1. I used to never consider myself a procrastinator. I prided myself on finishing my responsibilities promptly. It would bother me to have unfinished tasks so I would always do them early. During this semester that was not the case. One of my classes just had two deadlines with a test and all the assignments due at each deadline, which I thought I would have no problem handling. I failed to accomplish my assignments slowly throughout the semester and was left with one week to do three months worth of work and studying. Cramming to finish everything before the deadline made that one of the most stressful weeks of my life.
2. I learned a lot from the discomfort my mistake caused. I realized that my work was inhibited due to the fact that it was rushed and vowed to make sure to never put myself in that position again. I also learned that being overconfident can sometimes be a bad thing. I thought I was capable of easily planning my time so I lacked the initiative to make a schedule and properly plan.
3. It's easy to understand that you can learn from failure but it is hard to not let the discomfort make you forget it. When I fail I try to convince myself that it is just a learning experience but I am at such a low point that it makes it difficult to internalize that. This class changed my perspective of failure immensely. Repeating steps such as the elevator pitch helped me learn from failure and correct my mistakes. Seeing how I've learned from failure will definitely help me take more risks in the future.
Hi Bram,
ReplyDeleteThat class sounds really rough, I know that had I been in your situation I would have done the exact same thing. I definitely agree with you when you say that it easy to understand that you can learn from failure but hard to not let the discomfort get to you. In my experience, it often takes me quite a while to get to the point where I can view my failings purely as learning experiences, without the baggage associate with failing in the first place. In a way though, I think a certain amount of that baggage is important to learning from our failings. Without that feeling of discomfort that sticks with us after failing what would there be to stop us from repeating the same mistake?