Tag: goals

Identifying Obstacles: Factors That Could Interfere With Your GoalsI

Daily writing prompt
How often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals?
View all responses

By Kavita Dehalwar

Setting goals is the first step towards turning the invisible into the visible, as Tony Robbins famously said. Yet, along the journey towards achieving those goals, one often encounters numerous hurdles and obstacles that can hinder progress. Understanding these potential roadblocks is crucial for navigating them effectively. Here, we delve into some common factors that could interfere with your goals and how to overcome them.

  1. Lack of Clarity: Unclear goals can be a significant hindrance. If you’re unsure about what you want to achieve or why you want to achieve it, you’re more likely to be derailed by distractions or lose motivation along the way. Take the time to define your goals clearly, making them specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
  2. Fear of Failure: Fear can paralyze even the most well-intentioned individuals. The fear of failure often stems from a concern about what others might think, a lack of self-belief, or a fear of stepping out of one’s comfort zone. Recognize that failure is a natural part of the learning process and a stepping stone towards success. Embrace it, learn from it, and keep moving forward.
  3. Procrastination: Putting off tasks until later is a common habit that can impede progress towards your goals. Procrastination often arises from a combination of perfectionism, lack of motivation, or feeling overwhelmed. Combat procrastination by breaking your goals down into smaller, more manageable tasks, creating a schedule or to-do list, and eliminating distractions.
  4. Negative Self-Talk: The voice in your head can either be your greatest cheerleader or your harshest critic. Negative self-talk can erode confidence, diminish motivation, and lead to self-sabotage. Practice self-awareness and challenge negative thoughts by replacing them with positive affirmations and focusing on your strengths and past successes.
  5. Lack of Resources: Whether it’s time, money, skills, or support, a shortage of resources can pose a significant obstacle to achieving your goals. Identify the resources you need and explore creative ways to acquire or leverage them. This might involve seeking out mentors or collaborators, investing in self-education, or finding alternative solutions.
  6. External Distractions: In today’s hyper-connected world, distractions abound. From social media notifications to unexpected interruptions, external distractions can derail your focus and productivity. Set boundaries, establish a conducive work environment, and practice mindfulness to stay present and focused on your goals.
  7. Unforeseen Circumstances: Life is unpredictable, and unexpected events can throw a wrench into even the best-laid plans. Whether it’s a sudden illness, a family emergency, or a global crisis, unforeseen circumstances can force you to reassess your priorities and adjust your goals accordingly. Cultivate resilience and adaptability to navigate these challenges with grace.
  8. Lack of Accountability: Without being held accountable, it’s easy to lose sight of your goals or slack off when faced with obstacles. Find an accountability partner, coach, or mentor who can provide support, encouragement, and accountability along your journey. Regular check-ins and progress tracking can help keep you accountable and motivated.
  9. Perceived Limitations: Sometimes, the only thing standing in the way of your goals is your own limiting beliefs. Whether it’s a belief that you’re not good enough, smart enough, or deserving enough, these self-imposed limitations can hold you back from realizing your full potential. Challenge these beliefs, expand your comfort zone, and adopt a growth mindset that embraces challenges and sees failures as opportunities for growth.
  10. Lack of Persistence: Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are most goals achieved overnight. Persistence is key to overcoming obstacles and staying the course, even when the going gets tough. Cultivate resilience, stay committed to your goals, and remember that every setback is just a temporary detour on the road to success.

In conclusion, while the path to achieving your goals may be fraught with obstacles, it’s important to remember that each challenge presents an opportunity for growth and learning. By recognizing these potential barriers and implementing strategies to overcome them, you can stay focused, motivated, and ultimately, achieve success in pursuit of your goals.

References

Burton, D., & Weiss, C. (2008). The fundamental goal concept: the path to process and performance success.

Dehalwar, K., & Singh, J. (2016). Challenges and strategies for the improvement of water management in Bhopal. European Scientific Journal, 12(2).

Godshalk, V. M., & Sosik, J. J. (2003). Aiming for career success: The role of learning goal orientation in mentoring relationships. Journal of vocational behavior, 63(3), 417-437.

Hall, D. T., & Foster, L. W. (1977). A psychological success cycle and goal setting: Goals, performance, and attitudes. Academy of Management Journal, 20(2), 282-290.

Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Stanne, M. B. (1989). Impact of goal and resource interdependence on problem-solving success. The Journal of Social Psychology, 129(5), 621-629.

