Monthly Archive for September, 2010

Page 2 of 3

Express True Self Through Journaling

One of the best ways to identify your true self is through journaling. Many people write in journals and only look at them months later. But the truth is you may find numerous treasures if you revisit your previous entries often.

When writing in your journal, it is important to write about whatever comes to mind. I recommend writing at the end of your day, before going to bed, so that you can include as many of the day’s events. Try to remember as much as you can about your day, using Post-it Notes to jot down certain things that impacted you throughout the day.

Make sure that your journal includes three important pieces of information:

  • Include every event that impacted you. If it was important enough to remember or you made a note of it during the day, it influenced you in some meaningful way.
  • Write down the feelings you had surrounding each event you mentioned in your journal. Then take as much time as you need to think about why you felt the way you felt. There is always a lesson hidden in the emotion you feel when an event takes place.
  • Log the reactions you had to each event. Determine if that is the reaction that you’d like to have if that event occurred again. If not, then write down how you’d like to change that reaction.

In order to make journal writing a consistent part of your weekly schedule, assign a certain amount of days that you commit to writing. Allow one additional day that will give you the opportunity to review your entries from that week. Reflect on them.

Between the margins, point out the parts of your true self that you embrace and want to keep a part of your being. Also, include notes about the parts of your true self that you’d like to change. When considering making alterations, think about some of the people you admire, whether you know them or not. The things we admire in others are aspects that we already possess in ourselves somewhat but may not yet express as much as we’d like to.

Published on Saturday September 18, 2010 in Broadcast and Self-Discovery. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Get Involved on Campus and Make Some Friends

Going to college is far more than just the academic experience. It’s also a time to grow into an adult, learn how to balance your schoolwork and social activities, dicover more about who you really are, and meet new friends.

Sometimes this can be a scary thing to do because you have known all of your high school friends for four years or more, depending on how long you lived in your school district. But making new friends, who resonate with your personality, will make college a much more wonderful and fun experience.

Start talking to the people in your classes. Join clubs, a sport team, or a organization on campus that you are interested in. Then you’ll meet other people with the same interests as you.

When I was in college, I met a lot of my friends from my cheerleading team. And then I made friends with the friends they were meeting. I’m still very close with my college friends.

Everyone goes to college not knowing what their journey is going to be like. Linking up with like-minded people will give your journey the full college experience.

Published on Friday September 17, 2010 in Broadcast and College Success. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Tapping Into Your True Self

Your true self is being exactly who you want to be. Some of the choices about who you want to be might be derived from your past, and some of the choices of who you want to be might be based on your personality.

Don’t doubt it for a minute that who you are influences what you do and how you do it. Let’s use a career example to show you exactly what I mean. If I have a student who does not value education and is only in school because his or her parents told him or her that is what he or she had to do after high school, that student is going to do is the bare minimum to pass classes. This is not you’re “A” or “B” student but the student who may or may not pass the class.

The student does this is by exerting only the slightest effort. The student does not study, does assignments last minute, and does not accept tutoring services when offered. The student just described has inner conflict and is not living a fulfilled and happy life in school or in any other aspect of his or her life.

Everyone has a foundation that makes up a part of who we are created from the environment from which we were raised, our families, our friends, the society around us, our religious background, our beliefs, and our morals and values. But what many people do not understand is that our foundation can be changed. Some parts of this foundation might work well for you right now in your life. If that’s the case, keep those aspects of your foundation. But for the parts of your foundation that aren’t working in your life, get rid of them so that you can be who you want to be.

Being your true self is so important, because it allows you to expose the gifts you have to offer to the world. If you keep them inside and don’t share them with anyone else, the world will miss your contribution.

One of the biggest blocks that prevents people from being who they want to be is fear of judgment from others. Some people worry about what their parents might think about their decisions, and others fear what their peers might think about their decisions. Fear of the peers is often referred to as peer pressure. No matter what age, many people feel they have to do what everyone else is doing so they can fit in. Most people think this only happens with teens and young adults, but the truth is that for a large chunk of life we all try to fit in at work, in our social groups, and within our families.

If you fear what others might think of you and your decisions, you are not tapped into your true self. If you live your life they way you want to live it, you’ve found the freedom that has been your right since you arrived on this Earth.

