What a WEEK! This week has been one FULL of lessons. Yes, I already knew but they had never become engraved in my brain until now. For one, I had never valued the importance of TEAMWORK so much as these past five days, and I definitely realized how HARD it can be when someone doesn't carry their own WEIGHT and it falls on everyone else's shoulders. Yes, some people do need LEADERS, the ones who stand in front of them and GUIDE them forward. But they don't need guidance every step of the way. They don't need to be told what to do for the rest of their lives. However, there are the ones who can't see for themselves; the ones who can't see what tasks need to be accomplished or what can be worked on. These are the ones who need BOSSES, who need help every step of the way. Almost all of us are, at some point in our lives, those people, the ones who need a boss and need to be told what to do. But as we go on, we become the ones who need a leader, and then eventually the ones who LEAD. Who do I want to be? This week has also been one of learning how to properly BALANCE your time between work and play. Unlike most of the IA students, I'm still working on my internship and I'm taking IB exams, as well as working on the IA final project. However TRIFLING it may seem for me to mention, I've also been HOOKED on Game of Thrones for the past couple of months. This week has been one of the most overwhelming I've had in the past school year and maybe the one where I've gotten the least amount of sleep because I've been JUGGLING my time. I have a tendency to leave stuff to the last minute, to procrastinate. A sort of "WHY DO NOW WHAT I CAN DO LATER" mentality, but that always leaves me with an OMINOUS feeling hanging over my head, not allowing me to enjoy my leisure to the fullest. I always remember my brother's second grade teacher telling him to do what he doesn't want to do first, in order to enjoy the rest of his day doing whatever he wants to do. In my case, doing the stuff I find most important, first. But how do I PRIORITIZE when each each one has an equal--different, of course--importance. Kind of. My internship is important because I've been given the chance to work for an NGO that, although they do need the help, never accept interns. IB exams are equally as important because they might count as college course credit--although classes I will potentially be taking look a lot more interesting. Lastly, the IA review. My teammates are trusting that I will complete all my work that has been assigned to me, actually, that I have chosen to do. See what I mean? They all have about the same importance but have DIFFERENT purposes. Who do I want to be?
Sometimes we have to SACRIFICE play for success. As I mentioned before, and as unhealthy as it might seem, I have become sort of addicted with Game of Thrones. As hard as it was, I had to ABSTAIN from watching a single episode all week long. Yes, this might seem TRIVIAL to some, but it was a huge deal for me because I'm the type of person that has to do something completely different for an hour in order to get back on track. I can't just work, work, work. This past week, it was certainly IMPOSSIBLE for me to watch Game of Thrones, but it was not the end of the world. By the end of the week, I knew I could afford to watch an episode or two and keep on working. Yes, we have to balance our time between WORK and PLAY, but sometimes we have to sacrifice play for success. Who do I want to be? I've talked about a lot of things right now, but essentially I'm trying to think about what type of person I want to be now and in the future. Do I want to be the FOLLOWER, the BOSS or the LEADER? Do I want to be the person that can BALANCE their time between WORK and PLAY or the one who leaves everything to the last minute? Do I want to be the person that knows when play has to be SACRIFICED for SUCCESS and knows when to REWARD themselves with play? Sometimes we need to be the follower. Sometimes we need to be the BOSS. Sometimes we need to be the LEADERS I assure you, being the leader is the hardest, but is definitely the most REWARDING Try, try, try with all your might to find the leader in you to GUIDE your crew. BE the person that can balance their time between work and play and BE that person that knows when to postpone play for success. Now I ask you, who do YOU want to be?
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"They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself" Andy Warhol This past weekend, I was off at Paracas with my family. Like always, it was just my mom, my dad and I; no extra help. We all had to lend a hand for cooking and cleaning up. We had just finished dinner on Friday night, and we were sitting at the table. My dad suddenly told me to get up, pick up the dishes, wash them as well as serve him a glass of water. All in a span of 30 seconds. Apparently I rolled my eyes pretty harshly at him and he laughed at me while saying "I'm just trying to make you take a little initiative". These 10 little words stuck with me ever since. Taking initiative has always been something hard for me to do. I get obvious tasks done, but going that extra step has never been in my nature. In all honesty, and without trying to sound spoiled, I pin-point this on my upbringing and on the fact that I always had someone to look after me, whether it was my mom or a nanny or a maid. However, being a part of the IA has really pushed me to try to take more initiative in my day-to-day. In the IA, I'm constantly surrounded by people that are going the extra mile for the good of everyone and they make me want to strive for more. However, I don't see beyond the obvious and it takes me longer to figure out something to do. I also have the mentality that the more stuff I find for myself to do, the less efficient I become, simply because I feel like I'm digging for more work rather than just doing what's on the surface. This may or may not be true. And as a lazy person, I'm always trying to make my tasks as efficient as possible. Those 10 little words were still haunting me and I didn't know what else to do apart from washing the dishes. As the lazy person I am, I'm always trying to find excuses to not move, to be stagnant. Staying in bed for 5 more minutes. Sitting at the dinner table, waiting for someone else to take the initiative to was the dishes. However, after this past weekend I'm scared of what my future has in store for me. If I don't take initiative to complete a task as simple as washing the dishes, who knows what my future kitchen will look like. If I don't take initiative to clean my room and have everything in order, who knows what my future room, or even house will look like. Taking initiative is something that we have to do in our daily life. It's something that if we're not used doing it from the start, it's going to be next to impossible to figure out when we're older. What I've come to realize as I try to take more initiative, is to just stop and look around you for a minute, just see what everyone else is doing. By seeing this, you get a chance to see what is not being done and do them yourself Those 10 little words were hanging over my head all weekend long, but as I finished my breakfast this morning and started to wash the dirty dishes, I found myself deliberately looking for more dirty dishes I could add to my pile. It might not seem like a huge task or a huge change, but small changes lead to constant changes.
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Author"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." Archives
June 2015
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