Locke, E. A. (1967). Relationship of success and expectation to affect on goal-seeking tasks. Journal of personality and social psychology, 7(2p1), 125.

VandeWalle, D. (2001). Goal orientation:: Why wanting to look successful doesn’t always lead to success. Organizational Dynamics, 30(2), 162-171.

How to be motivated for any goals!

We feel that comfort and convenience are the necessities of life, while all that we need to make ourselves happy is something to be proud of. ” – Albert Einstein

Dip

In all language courses, company building, and any type of creative project, there is immersion. Dip a long distance between beginner luck and real success.
Extraordinary benefits accumulate a handful of people who can push for longer than most.

Starting Before Immersion

In any goal to be achieved, there is a Beginning. It is often overlooked, as it always is.
Getting started is a big problem as you can only reach The Dip if you don’t finish Start, and many people dream of doing something rather than doing it and quitting.

Motivational management

The biggest problem we face in completing our projects is not production or time management, but motivational management. If you are motivated enough to accomplish something, you will move heaven and earth to do it.

Motivation Explained

Motivation is “the reason or reason for a person to do or behave in a certain way,” or to put it another way, “a common desire or determination.”

“If you stop doing what you want to do, then the reasons for quitting are more than just reasons to keep going. Thus, to maintain your motivation you can strengthen the reasons for continuing or weaken the reasons for quitting. Effective motivation often involves both. ” – Ericsson & Poole

Promotion to Start a Project
  • Increase your reason for starting a project, by increasing the importance of starting it.
  • Increase the time you are expected to succeed in the task.
  • Reduce your reasons for the delay, by increasing urgency, using deadlines.
Parkinson’s Law

It says “work grows to complete the available time for its completion.”

Commitment device

Many people use a dedicated device or play around them to find and stay motivated.
You can help your physical goal with things like throwing away your junk food, just bathing in the gym to get there, and similar activities aimed at focusing on your goal. People also use social responsibility in social media to keep themselves motivated by peer pressure.

Stay Motivated

Set small, climbing goals that are fun enough to motivate you and that you expect to achieve.

How to proceed
  • Keep your Expectancy feeling in the project using minimal winnings and achievements.
  • Reward yourself.
  • Maintain a sense of urgency by finding a way to remind yourself of the big picture of the small daily moments of effort.
  • Develop good habits.
  • Get flow.
  • Set clear goals to follow.
  • Save energy.
reference

https://www.nateliason.com/blog/motivation

Ideas to change your life!

“People don’t like to think, if one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.” – Helen Keller

Think big, act small

Never let anything hold you back when you think of ideas.
You’ve got nothing to lose. Just make sure you act small. Put in the work and stay practical.

Problems are unanswered questions

Every time you experience stress over a problem, you’re sabotaging your life.
A problem is nothing but an unanswered question. So stay calm. And figure out the answer.

firm foundation for relationships

Wrong reasons to start relationships include money, fear of being alone, abuse, needing attention.
The foundation of all relationships should be based on love, respect, support, trust, patience, good company, laughter, sadness, and more support.

Nothing in life is free

You always pay for something with money, time (the most valuable thing you have), or other resources.
Life is a business. And smart business people spend their resources wisely.

Never be afraid of making decisions

Waiting, postponing, doubting, researching too much — it’s all not useful. Get your act together, and decide firmly whenever you have to make one. 
And when you made the wrong decision, own it, apologize, and make another decision.

Decide to become a leader

Being a leader also has nothing to do with your title.
When everyone looks at each other because no one wants to take responsibility, decide that you will take responsibility.

Productivity yields results

There’s only one thing that helps you to go from nothing to something: You have to put in the work. 
Make sure you value effectiveness over everything. Results matter. Get things done and move on to the next thing.

See yourself as a salesperson

In almost everything you do, you’re selling yourself.
When you sell, be transparent, honest, and to the point. Don’t waste your time on people who don’t like you anyway. 

Improve your skills

To improve your self-confidence.
You only improve your self-confidence by becoming good at something: By learning, doing, seeing results, and repeating that process for years. Your confidence will grow slowly every day.

Value your friends

We’re social animals. When we’re alone, we die early.  
So be nice to each other. And respect that your friends also have lives of their own.

