Jessie Lee, Period 6, 2/27/23

 Jessie Lee, Period 6, 2/27/2023 

Modern Mythology: Atomic Habits & Growth 

These past few weeks have been especially eye-opening and unnerving for me as the realization that I am an adult preparing to go to college in a few months hits. My whole life, I have been physically and emotionally reliant on my parents and family, so going to college will be a huge adjustment for me. I have set standards recently to improve my lifestyle and create optimal schedules that work for me. For example, I have made it a goal to correct my sleep schedule, so I try to always get my work done earlier in the day and not procrastinate to do it at night. I want to learn to study better so that instead of only studying for really long periods of time, I can learn to be more efficient with my studying. Another standard I have set for myself recently is learning to be proud of myself. For the past few years of my life, I have spent a huge amount of time studying and focusing on my academics, and never allowed myself to address my mental health. Now, especially with college decisions coming out soon, I have been more stressed than ever. But I have learned to understand that college is not only defined by prestige. It is about choosing a college that is best fit for me and my future aspirations. No matter where I end up, even if it is not the school I was dreaming of originally, I will make my own college experience, and hopefully continue on to further my ambitions. I will be proud of myself regardless of what happens, because a college admission does not define my worth, my achievements, or my abilities. I have come to craft these standards because I realized that I am going to college soon, and I will be responsible for so many more aspects of my life beyond studying. I will have to be even better at balancing my time, finding time to go out on my own, to cook, to clean, and to visit my family. By crafting such standards for myself, I gain inevitable skills of self-awareness and time management. I am learning to develop a healthier mindset, and not one that is only driven by results. I am capable of more than what others tell me, but I need to start by believing it. So I will begin by being proud of myself and how far I have come. And I will continue to push myself to be better and achieve the goals I had set for myself a long time ago. I will be proud of the little accomplishments I make on my way to my larger aspirations. 

I demonstrate resilience towards achieving these standards because I have learned to accept and embrace change. Through trial and error, I learned to understand what works for me and what doesn’t. For example, I know that when I study, it is more about quality than quantity. To become a more efficient student, I take breaks when I study, giving myself time to actually understand the information I am studying and not forcing my brain to work for hours at a time. I have tried extensive planners and schedules, but I realized that marking events down on my calendar and jotting little notes to myself works best for me. I am also always learning more about myself. Sometimes, telling myself something is not enough, because I know that I will not believe it. But by learning to allow myself to celebrate even small achievements, I have allowed myself to focus more on the good than the bad in my life. I see such accomplishments as small successes, worthy to be proud of because they all play a crucial role in my becoming the person I aspire to be. I assess myself by journaling. I like to journal right before I go to bed not only as a way to express my feelings, but also to help me recall memories. Especially after a stressful day, I realize that I prefer spending time alone, and documenting events and what I am grateful for has become my way of coping with my stress. I will make adjustments if I feel like I cannot keep up with the standards I have created for myself. The point of giving standards for myself is to hopefully create a more balanced lifestyle, but this also comes with healthy and realistic lifestyle choices and changes. As much as there are changes I would want to make to my lifestyle, I understand that there are some changes I will not be able to keep up with. For example, sometimes on weekends, I really want to wake up extremely early so I can have what I call a productive morning. However, after being in school all week, I can be really tired, so waking up early is not always an option for me if I want to get enough sleep. Instead, I choose to let myself sleep in a little, and become more productive in the rest of my day so that I have time to get my work done, but also to relax and find alone time. While learning to be more proud of myself, I also realized that sometimes it is not a realistic route for me. I am someone who tends to dwell on failure, and it is something that I am still trying to improve about myself, so sometimes, it is difficult to always think positively about myself. However, I try to use the concept, “If it is not something that will affect me in five years, then I will not spend more than five minutes dwelling on it” to think about things that do not go my way. Instead of focusing on the bad, I will learn to be proud of the good, as I continue to reflect on myself and grow as a young adult.