Carina Liu, Period 2, 12/7/22

Blog #2
Atomic Habits & Growth

• At this current point in time, what specific standards have you set for yourself? How and why did you come to craft these standards?

“I will do it tomorrow”, tomorrow comes and I tell myself the same thing, and the day after tomorrow I say the same. Striving for perfection all the time, while being a chronic procrastinator is something that has taken a huge toll on me, especially when it comes to college applications. Since the summer, I noticed hat instead of actually doing my work and getting it done, I would spend more time stressing about the assignment than actually doing it. This was because I was scared. Everyday I sat in front of the computer, and wrote a bunch of paragraphs that I was unsatisfied with. They weren’t “perfect” like the ones I read online, and slowly I developed a self hatred. The more these negative feelings built up, the harder it became for me to write and think clearly. The stress worsened as deadlines approached. Although it was really difficult to break out of this spiral, as soon as December hit I realized that I needed to do something about this. I realized that continuing this way would not get me anywhere, and that I just need to get started and not think so much about it. A standard that I have set for myself is to start by letting go of perfection. Striving for perfection actually pushed me further away from it. Instead, when I put less pressure on myself I ended up being more satisfied with my writing. In addition I looked for new ways to get myself feeling productive such as working in a new environment, getting a drink to put myself in a better mood, and creating a calendar and list of things I needed to get done to keep me motivated. Slowly, I am able to see improvements in my work ethic and mental health.

• How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving these standards?

Things are always easier said than done. It is easy for someone to tell me that I should “just stop procrastinating.”

Although setting and following my standards is easier said than done, I was able to demonstrate resilience towards achieving these standards by thinking of the future, how worth it it will be in the end. Focusing on the reward at the end, and setting a clear goal for myself has made it a lot easier for me to keep going. On top of that, I am sick of being unhappy with myself, so I decided that I had to act upon this. By taking small steps and being more forgiving of myself, I am able to see improvements in my procrastination and time management which continue to push me forward.

• How do you assess yourself? What adjustments do you make? How often?

I assess myself through my progress. Everyday I will make a to-do list and try to complete everything that I need to get done before I go to sleep. However I find that I often need to make adjustments due to my busy schedule, and sometimes simply being incapable of doing all that work, participating in extracurricular activities, and getting enough sleep at the same time. By being more forgiving and lenient on myself when needed, I am able to budget my time by working harder on certain days, and giving myself breaks when necessary.