Don’t believe everything you see

Don’t believe all the success stories you see everywhere. YouTubers, Instagram models, millionaire entrepreneurs: They seem perfect. But you only see the outside.
You don’t have to be a cynic. Just don’t take appearances for facts.

Learn to love criticism

It’s fuel for you. You can use criticism to improve yourself, your product, or your service. 
Or, if the criticism makes no sense, it can make you angry, which is also a good thing. That type of anger is useful. “I’ll show them!”

Take care of your body

If you can’t take care of your body, you can’t take care of anything.
You can influence your health by eating healthy, exercising, and treating your body with respect.

Happiness is a choice

You control your thoughts. That means you decide what you do with your life. If you’re unsatisfied, angry, or frustrated, that’s all you.

Create something

Make yourself useful. 
Instead of consuming so much information, products, and entertainment from others, spend a fraction of that time on creating something yourself.

Reference

https://observer.com/2017/02/i-have-15-ideas-to-change-your-life-do-you-have-five-minutes/

What are Carbon Markets ?



Carbon Markets: Carbon markets facilitate the trading of emission reductions. Such a market allows countries, or industries, to earn carbon credits for the emission reductions they make in excess of their targets. These carbon credits can be traded to the highest bidder in exchange of money. The buyers of carbon credits can show the emission reductions as their own and use them to meet their reduction targets. Carbon markets are considered a very important and effective instrument to reduce overall emissions.



A carbon market existed under Kyoto Protocol but is no longer there because the Protocol itself expired last year. A new market under Paris Agreement is yet to become functional. Developing countries like India, China or Brazil have large amounts of carbon credits left over because of the lack of demand as many countries abandoned their emission reduction targets. The developing countries wanted their unused carbon credits to be transitioned to the new market, something that the developed nations had been opposing on the grounds that the quality of these credits — the question whether these credits represent actual emission reductions — was a suspect. A deadlock over this had been holding up the finalisation of the rules and procedures of the Paris Agreement.


The Glasgow Pact has offered some reprieve to the developing nations. It has allowed these carbon credits to be used in meeting countries’ first NDC targets. These cannot be used for meeting targets in subsequent NDCs. That means, if a developed country wants to buy these credits to meet its own emission reduction targets, it can do so till 2025. Most countries have presented climate targets for 2025 in their first NDCs.

The resolution of the deadlock over carbon markets represents one of the major successes of COP26.

Achievements of the Glasgow Summit 2021




What was achieved?

Mitigation: The Glasgow agreement has emphasised that stronger action in the current decade was most critical to achieving the 1.5-degree target. Accordingly, it has:

1. Asked countries to strengthen their 2030 climate action plans, or NDCs (nationally-determined contributions), by next year.

2. Established a work programme to urgently scale-up mitigation ambition and implementation.

3. Decided to convene an annual meeting of ministers to raise ambition of 2030 climate actions.

4. Called for an annual synthesis report on what countries were doing.

5. Requested the UN Secretary General to convene a meeting of world leaders in 2023 to scale-up ambition of climate action.

6. Asked countries to make efforts to reduce usage of coal as a source of fuel, and abolish “inefficient” subsidies on fossil fuels
Has called for a phase-down of coal, and phase-out of fossil fuels. This is the first time that coal has been explicitly mentioned in any COP decision. It also led to big fracas at the end, with a group of countries led by India and China forcing an amendment to the word “phase-out” in relation to coal changed to “phase-down”. The initial language on this provision was much more direct. It called on all parties to accelerate phase-out of coal and fossil fuel subsidies. It was watered down in subsequent drafts to read phase-out of “unabated” coal power and “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies. But even this was not liking to the developing countries who then got it changed to “phase down unabated coal power and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies while providing targeted support to the poorest and the most vulnerable in line with national circumstances…”. Despite the dilution, the inclusion of language on reduction of coal power is being seen as a significant movement forward.



Adaptation: Most of the countries, especially the smaller and poorer ones, and the small island states, consider adaptation to be the most important component of climate action. These countries, due to their lower capacities, are already facing the worst impacts of climate change, and require immediate money, technology and capacity building for their adaptation activities.

As such, the Glasgow Climate Pact has:

Asked the developed countries to at least double the money being provided for adaptation by 2025 from the 2019 levels. In 2019, about $15 billion was made available for adaptation that was less than 20 per cent of the total climate finance flows. Developing countries have been demanding that at least half of all climate finance should be directed towards adaptation efforts.


Created a two-year work programme to define a global goal on adaptation. The Paris Agreement has a global goal on mitigation — reduce greenhouse gas emissions deep enough to keep the temperature rise within 2 degree Celsius of pre-industrial times. A similar global goal on adaptation has been missing, primarily because of the difficulty in defining such a target. Unlike mitigation efforts that bring global benefits, the benefits from adaptation are local or regional. There are no uniform global criteria against which adaptation targets can be set and measured. However, this has been a long-pending demand of developing countries and the Paris Agreement also asks for defining such a goal.



Finance: Every climate action has financial implications. It is now estimated that trillions of dollars are required every year to fund all the actions necessary to achieve the climate targets. But, money has been in short supply. Developed countries are under an obligation, due to their historical responsibility in emitting greenhouse gases, to provide finance and technology to the developing nations to help them deal with climate change. In 2009, developed countries had promised to mobilise at least $100 billion every year from 2020. This promise was reaffirmed during the Paris Agreement, which also asked the developed countries to scale up this amount from 2025. The 2020 deadline has long passed but the $100 billion promise has not been fulfilled. The developed nations have now said that they will arrange this amount by 2023.

What does the Glasgow Agreement say?

Following are the major observations of the Glasgow Summit :

1. A deal aimed at staving off dangerous climate change has been struck at the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

2. Expressed “deep regrets” over the failure of the developed countries to deliver on their $100 billion promise. It has asked them to arrange this money urgently and in every year till 2025.

3. Initiated discussions on setting the new target for climate finance, beyond $100 billion for the post-2025 period.

4. Asked the developed countries to provide transparent information about the money they plan to provide.

5. Loss and Damage: The frequency of climate disasters has been rising rapidly, and many of these cause largescale devastation. The worst affected are the poor and small countries, and the island states. There is no institutional mechanism to compensate these nations for the losses, or provide them help in the form of relief and rehabilitation. The loss and damage provision in the Paris Agreement seeks to address that.


Introduced eight years ago in Warsaw, the provision hasn’t received much attention at the COPs, mainly because it was seen as an effort requiring huge sums of money. However, the affected countries have been demanding some meaningful action on this front. Thanks to a push from many nations, substantive discussions on loss and damage could take place in Glasgow. One of the earlier drafts included a provision for setting up of a facility to coordinate loss and damage activities. However, the final agreement, which has acknowledged the problem and dealt with the subject at substantial length, has only established a “dialogue” to discuss arrangements for funding of such activities. This is being seen as a major let-down.

What are Carbon Markets ?

Glasgow Summit 2021



Carbon Markets: Carbon markets facilitate the trading of emission reductions. Such a market allows countries, or industries, to earn carbon credits for the emission reductions they make in excess of their targets. These carbon credits can be traded to the highest bidder in exchange of money. The buyers of carbon credits can show the emission reductions as their own and use them to meet their reduction targets. Carbon markets are considered a very important and effective instrument to reduce overall emissions.



A carbon market existed under Kyoto Protocol but is no longer there because the Protocol itself expired last year. A new market under Paris Agreement is yet to become functional. Developing countries like India, China or Brazil have large amounts of carbon credits left over because of the lack of demand as many countries abandoned their emission reduction targets. The developing countries wanted their unused carbon credits to be transitioned to the new market, something that the developed nations had been opposing on the grounds that the quality of these credits — the question whether these credits represent actual emission reductions — was a suspect. A deadlock over this had been holding up the finalisation of the rules and procedures of the Paris Agreement.


The Glasgow Pact has offered some reprieve to the developing nations. It has allowed these carbon credits to be used in meeting countries’ first NDC targets. These cannot be used for meeting targets in subsequent NDCs. That means, if a developed country wants to buy these credits to meet its own emission reduction targets, it can do so till 2025. Most countries have presented climate targets for 2025 in their first NDCs.

The resolution of the deadlock over carbon markets represents one of the major successes of COP26.

Five terms that came up at the climate change conference in Glasgow 2021


The main task for COP26 was to finalise the rules and procedures for implementation of the Paris Agreement. Most of these rules had been finalised by 2018, but a few provisions, like the one relating to creation of new carbon markets, had remained unresolved.

After two weeks of negotiations with governments debating over provisions on phasing out coal, cutting greenhouse gas emissions and providing money to the poor world, the annual climate change summit came to an end on Saturday night with the adoption of a weaker-than-expected agreement called the Glasgow Climate Pact.



