During the summer vacation, we were assigned to read a book that was chosen as a class. We chose to read “7 Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers” by Sean Covey. In the first part of the book, Covey talks about paradigms. He talks about how each person has paradigms of themselves, of others, and about life in general. This really got me thinking about my own paradigms. It made me ask myself, “Are my paradigms towards my self, others and life in general clear to me?” and Covey tells the reader to consider this question “Are these paradigms helping me, or hindering me?” So having these to questions in mind, I will first analyse what are the paradigms that I have, and after that, analyse wether they’re helping me or not.
What are my paradigms of self? Well, honestly, I sometimes think about myself as I won’t be able to accomplish things, like I’m not good at something without even trying first. I believe that the result of this is pretty obvious. It’s keeping me from trying new stuff. I was so settled on being in the national teakwondo team, that I never tried anything new because I was afraid of stepping out of my comfort zone, in this case, taekwondo. But after all, I was able to finally step out of my comfort zone by leaving the national team to let other opportunities into my life. The next step is actually trying all of these new things I want to try. Another self paradigm that I have is that I think about my self as someone who won’t succeed in life. I know this is pretty cliché, but honestly, I have noticed myself thinking this more than I should, and it really brings me down. I still don’t know what the results of this might be, but I have some pretty good inferences. I believe that if I think that I won’t succeed in life, I will convince myself of it, and it will become true. Covey says that negative paradigms of self can really bring you down in life, and the positive ones can really bring the best out of you. It is obvious that the main self paradigms that I have are both negative, so it is really important for me to start to change them into positive ones. I need to experience what Linda (from the book) experienced, a “paradigm shift”.
For paradigms of others, I have to dig deeper into my mind. Honestly, I judge people too fast, always. Whenever somebody, specially someone I know, does something they don’t usually do and it’s something that I’m not comfortable with, I jump straight into conclusions like: “He’s so immature now, what happened?” or “He is so fake, I can tell that he doesn’t really feel what he said.” And after i talk to other people and find out what was really happening or what the actual problem was, I realise that I was in fact to quick to jude. This is also bringing me down as a person. This could really affect how other’s think about me as well. Also, and now I talking about my family, I’m always so embarrassed of what my family does n public. Now, there’s two parts to this, one is about how much I depend on what other people think about me when I’m around my family, and also about how o think about my family itself.
Paradigms of life. Now this is something easy for me to talk about. I say this because the paradigms that I have towards life in general are so obvious to me, that it takes very little time to think about them and analyse them. I’m known as the “grumpy” one on my family. I always told that I should see life positively, but I never actually do. I always get disappointed and mad and what ever happens to me. The happy moments are only temporary in my life. What I’m trying to say is that my main paradigm of life is: “My life is a never ending line of disappointments and struggles that are sometimes interrupted by brief positive moments.” I really want to believe that this is not actually true, that it’s just my teenage years messing up the way I think about life, but for now, that’s reality. I know for a fact that believing this is what it is causing it to be true, but I can’t think the opposite way. My mind is set to that paradigm, and if I want to be truly happy, I need a paradigm shift desperately.
In conclusion, I can say that all of my paradigms, self, to others, for to life itself are negative, and they are not letting my show my full potential. They are not letting me live my life to the fullest. I really with that by the time I finish reading the book I will be turned into a “highly effective teenager” with positive paradigms, because this is only the first step to being one.
What are my paradigms of self? Well, honestly, I sometimes think about myself as I won’t be able to accomplish things, like I’m not good at something without even trying first. I believe that the result of this is pretty obvious. It’s keeping me from trying new stuff. I was so settled on being in the national teakwondo team, that I never tried anything new because I was afraid of stepping out of my comfort zone, in this case, taekwondo. But after all, I was able to finally step out of my comfort zone by leaving the national team to let other opportunities into my life. The next step is actually trying all of these new things I want to try. Another self paradigm that I have is that I think about my self as someone who won’t succeed in life. I know this is pretty cliché, but honestly, I have noticed myself thinking this more than I should, and it really brings me down. I still don’t know what the results of this might be, but I have some pretty good inferences. I believe that if I think that I won’t succeed in life, I will convince myself of it, and it will become true. Covey says that negative paradigms of self can really bring you down in life, and the positive ones can really bring the best out of you. It is obvious that the main self paradigms that I have are both negative, so it is really important for me to start to change them into positive ones. I need to experience what Linda (from the book) experienced, a “paradigm shift”.
For paradigms of others, I have to dig deeper into my mind. Honestly, I judge people too fast, always. Whenever somebody, specially someone I know, does something they don’t usually do and it’s something that I’m not comfortable with, I jump straight into conclusions like: “He’s so immature now, what happened?” or “He is so fake, I can tell that he doesn’t really feel what he said.” And after i talk to other people and find out what was really happening or what the actual problem was, I realise that I was in fact to quick to jude. This is also bringing me down as a person. This could really affect how other’s think about me as well. Also, and now I talking about my family, I’m always so embarrassed of what my family does n public. Now, there’s two parts to this, one is about how much I depend on what other people think about me when I’m around my family, and also about how o think about my family itself.
Paradigms of life. Now this is something easy for me to talk about. I say this because the paradigms that I have towards life in general are so obvious to me, that it takes very little time to think about them and analyse them. I’m known as the “grumpy” one on my family. I always told that I should see life positively, but I never actually do. I always get disappointed and mad and what ever happens to me. The happy moments are only temporary in my life. What I’m trying to say is that my main paradigm of life is: “My life is a never ending line of disappointments and struggles that are sometimes interrupted by brief positive moments.” I really want to believe that this is not actually true, that it’s just my teenage years messing up the way I think about life, but for now, that’s reality. I know for a fact that believing this is what it is causing it to be true, but I can’t think the opposite way. My mind is set to that paradigm, and if I want to be truly happy, I need a paradigm shift desperately.
In conclusion, I can say that all of my paradigms, self, to others, for to life itself are negative, and they are not letting my show my full potential. They are not letting me live my life to the fullest. I really with that by the time I finish reading the book I will be turned into a “highly effective teenager” with positive paradigms, because this is only the first step to being one.