Managing & Caring for the self

• Freedom in the classroom


  • Students have freedom in their choices of what to learn and how to use that learning in real life
  • Students should understand the value and why of what they are learning
• To become a better student


  • Have a better understanding of what they are doing
  • Ability to recognize and sort different information
  • Certain level of understanding on the concepts they are studying to enable better application and appreciation
• Tips to become a better student

  1. Prepare before going to school

  2. Use different resources

  3. Be critical and make learning personal

  4. Ask for help

  5. Do other things
• Goals


  • Observable and measurable result of several objectives to be accomplished in a given time frame
  • Desired results or outcomes one wishes to achieve
• Vision vs Goals


  • Vision is an idea of what you want to be or do
  • Goals are more specific - what do I need to do to reach my vision
• Importance of goals


  • Guide to act
  • Motivate one's behavior
• Self-Efficacy


  A person's particular set of beliefs that determine how well one can execute a plan of action in prospective situations
• High self-efficacy


  • A student who believes in their ability to learn a subject well
  • A man with positive outlook on ability to connect with an upcoming date
  • An expectant mother who believes she can succeed in caring for a new baby
  • A new graduate who takes on a high-profile job they feel they can succeed in
  • An entrepreneur who moves on to their next idea when their business faces an unexpected challenge
• Four sources of self-efficacy

  • Mastery experience
  • Vicarious experience
  • Social persuasion
  • Physiological states
• Motivation


  The psychological forces that determine the direction of people's behavior, their level of effort and their level of persistence
• Sources of motivation


  • Intrinsic
  • Extrinsic
• Intrinsic motivation


  Brings about happiness and pleasure from the things we do, even without material rewards or incentives
• Extrinsic motivation


  Performing a behavior because of the consequences it brings, such as money, gifts and other material rewards
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs


  • Human needs can be organized into a hierarchy, from more concrete needs like food and water to abstract concepts like self-fulfillment
  • When a lower need is met, the next need on the hierarchy becomes the focus of attention
• Motivation


  An internal state that directs individuals toward certain goals and objectives
• Sources of motivation


  • Intrinsic
  • Extrinsic
• Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs


  • Human needs can be organized into a hierarchy, ranging from more concrete needs such as food and water to abstract concepts such as self-fulfillment
  • When a lower need is met, the next need on the hierarchy becomes the focus of attention
• David McClelland's Need Theory


  • The three basic human motives are affiliation, power and achievement
  • The need for power is the need to influence others
  • The need for affiliation is the desire for friendly and close relationships
  • The need for achievement is the need to accomplish goals, excel and strive continuously
• Edwin Locke's Goal-Setting Theory


  • Individuals who set specific, difficult goals perform better than those who set general, easy goals
  • Five basic principles of effective goal-setting: clarity, challenge, commitment, feedback, and task complexity
• Health


  The ability to adapt and manage physical, mental and social challenges throughout life, defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of any disease or infirmity
• Stress


  The body and mind's reaction to everyday demands and threats, triggering physiological responses known as the fight-or-flight response
• Categories of stressors


  • Environmental (poverty, pollution, crowding, noise, natural disasters)
  • Cognitive/thinking (how a person perceives a situation)
  • Personal behavior (negative reactions from using drugs or not exercising)
  • Life situation (death of a relative, parents separating)
• Personality types and stress

  • Type A (competitive, high-achieving, more likely to develop health problems)
  • Type B (laid-back, noncompetitive, less likely to suffer from health problems)
  • Type C (pleasant, try to keep the peace, difficulty expressing emotions)
  • Type D (tendency to experience increased negative emotions and not share them)
• Coping with stress


  • Involves how one interprets events, with pessimistic styles being more vulnerable to stress
  • Has two functions: 1) manage the problem causing the distress, 2) regulate the emotions of distress
• Self-care


  • The practice of activities that a mature person initiates and performs to promote and maintain personal well-being, healthy functioning, and continuing development throughout life
  • Self-care is self-compassion, a positive and caring attitude toward oneself in the face of failures and individual shortcomings
  • Long-term benefits of self-care: boosts resilience, maximizes protective factors, strengthens character, and is a good preventive measure
• Reasons why it is difficult to practice self-care

  • Guilt and inability to say no
  • Always putting other people first
  • Thinking looking after yourself is selfish
  • Not asking for help
  • Not recognizing the need for help until it's too late
• Caring for yourself in little ways is looking after and prioritizing yourself
• Focus on how you talk to yourself - be kind to yourself, as people are already cruel enough to each other
• Bandura’s Self- Efficacy


  Albert Bandura, one of the most renowned psychologist. He has made significant contributions to all branches of psychology. Self-Efficacy Theory is part of his Social

  Cognitive Theory (or Social Learning Theory)

  which is a fundamental to positive psychology.
• Mastery experience.


  Savor your mastery experiences, but the key to mastery is approaching life with dedicated efforts and experimenting with realistic but challenging goals.

  According to Bandura (1997), Easy success with little effort can lead us to expect rapid results, which can in turn, make us easily succumbed to failure Experiencing failure is important so we can build resilience to it. This is done by

  treating failure as an opportunity to learn and a chance to reach competence with a different approach.
• Vicarious experience.


  The second source of self-efficacy comes from our observation of people around us, especially people we consider as role models. Seeing people similar to

  ourselves succeed by their sustained effort raises

  our beliefs that we too possess the capabilities to

  master the activities needed for success in that

  area.
• Social Persuasion


  it is about having others directly influence one’s self- efficacy. While social modeling refers to the observation of a role-model, social persuasion is about having others directly influence you by providing opportunities for mastery experiences in a safe manner. In line with social modeling, social persuasion is choosing the right mentor. When competency builds and positive self-beliefs are formed, self-efficacy becomes self-fulfilling prophecy.
• Physiological States


  Physiological states or emotional states are also sources of efficacy information. Powerful emotional arousal such as anxiety can effectively alter individual’s beliefs about

  their capabilities. People may view a state of arousal as an energizing factor that can contribute to a successful

  performance, or they may view their state of arousal as

  completely disabling.
• Maslow's hierarchy of need

  1. self-actualization
  2. esteem
  3. love/belonging
  4. safety
  5. physiological
• Locke's 5 basic principles of goal-setting

  • Clarity
  • Challenge
  • Commitment
  • Feedback
  • Task complexity
• Clarity


  A clear, measurable goal is more achievable than one that is poorly defined. The most effective goals have a specific timeline for completion.
• Challenge


  The goal must have a decent level of difficulty in order to motivate you to strive toward the goal.
• Commitment


  Put deliberate effort into meeting this goal. Share your goal with someone else in order to increase your accountability to meet that goal.
• Feedback


  Set up a method to receive information on your progress toward a goal. If losing 30 pounds in four months turns out to be too hard, it is better to adjust the difficulty of your goal mid-way through the timeline than to give up entirely.
• Task complexity


  If a goal is especially complex, make sure you give yourself enough time to overcome the learning curve involved in completing the task. In other words, if a goal is tough, make sure you give yourself some padding to give you the best chance at succeeding.