Tapping into your true self takes courage, because it may go against the grain of others you know and love. But if you feel you are living life the way it is supposed to be for you, keep going. You are on the right track.

Published on Thursday September 16, 2010 in Life Purpose, Self-Discovery and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Practicing Detached Involvement in the Classroom

Being engaged in the information you are learning is, of course, super important when it comes to being successful in college. However, try not to label yourself according to how you are progressing in your classes. Remember that everyone progresses at a different pace, and you have the entire semester to do what it takes to be as successful as you strive to be. 

In the beginning of the semester when I start returning essays back to my students, I always notice that their first set of grades can either become a brutal blow to a student’s self-esteem or a boost of confidence. Either way, your grades do not really say anything about you as a person but serve as an indication of what you need to work on to be successful in your classes.

I have seen students start off well in the beginning of the semester and then slack off because they think they are sure to pass with a high grade in the class. I have also seen students who begin the semester with weak grades and work hard to get really high grades at the conclusion of the semester. Either way, detaching yourself from the grades you get and using them as a tool to help you grow in the learning process is the way to go. It keeps you striving for more to improve on and will prevent you from giving up when things seem a little tough.

Believe it or not, your professors are not expecting you to walk into the classroom knowing everything they have set out to teach you throughout the semester. If that was the case, what would be the point for the students or the professor to even show up to class?

Look at your assignments and exams, see what is working for you and continue doing that. If you notice that something seems tough, go to your professor or your school’s tutoring center for extra help. You can even make a friend with someone else in the class who seems to understand the information you are learning. Everyone explains information differently, so hearing the information you are learning from someone else might just give you the tips you need to move forward successfully.

But by all means, do not give up. You are not your grades. Do your best and remember that your best in each class will differ because some information will be easier for you to learn than other information.

Published on Wednesday September 15, 2010 in Broadcast and College Success. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

How To & Benefits of Meditation

Meditation is often looked at as something weird or as a practice of a particular religion. If you look at it that way, it can be both of those things for you. But learning how to meditate changed my life completely. I don’t even know how I lived without practicing it for so many years.

What in the world is meditation anyway? It is what you make it, but for me it’s an opportunity to tap into my inner self and listen to my instincts without the distractions of life that can sometimes interrupt my flow of thought.

When I first started to meditate, I could not sit quietly without thinking of everything that was on my mind. I thought about all the things on my to do list, all the things that occurred that day, and even thoughts about why I couldn’t quiet my mind.

This experience was a clear indication to me that I was not using my intuition and could not tap into my inner self. But I didn’t know how.

I started off with guided meditations, which I still use quite often because I like it just as much as a meditation that is completely silent. In a guided meditation, the leader usually has a topic matter that he or she focuses on. During the meditation, the leader will give you things certain things to think about concerning that particular topic matter, and then he or she will also allow you time to let your thoughts drift away.

Because it’s not completely silent, this helped me get my mind to a place where I could sit quietly, even for over an hour, and allowing my mind to think of absolutely nothing.

Not only does meditation, in both formats, provide a sense of peace and serenity away from the hustle and bustle of my daily thoughts, but when the meditation is complete, I always find clarity around different areas of my life.

One time I attended a two hour, silent meditation. I was a bit nervous because that was the first time I was going to be completely silent for two hours. And being as though I woke up at 3 a.m. and traveled two and a half hours to get the event, I hoped that I would fall asleep or be too tired to benefit from the meditation. There was so much on my mind at the time. It was the end of the semester, and I had a lot of essays to grade. I was also making a major change in my life, which was moving to Orlando, Florida.

Even with all of that on my mind, I knew that if I let go of my thoughts, let God do His work in me, and get out of my own way, I’d get all the answers I needed. Sure enough, I was able to go home and get my grading done in a timely manner because my mind was clear. I also moved to Orlando, Florida a few months later.

Meditating and letting go of your thoughts is one of the biggest gifts you can give yourself. If you think it’s weird and don’t open your mind to try something new, it won’t do anything for you. It will only be as beneficial as you allow it to be. But if allow it to become a practice in your life, the opportunities it will provide are endless.

Published on Tuesday September 14, 2010 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments