So today we were supposed to look at our mission statement to see if there was anything that we wanted to change about it. This was my mission statement from before:
My 5 Core Values are Perseverance, Humor, Honesty, Family Oriented, and Loyalty.
I will be humorous when the mood cast on the situation calls for me to be.
I will strive to persevere in trying situations to make myself a better person as a result.
I will be remembered for being honest and loyal to not only my family which matters most to me, but others as well.
I don't think I would change my mission statement from what it was because I still like the way it sounds and it fits who I want to be as a person. A way I could be humorous is when my friends are feeling down I could joke around with them and our inside jokes to help them laugh instead of being sad. A way I could persevere would be to just make it to graduation at college because college is trying at times and sometimes I have wondered about what I wanted to do so just making it through will be a big accomplishment for me.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Getting Involved
So for this post we were supposed to look at some ways you can get involved on campus or in the Storm Lake community so I thought I would talk about what I already do that helps both. I am a part of the BV Buddies program, which involves mentoring a student either from the elementary, middle school, or even high school level. You meet with your mentee one hour a week and do fun activities with them. It involves the campus because it is a BV club you can join and most importantly, it involves the Storm Lake community because you are helping the youth become even better people. I love this organization because I love working with kids and it can teach you a lot as well. Overall it is a great organization that people should definitely think about joining!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Thrive Charts
Today's blog post was about the charts in the Thrive book and what we found surprising or interesting. I thought it was surprising that the amount of happiness goes up really high if you spend more time meditating or doing yoga. I did not know that it could cause that big of an impact on your level of happiness. I thought it was interesting that after reading 6-10 books you are not any happier than if you read any more than that. I love reading and I thought that if you read more, you would actually be happier but it kind of plateaus instead.
Friday, October 12, 2012
My Pride Shrine
For today's blog post we were supposed to look at what would be put in our pride shrine. I would put the following things in mine:
1. The basketball from the game when I scored my 1,000 point
2. My high school diploma and some day my college diploma
3. The scrapbooks I have of newspaper stories and other athletic and academic achievements
4. The basketball I received from the first coaching job I had
5. Pictures of moments that I will never forget that happened in the past
These things are important to me and they give me a sense of accomplishment so that is what I would put there.
1. The basketball from the game when I scored my 1,000 point
2. My high school diploma and some day my college diploma
3. The scrapbooks I have of newspaper stories and other athletic and academic achievements
4. The basketball I received from the first coaching job I had
5. Pictures of moments that I will never forget that happened in the past
These things are important to me and they give me a sense of accomplishment so that is what I would put there.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Change in My Hometown
Our blog post today was to talk about something we would change about our hometown that would make it better and make people happier. I think that something I would change would be having more nature based activities and places to go because there are a lot of areas that could be utilized specifically for nature activities that are not being used for anything right now and it would get people out and about more than what they are. Although there is a sense of community already in my town, I think that this would help strengthen it even more. I guess it would not necessarily have to be nature based either but just more things to do in general where people can get together and do something different instead of the same old stuff they do all the time.
Monday, October 8, 2012
5 Priorities and Core Values
Today's blog post was about our 5 priorities based on our daily schedules and how well that matches up with our core values from before. My top 5 priorities based on my schedule would be:
1. Education
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Happiness
5. Work
I think that technically I could have all 5 of my priorities match with my core values because education and work would go with perseverance since you have to work hard with both of those in order to accomplish what you need to. Family and friends would go with family oriented since they are very important to me to have in my life. Finally, happiness would go with humor since that is something that I find enjoyment in and stuff that makes me happy.
1. Education
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Happiness
5. Work
I think that technically I could have all 5 of my priorities match with my core values because education and work would go with perseverance since you have to work hard with both of those in order to accomplish what you need to. Family and friends would go with family oriented since they are very important to me to have in my life. Finally, happiness would go with humor since that is something that I find enjoyment in and stuff that makes me happy.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Meaningful Quote From Chapter 1
We were supposed to look at the first chapter of the Thrive book we are reading for this class and I decided that I liked a quote by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi the best. The quote is:
"As many a thinker since Aristotle has said, everything we do is ultimately aimed at
experiencing happiness. We don't really want wealth, or health, or fame as such---we
want these things because we hope they will make us happy. But happiness we seek not
because it will get us something else, but for its own sake."
I really thought this quote was interesting because many people think that money can buy you happiness or just material things in general. The funny thing is that we may not really want those things, we just want the happiness that we think will come from having those things. The thing is though, the things that we think should make us happy really do not and could actually cause you more problems instead. I think what we should do is be happy with the things we have and the people we have in our lives because that is all we really need to be happy.