The Glasgow meeting was the 26th session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP26. The main task for COP26 was to finalise the rules and procedures for implementation of the Paris Agreement. Most of these rules had been finalised by 2018, but a few provisions, like the one relating to creation of new carbon markets, had remained unresolved. However, due to clear evidence of worsening of the climate crisis in the six years since the Paris Agreement was finalised, host country United Kingdom was keen to ensure that Glasgow, instead of becoming merely a “procedural” COP, was a turning point in enhancing climate actions. The effort was to push for an agreement that could put the world on a 1.5 degree Celsius pathway, instead of the 2 degree Celsius trajectory which is the main objective of the Paris Agreement.

MANAGEMENT CHARACTERISTICS

1) IT IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS

It is a never ending process. Continuity is an important part of management. It is necessary throughout the life of organization. Management is essential to begin the activity, to run it smoothly and to control the activity.

2) MANAGEMENT IS GOAL ORIENTED

Every business organisation has their own set of goals which is decided prior to the execution of the goal. When the management achieves the goal it is called success. Success depends on proper management skills and a manager takes a lot of efforts to achieve this goals. So management is a goal oriented activity.

3) MANAGEMENT IS DYNAMIC

Management is dynamic and not static in character. It deals with human efforts different situations and activities. It embrace changes in form of technological change, socio-economical change, political changes and many more.

4) MANAGEMENT IS UNIVERSAL

Management is universal in character. The principles and theories of management are equally applicable to everywhere and in every field like defence, business, education, etc. These principles are guidelines which are flexible and capable of adaptation to every type of organization.

Tips to learn a new language faster

Learning a new language often considered as really tough task, but is it true? Maybe for some, but the real truth is if followed right resources and direction is definitely an task to do so. So for this here are some tips that might help you.

1) Know about the language that you are going to learn

By writing this I mean one should know what language is he or she going to learn. If you have clear idea of what actually you are going to learn will help you to set almost perfect goals which will ultimately help you to do what you want.

2) Set goals

Setting goals to learn a new language will help you to go far and keep yourself ahead. Goal setting should be done after being familiar by the subject.

3) Set small goals

Setting small goals will help you to complete your work on given time. Setting small goals will also help you to analyse yourself and keep your records on track.

4) Analyse yourself

Analysing is an art if done properly will take you way to far. Whenever do things do them on time and analyse what mistakes you make or what are the problem that you have encountered.

5) Challenge yourself

This part will help you to grow. grow beyond your limits. But one thing to keep in mind while doing so is do not challenge yourself more than what will harm you. Doing this in moderation will definitely help but if done excessive will also harm.

6) Use the language as frequently as you can

If you do so it will help you to retain things faster. It will also help you to clear your vocabulary and pronunciation and also will help you to keep everything you learn stored in your brain for a long time.

7) Test yourself

At the end complete your learning and test your self this will help you to know how much you have learn about the language.

Hope you will like my blog follow the steps and go ahead. Happy learning!

Book review: A novel: It ends with us

BOOK:- It ends with us

AUTHOR:- Colleen Hoover

GENRES:- It is a standalone contemporary romance novel, fiction.

RELEASE DATE:- 2nd August, 2016.

ADAPTATIONS:- It ends with us (play) and It ends with us (movie).

MAIN CHARACTERS:- Lily Bloom ( female protagonist), Ryle Kincaid ( Lily’s husband, a surgeon) & Atlas Corrigan ( Lily’s teenage love interest, a homeless boy later owner of a restraunt). And many supporting characters like Lily’s father, her mother, ryle’s sister, his sister’s husband, ryle’s mother.

“ Fifteen seconds, That’s all it takes to completely change everything about a person. Fifteen seconds that we’ll never get back.”

– Line said by the protagonist Lily in the book.

SUMMARY:-

The book starts with introducing the female protagonist Lily Bloom. Lily is a twenty-three year old business graduate. She has grown up in an abusive family where her father was usually abusive towards her mother. At the age of fifteen she fell in love with Atlas, a eighteen year old homeless boy from her neighbourhood. She cares for Atlas. She loved him so much. But he left her promising to come to her when he will join military. She was all alone at this time but she didn’t loose hope. She left her past life and started her own flower business in Boston.

