L12 CG

Learning objectives

Looking back at my growth from the start of leadership 11 until now, I was able to significantly improve my time management skills and work habits. That being said, with the start of a new year I believe I’ve barely scratched the surface in my abilities. As my senior year progresses and university knocks at my door steps, I feel that I need to develop a stronger habits, and maintain humility to keep me on my toes. So essentially, what is my goal to achieve that?

To Identify positive leadership qualities and negative leadership qualities.  (Theme 1, Principle 2)

To me, this starts from reducing as much unhealthy habits as possible, because there is no reason why I should be missing out on sleep because I was inefficient with my time, or ate unhealthy because It easier than making a balanced meal. Last year this issue was not that prominent, but as I go into my senior year and continue to take on more social and physical activities, I realize the compounding effect that those habits have on my productivity and health. And that results in less progress in achieving my goals, and quality and quantity of work.

How that ties in to being a leader and real world applications: When all the previous habits I mentioned are in check, my productivity increases significantly, and I’m able to achieve higher quality and quantity of work. As a leader, to set such a high standard will only help motivate others in a competitive growth mindset, and then one by one people begin taking more initiative and step up. That’s what really allows communities (like our school) to flourish, and is what should be the goal for a strong leader.

How am gon do:

Being intentional with my actions, and efficient with my time. I used to think “studying” 3-4 days before a final wasn’t inherently bad, but in reality it was just another form cramming for me. all the questions I had before during class had faded away, and I spent extra time during study sessions trying to figure out why I couldn’t understand or remember a topic. This staggered my learning, as I would have to address my questions with my teacher the next day.

To change this, I would firstly need to pay more attention in class and let my mind wander around less or good off with friends when essential info is being delivered. (not to say I cant make a Mr Lockwood joke every now and then ). Then, if I had a question, the first step would be to understand or figure it out using previous context ( a skill not just useful for homework). Finally if worst comes to worst, I would address the issue there and then to prevent further confusion. Though that last step is usually unnecessary if the first two are followed well. Critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skills can all improve by  being intentional with my time, and that’s why it’s a life skill I’d like to apply in all aspects of my learning.

Challenges:

– procrastination
– Possibly burnout
– Uncontrolled events / circumstances
– Past regrets
– Disagreements with others

 

The first one challenge be simply dealt with adding more productive activities to my schedule, to reduce the amount of time I have to waste. Though those activities would need to be somewhat of interest to me to prevent burnout over mindless work.

The next two challenges can be avoided by honest scheduling. This means setting realistic amount of buffer times between activities, and every now and then also providing myself the downtime that I need to help manage my work load better and give me recovery time for the days, weeks, and months ahead. For me that’s through sports, seeing family, and naps.

The last challenge is a bit different. The setback is not just that I have regrets, but that I repeat these regrets. In order to combat this, I would need reflect and not just “forget” about the problem. Identifying the root of the problem and what was in my reach is step one. Improving my own actions and abilities to mitigate them regrets is step 2. Step 3 is understanding that somethings may be out of my control, and not being so hard on myself for things I couldn’t manage is the key to help work around those problems. That being said I still need to maintain humility and be self critical so that I don’t make excuses for every instance. ie) conclude everything was out of control there was nothing I could’ve done . I’ve seen what that mindset does to people, and its like a sickness that takes over the mind.

Finally, I just want to recognize that I will be experiencing failures and disagreements through this journey, and if not that means that I’ve quit and no longer care to grow. How I deal with these failures and disagreements are what makes or breaks my character, and Is what shows as part of my qualities as a leader. How I can grow is by knowing that I don’t know everything, and be willing to learn from others. But at the same time stand my ground if I have strong evidence and experience to back up my suggestions or claims.