"As many a thinker since Aristotle has said, everything we do is ultimately aimed at
experiencing happiness. We don't really want wealth, or health, or fame as such---we
want these things because we hope they will make us happy. But happiness we seek not
because it will get us something else, but for its own sake."
I really thought this quote was interesting because many people think that money can buy you happiness or just material things in general. The funny thing is that we may not really want those things, we just want the happiness that we think will come from having those things. The thing is though, the things that we think should make us happy really do not and could actually cause you more problems instead. I think what we should do is be happy with the things we have and the people we have in our lives because that is all we really need to be happy.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Where I Come From
So for the blog today we were supposed to describe our hometown.
I am from Nashua, IA which is a really small town in Northeastern Iowa. My town is so small that we only have one restaurant, two gas stations, no movie theater, no bowling alley, and nowhere to shop (closest place is about 30 min away) In my town, everyone knows everyone, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. I would say that in general, we would have a 6 out of 10. I think that the sense of community helps with being happy but since there is a lack of things to do I think that decreases it quite a bit.
I am from Nashua, IA which is a really small town in Northeastern Iowa. My town is so small that we only have one restaurant, two gas stations, no movie theater, no bowling alley, and nowhere to shop (closest place is about 30 min away) In my town, everyone knows everyone, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. I would say that in general, we would have a 6 out of 10. I think that the sense of community helps with being happy but since there is a lack of things to do I think that decreases it quite a bit.
Monday, September 17, 2012
10:00p.m. Time To Start Homework!
So our blog post for today was to list our five biggest distractions in trying to get the things done that we need to get done.
1. Facebook and Twitter- I am awful when it comes to signing out of these and actually sitting down and doing my work. I tend to say I'm just going to check it quick before I start my homework but quick is not in my vocabulary when it comes to social media apparently. I just need to make sure that I don't sign in to them until my homework is done.
2. Television- When the certain shows that I watch are on TV, it is very hard for me to not watch them and do my work instead. The problem is that I watch so many shows that it makes me not want to do my homework even more. I don't like to miss out on things when they first come on. With this I need to just do my homework and then catch up with the shows over the weekend or another day.
3. iPad- I tend to only use my iPad for games and some of the games are very addicting so I want to try to beat them as fast as I can. I try to make the excuse that the game won't take that long so I can just play it quick before my homework but like I said before, when it comes to distractions, quick is not in my vocabulary. For this, I can just leave my iPad where I can't see it and then maybe I won't think about it.
4. Skype or Cell Phone- I like to video chat with my family and talk on the phone with them but I lot of the times that I do call them, I don't have much to say and end up just wasting time so that I don't have to do the things I'm supposed to be doing. With this I can make sure and get my homework done first and then use this as a reward for getting my stuff done beforehand.
5. My Roommate- My roommate and I have been friends since 2nd grade so we know a lot about each other and like to talk a lot of the time instead of doing our homework because we just don't want to do it. To help with this, we could either split up when we do our homework or work better on making sure that we both get done what we need to get done.
1. Facebook and Twitter- I am awful when it comes to signing out of these and actually sitting down and doing my work. I tend to say I'm just going to check it quick before I start my homework but quick is not in my vocabulary when it comes to social media apparently. I just need to make sure that I don't sign in to them until my homework is done.
2. Television- When the certain shows that I watch are on TV, it is very hard for me to not watch them and do my work instead. The problem is that I watch so many shows that it makes me not want to do my homework even more. I don't like to miss out on things when they first come on. With this I need to just do my homework and then catch up with the shows over the weekend or another day.
3. iPad- I tend to only use my iPad for games and some of the games are very addicting so I want to try to beat them as fast as I can. I try to make the excuse that the game won't take that long so I can just play it quick before my homework but like I said before, when it comes to distractions, quick is not in my vocabulary. For this, I can just leave my iPad where I can't see it and then maybe I won't think about it.
4. Skype or Cell Phone- I like to video chat with my family and talk on the phone with them but I lot of the times that I do call them, I don't have much to say and end up just wasting time so that I don't have to do the things I'm supposed to be doing. With this I can make sure and get my homework done first and then use this as a reward for getting my stuff done beforehand.
5. My Roommate- My roommate and I have been friends since 2nd grade so we know a lot about each other and like to talk a lot of the time instead of doing our homework because we just don't want to do it. To help with this, we could either split up when we do our homework or work better on making sure that we both get done what we need to get done.