In Boston, she met Ryle, a neurosurgeon and soon fall in love with him. But he was not ready to be in a relationship and they parted their ways. After six months, Lily hired an employee named Allysa, who was Ryle’s sister. After many encounters Ryle finally realised that he can’t live without Lily so decided to marry her. Everything was perfect, the romance between Ryle and Lily was increasing day by day. One day Ryle decided to meet Lily and her mother, there she encounters Atlas, and was not able to control her feelings, which was not loves by Ryle for sure. Slowly he started to abuse her,Whenever he can. Lily always told herself that she was not like her mother and Ryle was not like her father.

She started to live with Ryle and she found a deep dark past of Ryle and was shocked. His behaviour towards Lily was being more and more abusive day by day until one day when he can’t control himself and almost raped her. She asked Atlas help in that situation and found that she was pregnant. She doesn’t know whether to love Ryle or hate him for his behaviour. After two months she witnessed a knock on her door and she was sacred to find that he was none other than Ryle. He told her that he just came to talk to her and he did so, but she wasn’t happy with it. She missed him. But also she cannot forget what he did to her. And the story continues how ryle’s sister and Lily’s mother help her, how she allowed Ryle to be with her in her pregnancy dates, how she told Ryle what she felt about him.

BOOK REVIEW:-

Overall the book is just beyond fabulous The characters, the narration and everything seems to be perfect. I personally loved the character of Lily and Atlas. Lily’s strong decision and ability to do justice to herself and her daughter was remarkable. The narration was so strong that you will personally think of yourself in the characters place.

Firstly while reading the book I thought it will be just an average but as soon the book started every single page hooked me to read more and more. Especially I loved the narration it was just awesome. The character of Lily was so very incredible. Atlas has great chemistry with Lily like after so long they had the same feelings for each other.

This is the must read book though sometimes the story didn’t bother me but it was such a great piece of writing that can’t be expressed in words. I hadn’t given the spoiler because it would be far better to read and enjoy it at the same time.

Values

Values are the positive teachings provided to help us and tread the right path in life. Every parent wants his child to imbibe these. These can even be referred to as good qualities. A person who imbibes good values grows on to become a responsible individual and he is capable of demarcating right and wrong. Also, he is able to make wiser decisions in life.

Importance of Values

For an individual, values are most important. An individual with good values is loved by everyone around as he is compassionate about others and also he behaves ethically.

Values Help in Decision Making

A person is able to judge what is right and what is wrong based on the values he imbibes. In life at various steps, it makes the decision-making process easier. A person with good values is always likely to make better decisions than others.

Values Can Give Direction to Our Life

In life, Values give us clear goals. They always tell us how we should behave and act in different situations and give the right direction to our life. In life, a person with good values can take better charge.

Values Can Build Character

If a person wants a strong character, then he has to possesses good values such as honesty, loyalty, reliability, efficiency, consistency, compassion, determination, and courage. Values always help in building our character.

Values Can Help in Building a Society

If u want a better society then people need to bear good values. Values play an important role in society. They only need to do their hard work, with compassion, honesty, and other values. Such people will help in the growth of society and make it a much better place to live.

Characteristics of Values

Values are always based on various things. While the basic values remain the same across cultures and are intact since centuries some values may vary. Values may be specific to a society or age. In the past, it was considered that women with good moral values must stay at home and not voice their opinion on anything but however, this has changed over time. Our culture and society determine the values to a large extent. We imbibe values during our childhood years and they remain with us throughout our life.

Family always plays the most important role in rendering values to us. Decisions in life are largely based on the values we possess. Values are permanent and seldom change. A person is always known by the values he possesses. The values of a person always reflect on his attitude and overall personality.

The Decline of Values in the Modern Times

While values are of great importance and we are all aware of the same unfortunately people these days are so engrossed in making money and building a good lifestyle that they often overlook the importance of values. At the age when children must be taught good values, they are taught to fight and survive in this competitive world. Their academics and performance in other activities are given importance over their values.

Parents, as well as teachers, teach them how to take on each other and win by any means instead of inculcating good sportsman spirit in them and teaching them values such as integrity, compassion, and patience. Children always look up to their elders as their role models and it is unfortunate that elders these days have a lack of values. Therefore the children learn the same.

Conclusion

In order to help him grow into a responsible and wise human being, it is important for people to realize that values must be given topmost priority in a child’s life because children are the future of the society. There can be nothing better in a society where a majority of people have good values and they follow the ethical norms.

