Joel Alex, Period 6, 9/15/22

 I am not someone who listens to motivational videos or life hack youtube videos. However, there is a philosophy of life that I agree with. It is the idea of setting high standards for yourself. I have found that setting high standards for yourself allows you to accomplish more on a daily basis and allows you to gain more fulfillment in life. I also believe that it is quite easy to implement.

I have found that wanting to improve yourself in any aspect of your life (mentally, physically, etc.) can help you gain a level of happiness and fufillment in life. It also creates humility, in the sense that you can always become better and you will never reach perfection..

I have found that often a good way of knowing what your personal goals really are is to write them down on paper. I usually list the following:

1. Traits and behaviors that you would like to develop, change, or improve on.

2. Habits you would want to implement into your life

3. A time constraint of when you want to like to accomplish this goal

4. What actions will you take to accomplish this goal?

For example, if my goal was to always ensure that my actions meet up with my words, I would list the following:

1. Meet deadlines.

2. Always honor my commitments. 

Then, you would set a time constraint on it. It takes roughly a month to form a habit assuming that you do it on a regular basis so after this amount of time is over, your new habit or trait will become second nature to you. If your personal goal was to improve your life from a more physical standpoint, you should set specific, progressive, and measurable goals with a clear deadline.

For example, assume your goal is to run a marathon. You would set a progressive goal. On day 1, I will run 1 mile. On day 2, I will run 2 miles. You should set a measurable goal. This is quite easy to do as 1 mile can be easily measured. You should set a goal with a clear deadline. I want to run a marathon in a month's worth of time.

One standard that I have specifically made for myself is to get rid of my procrastination. Procrastination is something that I have struggled with during my life. I am working toward this goal to create a daily to-do list with specific deadlines and break bigger projects and tasks into more manageable chunks. These goals can often be changed as time passes. If you find that a certain goal is not measurable or realistic, I have found that they can be changed with new deadlines.

You can develop resilience towards these goals by progressively attempting to achieve these goals. For instance, if you are a huge procrastinator, you can set smaller goals first and then move on to set and accomplish larger and harder goals. I usually make adjustments to my goals on an occasional basis.

My personal standards have largely been shaped by my personal experiences. I have come to the realization that with the exception of a few family and friends, nobody truly cares about you. As a result, you will have to take advantage of your life and can not depend on others greatly. By planning out your life through measurable and realistic goals, you can maximize your life to work in your favor.

By clearly staging my goals and hopes, I am able to give myself a clear rule to follow and live my life accordingly to. I have done this by making a list of everything that I want to accomplish in the next year’s time.

You can also make a list of people that you personally inspire and look up to because it keeps you motivated. You can also be motivated by other motives such as a desire to take care of your loved ones, etc.