With A Little Help From My Friends
So the blog post topic for today was to pick a goal and then list 3 people you could tell it to that could help you reach your goal. I am actually going to have 2 goals for this assignment because I can't choose just one!
My first goal is to lose the weight I have gained because of being diagnosed with prediabetes. My senior year of high school I started gaining weight and had not changed any of my exercise or eating habits. For some reason this just sort of came on and we don't really know why to this day still. At first the doctors wouldn't believe me that something was wrong and they said it was my fault so I continued to gain weight. They finally listened and figured out that I had prediabetes so now I have to lose all the weight I gained because of it. Three people I could tell about this goal would be my mom, my roommate, and my other friends. My mom has been very supportive and tried to give me motivation to work towards this goal. My roommate is also trying to lose weight so being there to help each other helps a lot. My other friends are also always there to support and help in any way possible. My goal within this goal is to lose as much weight as possible before Thanksgiving because my high school has an alumni basketball game that I always play in and I would like to be somewhat in shape for that!
My second goal is to maintain my 3.84 or at least a 3.8 cumulative GPA for the remainder of my college career. I am in my junior year now so the classes will probably continue to get harder so I have to work even harder then to reach this goal. Three people I could tell about this goal would probably be the same three people as in my first goal. My mom like I said earlier is very supportive and she does her best to try to keep me on track and accountable for my actions, which I am very thankful for. My roommate has been my friend since we were in second grade so we know each other very well and I think that this could help because she can talk to me about my classes and things of that sort. My other friends are also in college right now so I think they can help me by telling me of their experiences and letting me in on some secrets that help them achieve what they do.
Wish me luck!
My first goal is to lose the weight I have gained because of being diagnosed with prediabetes. My senior year of high school I started gaining weight and had not changed any of my exercise or eating habits. For some reason this just sort of came on and we don't really know why to this day still. At first the doctors wouldn't believe me that something was wrong and they said it was my fault so I continued to gain weight. They finally listened and figured out that I had prediabetes so now I have to lose all the weight I gained because of it. Three people I could tell about this goal would be my mom, my roommate, and my other friends. My mom has been very supportive and tried to give me motivation to work towards this goal. My roommate is also trying to lose weight so being there to help each other helps a lot. My other friends are also always there to support and help in any way possible. My goal within this goal is to lose as much weight as possible before Thanksgiving because my high school has an alumni basketball game that I always play in and I would like to be somewhat in shape for that!
My second goal is to maintain my 3.84 or at least a 3.8 cumulative GPA for the remainder of my college career. I am in my junior year now so the classes will probably continue to get harder so I have to work even harder then to reach this goal. Three people I could tell about this goal would probably be the same three people as in my first goal. My mom like I said earlier is very supportive and she does her best to try to keep me on track and accountable for my actions, which I am very thankful for. My roommate has been my friend since we were in second grade so we know each other very well and I think that this could help because she can talk to me about my classes and things of that sort. My other friends are also in college right now so I think they can help me by telling me of their experiences and letting me in on some secrets that help them achieve what they do.
Wish me luck!
Monday, September 10, 2012
Listen Up Guys!
For today's blog, we were supposed to look at the most important factors to us in choosing a mate. Here are my top 5:
1. Mutual Attraction and Love- This is the most important to me because if you are in a relationship that does not have love in it, then is it even a relationship at all? You might have the physical attraction, which is important, but if you do not have anything beyond that, the relationship is not as good as it could be.
2. Emotional Stability and Maturity- This is the second most important because I need someone that is mature because I am mature myself. I have been more mature than people my age all my life and would really like a guy that can share in that because sometimes it seems pretty rare with men my age.
3. Education and Intelligence- This is the third most important because I am furthering my education and I would like someone who I can carry on an intelligent conversation with.
4. Dependable Character- This is the fourth most important to me because I feel as though I have a strong character and I would want someone who shares some of those core values with me as well.
5. Desire for Home and Children- This is the fifth most important because I do want to start a family some day and I need someone who is willing to do that and will enjoy that aspect of my life with me.
So there you go guys! These are the 5 things that are most important to me when looking for a mate.
1. Mutual Attraction and Love- This is the most important to me because if you are in a relationship that does not have love in it, then is it even a relationship at all? You might have the physical attraction, which is important, but if you do not have anything beyond that, the relationship is not as good as it could be.
2. Emotional Stability and Maturity- This is the second most important because I need someone that is mature because I am mature myself. I have been more mature than people my age all my life and would really like a guy that can share in that because sometimes it seems pretty rare with men my age.
3. Education and Intelligence- This is the third most important because I am furthering my education and I would like someone who I can carry on an intelligent conversation with.