“VALUES ARE LIKE FINGERPRINTS. NOBODY’S ARE THE SAME, BUT YOU LEAVE THEM ALL OVER EVERYTHING YOU DO.”

— ELVIS PRESLEY

The Perils of Perfectionism

Perfectionism can be described as the persistent need or desire to accomplish things perfectly, according to a standard that one sets for oneself. It is considered a positive virtue often in our culture. We encourage students to strive for their best and athletes have grueling practice sessions in order to reach their goals. The desire to do well is a good thing but one has to ask whether an obsession with perfectionism actually ends up being counterproductive. We need to distinguish between aiming to do well which is what high achievers tend to do, and being obsessed with nothing but perfection, a standard too high to reach and humanly impossible to achieve.

In a society where individuals are so often judged based on what they are capable of achieving and what position they hold, it is tempting to base all our worth on our ability to do something flawlessly. The temptation is greater for certain personality types who are naturally prone to work harder and be ambitious. Perfectionism has a positive side which involves healthy practices like setting goals for oneself, attempting to do better, and to learn and grow more. The negative side includes feelings of unworthiness, fear of failure, anxiety, insecurity, and debilitating stress. A healthy balance of both, and a need to overcome an obsession with being perfect is essential to maintain mental and physical health.

man in black suit achieved an accomplishment
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Perfectionism causes an individual to set standards for himself that he might not be able to keep. This can lead to him becoming anxious or depressed. It will affect his relationship with others, he might consider asking for help a sign of weakness, and he might develop severe trust issues since he tends to believe others will not do as good a job as him; he will think that unless he carries out a task, it won’t be perfect. This often leads to exhaustion and severe stress. A perfectionist tends to obsess over details that might not be that important, and their fear of failure might lead them to not engage in many opportunities. They usually tend to procrastinate chronically, and they might also end up holding others to impossible standards as well. Perfectionists are overly critical about themselves and worry about whether they are doing things right. As opposed to high achievers who will be satisfied with having given their best, perfectionists will need to have done everything perfectly regardless of how equipped they are to do the activity. Unrealistic standards and unnecessary self-criticism are detrimental to our mental health and our ability to do work well. It also makes us defensive and anxious about all criticism.

Understanding the signs of perfectionism and trying to undo it is important for every individual who struggles with this issue. Self-affirmation and acceptance can be one of the first steps towards a better and healthier approach to work. A work ethic that is bent on having everything perfect only destroys rather than builds. Acknowledge that you are not perfect and that you are bound to make mistakes. Delegate tasks and trust others when you are overburdened. Set goals that are achievable and be kind to yourself. Don’t ruminate over a problem excessively but learn to let go and move on. If you find yourself going on a thought spiral, find a distraction that will break that thought cycle: take a nap, do a mundane task, phone a friend. Remember to let yourself breathe and be human, to aim for excellence but not perfection.

Education and Success

Education and success are two parameters of life that typically distinguish an individual. Being successful and being educated are two determinants that might be identified with each other.

There is a good percentage of the population that believes that success only comes to the ones who are well educated, who have attained their degrees from prestigious institutes, while the uneducated or he less educated ones can not succeed in their lives. These people fail to understand one fact about life that success has no boundaries and it comes without the obligation of getting a degree from IITs, IIMs, Ivy leagues or Harvard, success requires hard work and passion about your field of work.

One can become successful if they are well informed and passionate about the field of their choice. Being educated one becomes more intellectual and hence accepted by various firms and organizations regarding jobs of their choices. But education is a label to a person’s intellect.

We have examples like Steve Jobs, who just attended one semester of college and with Steve Wozniak founded Apple Inc.; Bill Gates, who dropped out after two years of attending the prestigious Harvard University to work on his passion which turns out to be the giant company Microsoft; Mark Zuckerburg, who after his second year at Harvard dropped out and worked hard for the giant company we have today: Facebook; Michael Dell, who dropped out of the University of Texas in his very first year there to work for his passion and formed the company, Dell. There are many more examples of such extra-ordinary people who did not complete a college degree but followed their passion and worked hard on it to succeed in what they felt was good for them.

Success is all about attaining your aim and achieving your goals. Education is no doubt important but education is not the only factor that leads to success, you can succeed if you set achievable goals for yourself and are focused enough to get what you want.