many aspects of their life. I think that we can create tools that will better these chances but not completely guarantee that we will get what we are hoping for. One of these tools is creating relationships with people around us. Another is gaining knowledge though education. Using these tools, we may get something even better then what we sent out to achieve. I do not think someone should use this as an excuse to not “take charge” of their own life. That would not be a good intention and they would be responsible for that bad intent. I think that we work towards goals because our intention is to better our own lives and the lives of our loved ones. I believe this is what everyone is responsible for.
ReplyDeleteI will be answering question 2, if I could change one thing in my life what, and how I can take responsibility for it and how it could help me today. There are a number of things I'd change one of which is to hang out with this girl I knew throughout highschool, that I didn't hang out with really till my senior year. But the thing I'm going to talk about is my grades. I didn't do my homework really until 10th grade. Even then I didn't care, I was being a minimalist about it. My grades did go up through 11 and 12th grade. I averaged about above a 3.0 my senior year, but graduated with about a 2.9 maybe it was 3.0. I never got straight A's. I could blame it on my ADHD. But I need to take responsibility for it. The main thing I wish I could change would to be actually do my homework and work hard on it. The reason being is so I could have a 4.0. Others are so I it would help with getting in Med school. It would also impress girls. I will make up for it by getting amazing grades in college. Straight A's because my goal is to get into the U's Med school. I want to be a dermatologist. I will work had to get the grades I need to get into medschool. I will work hard to do extremely well on the Emcat so I can get into medschool. My big and main goal is to get into to medschool and be a doctor. Make bank so I can give my kids the life I didn't have growing up. On a side note there is one thing I'm proud I got that I would regret soon much if I didn't get, and that is my eagle scout
ReplyDeleteI would like to answer the first question: Have you ever set a goal that you really wanted to accomplish and didn’t? What happened? Why were you not able to accomplish that goal? How do you think that NOT accomplishing goals set hurt you? When I was younger I always watched and listened to family members and friends come up with New Year’s Resolutions and during the first week of the New Year, give up. Which helped me determine that why should I bother coming up with New Year’s Resolutions when all I am going to do is give up on them. At the age of sixteen I decided that I was going to conduct an experiment on myself. My experiment was that I was going to set one goal for the New Year and see if I would give up during the first couple weeks of January. The goal that I had set was to get out and become more active. Such as go running every day, go to the gym, take a walk outdoors, etc. This was a goal that I really wanted to keep because the winter before I had gained a few more pounds than I had wanted and had become self-conscious about my weight. The first couple of days went rather well but soon my mind set started to become why bother? The laziness from the winter carried over and I gave up on the very goal I so badly wanted to keep. It was very hard for me because I often got made fun by friends and it was very upsetting. This time in my life made me realize that setting goals and keeping them up were hard for me and I wanted to change.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement by Jack Canfield because if we are responsible adults and want to be successful, we should take responsibility for every facet in our life. This responsibility goes beyond the results in our personal life; it goes into our careers, our families, our faith, and every relationship we develop. This assignment made me step back and think of the direction my life is headed. A detailed Life Plan is a foundation for the future. So many of us make New Year’s resolutions on what we want to change and the things we want to do. Without a detailed plan it’s just one more “feel good” statement that clears our conscience and makes us think that we have improved our lives.
ReplyDeleteWe can be mediocre in our achievements and “get by” in our personal life, our relationships, our job and our health, but deep inside are we satisfied? I know I can achieve greater things in my life by applying myself 100%. It is all too easy to give less than full effort to be regarded as successful in life. How many times have we heard the following, “Nice car”, “Look at that house”, “He makes tons of money” or “I wish I was him.” Most people settle for what they have and accept complacency rather than shooting for the stars with a little more effort. Our failures are too easy to blame on the other guy or say it’s not our fault. Someone else is always responsible for our failures or bad luck. If we want to be successful and have the “good” things in life, we need to take responsibility for all of our actions and experiences in life and make them what we want them to be; positive, uplifting, and profitable.
#3: I agree with Jack Canfield’s philosophy that success comes from personally accepting the responsibility for your life and all it entails. I am a very self-motivated person and from experience I believe that you can achieve anything you set your mind to, as well as will not achieve anything that you are not willing to commit to. Each of us determines our own fate and sets up our own future by the decisions we make and the steps we take in life. Yes there are outside sources that will influence the way we view things along the way but we put ourselves in the places that influence us. Every decision we make has a consequence that contributes to our personal story that is being written. Realizing this and taking on 100% of the responsibility for our lives will help us set and reach for goals that can lead to achievements and ultimate success.
ReplyDelete2. If you could change one thing in your life what would it be and why? Since you can't most likely change it, how can you accept responsibility for that "thing" and how could that help you today?
ReplyDeleteThinking over this, a realization comes to mind: There are things that can be changed and things that can’t. However, taking a true self-inventory, one must realize that we have been given power over more things than the world may tell us, including outside influences. That power is agency, or choice. One thing mentioned in Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is that we as a human race are given the choice of how to react in any circumstance. Touching on this in class, Professor Dalley spoke of being “reactive” or “proactive.” Let’s go over this briefly:
When faced with negative influences, or opposition, the reactive person will generally fly off the handle and begin to blame anything and anyone for their circumstances. There is no responsibility taken for the small space between stimulus and response. The proactive person, on the other hand, will recognize and utilize that priceless gift of agency to choose their reaction when face with opposition. They will not only take responsibility for their actions, but their RE-actions as well. This type of person can be recognized often by a positive “I can work with this” attitude, or their ability to remain calm, and even understanding in the face of negative influences. They will overcome or work around obstacles, rather than allow those obstacles to stop or defeat them. When looking at an unforeseen roadblock to their goals, they stop, reflect, strategize, plan, and create a new path to their dreams. A proactive person is one of the most successful creatures you will come across in your life travels.
Thus, choice is our ultimate power over self. Even when faced with something that can’t be changed, one may choose their response to the stimulus, or, simply get angry, throw a tantrum, and blame something else for their bad circumstances. When faced with opposition, how will you react?
I have set plenty of goals that I really wanted to accomplish, but didn't. Sometimes my goals are unrealistic in a sense that I think I can do anything and everything and that there is more time in one day than what really is. I guess my perception of time, and my ability to keep focus is skewed. Unrealistic so to speak. But yes, I have set plenty of goals that I did not accomplish. Why? I'm not sure. Mood and emotion changes on a daily basis and sometimes certain goals are set while emotionally twirked, so the next day, that goal is no longer relevant. Other goals that I have set and started on seem to get lost in time--excuses take up the time I should be working towards that goal. How does that hurt me? It gives me a reason to quit--an excuse as to why I have no longer tried to accomplish the goal I was trying to achieve. Though it is rough, it has also taught me how to REALLY know when I want to accomplish something and when I'm just saying it because I'm at an emotional high. Goals change just like people do--not all lost goals are failures. Sometimes they can be successes too.
ReplyDelete2. If you could change one thing in your life what would it be and why? Since you can't most likely change it, how can you accept responsibility for that "thing" and how could that help you today?
ReplyDeleteIf I could go back and change anything in my life it would be my parenting skills. Knowing what I know now I can clearly see that if I had made a few changes while my children were younger I could have possibly prevented some of the heart aches they have had to suffer due to my lack of knowledge and availability. I feel that I have accepted accountability, but the hard thing for me is to not believe it is too late to make a change. My children are still young enough that any changes I make within myself will still make a difference in their lives.