4. Dependable Character- This is the fourth most important to me because I feel as though I have a strong character and I would want someone who shares some of those core values with me as well.
5. Desire for Home and Children- This is the fifth most important because I do want to start a family some day and I need someone who is willing to do that and will enjoy that aspect of my life with me.
So there you go guys! These are the 5 things that are most important to me when looking for a mate.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Should I Really Buy That?
So for this blog post, we were supposed to look at our spending habits and see if we were spending our money on things that we value.
Right now, I am currently spending a decent amount of money on gas, which is something I value because I use it to visit my family that lives 3 hours away from Storm Lake. I also spent money on textbooks, which is something that is valuable because I use them for my education.
Right now, I am currently spending money on various items from the bookstore such as clothes and other BV accessories that I could cut back on. It seems like every time I see a new item they get in the bookstore, I really want it, which is not a good thing sometimes. I could cut back by saying that I only spend a certain amount of money when I go in there or limit the amount of times I go to the bookstore.
Right now, I am currently spending a decent amount of money on gas, which is something I value because I use it to visit my family that lives 3 hours away from Storm Lake. I also spent money on textbooks, which is something that is valuable because I use them for my education.
Right now, I am currently spending money on various items from the bookstore such as clothes and other BV accessories that I could cut back on. It seems like every time I see a new item they get in the bookstore, I really want it, which is not a good thing sometimes. I could cut back by saying that I only spend a certain amount of money when I go in there or limit the amount of times I go to the bookstore.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Show Me The Money!
So for this blog post we were supposed to reflect on the lessons we learned about money growing up. Growing up money was more scarce when I was younger but once I got to be a young teenager, having enough money for things was not a problem. In my family, money was not kept a secret and was discussed among the family so that we knew what would be going on in regards to if we had enough money to do certain things or not. I think that money was seen as a good thing in my family because you could do things you wanted to with it after the bills were paid. Another thing was that I was not required to have a job during school because I was out for sports and didn't have much time for a job because of that. Now being in college, I do have a job to go along with my studies. I think that having my family be open about money helped me out a lot because you realize how much things really cost and you appreciate the money you receive more. I know that because of this, I usually only buy the things I need instead of the things I want when there is not a lot of money to be spent.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Personal Mission Statement
My 5 Core Values are Perseverance, Humor, Honesty, Family Oriented, and Loyalty.
I will be humorous when the mood cast on the situation calls for me to be.
I will strive to persevere in trying situations to make myself a better person as a result.
I will be remembered for being honest and loyal to not only my family which matters most to me, but others as well.
I will be humorous when the mood cast on the situation calls for me to be.
I will strive to persevere in trying situations to make myself a better person as a result.
I will be remembered for being honest and loyal to not only my family which matters most to me, but others as well.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
My 5 Core Values
For this post we were supposed to look at our 5 core values and explain how they pertain to us. So here it goes:
1. Perseverance- I am someone that believes if you start something, you should finish it as
well. I am the type of person that I will never stop until I achieve what I
want to. I love the feeling of getting something done!
2. Humor- I am someone who is quick-witted and tries to make bad situations humorous
somehow. I love making people laugh and I have to say I'm pretty successful at
it :P The great thing about my humor is that I use it at the right time and can also
be serious when needed.
3. Honesty- I am someone who always believes that honesty is the best policy. I will always
tell anyone the truth, no matter what the situation. I do not approve of liars and
I do not want to ever be known as one either. If someone is honest, it shows
exactly what type of person they are and that is someone I would want to be
associated with as well.
4. Family Oriented- I am someone who believes that my family is one of the most important
things in my life. I know that they will always be there for me and I will
always be there for them as well. My goal is to make my parents proud
of everything I do and be a good role model for all my siblings.
5. Loyalty- I am someone that my friends, family, etc. can always count on and they know
that I will always be by their side no matter what. I am the first person a lot of
my friends and family go to when they have something going on in their life
because they know I am a reliable person and that will never change for them.
So those are my 5 core values...hope this gave you a little insight on who I am as a person!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
First Post!
Hey! I'm ready to get this blog going! This is my first post out of many that I will be doing throughout the semester for the Happiness Seminar blog as a peer mentor for a University Seminar class at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, IA. I am a Junior Sports Management major at BVU and this is my second year as an Academic Assistant for Gwen Hart, the professor for this class. I am very excited to work with these freshman throughout the length of this class. They seem like a great bunch of students! :) Remember that you guys can come to me with any questions you may have. After all, it is my job to be your peer mentor!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)