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Hello! My name is Urooj and I am a graduate student at the University of Texas at Dallas, pursing a degree in Information Technology and Management. When I first heard that we had to do this assignment, I was very skeptical. I wasn’t sure how talking about my strengths would make me better person/employee, when my whole life I have been taught to focus on the weaknesses (blockers). So that those weaknesses could become strengths one day. Based on that, before I began this assignment I had to take a step back.
I had to keep the mind-set that the idea of this paper is to recognize essentially where I am at my best in my life, where I excel at. Another factor I was skeptical about was the feedback I was going to receive. I was not sure how serious and honest my peers were going to take this assignment. There feedback means the world to me since they either know me personally or were apart of helping me grow into the person I am today.
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So I was a bit hesitant to read their responses, especially if I got back any negative responses. But after going through the responses my peers wrote, I was speechless. The amount of love and respect I received back was tremendous. Although I was skeptical during the beginning of this assignment, at the end of it I defiantly am not. This assignment was truly a journey for me, a journey in which I become a more confident and self-aware person.
From this assignment I have learned that, strengths help you grow into the person you naturally are supposed to become one day. Sure you’re weaknesses matter, but by being more conscious about my strengths; I now know how easily those weaknesses (blockers) can be overcome.
My First Best-Self Portrait
Example 1:
I feel was at my best when I got accepted into Fast-Track at UTD in the Fall 2016 semester. This program allows you to take graduate classes while being in undergrad. At the time a lot of people doubted me, especially since you needed to maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher to get accepted into this program. I told myself I had to prove them wrong and at the same time I needed to prove myself that YES I can do this. When I transferred to UTD in Spring 2016 semester, I told myself I was going to be determined, work hard and always believe in myself because at the end of the day I knew I was my #1 supporter. I knew that if I put in the work then I would defiantly end up being a part of this program. Every day I would wake up and look myself in the mirror, and say that the law of attraction is on my side. I can and will be a part of this program, no matter what it took. Day and night; I worked hard, made strict study plans and kept being positive. One day after school I get an email from my advisor that I had made it, my determination, hard work and positive energy got me accepted into one of the toughest programs at UTD-JSOM. When I read that email, I got goosebumps because it made me realize perseverance and determination is what lead me to this point. It made me realize that by believing in myself and not listening to others, I can do whatever I wanted in this world.
Example 2:
I feel I was at my best when I helped my friend (Austin) find a job. This deed may seem simple but thus my friend ended up getting the job. From the beginning, I would always encourage, support and give my advice to Austin. Anytime, I would hear about a job opportunity I would always text him and tell him to apply for the position; regardless of what the requirements or the position was because I knew he can do everything. One day I saw an opening posted from Microsoft and I knew this is the ONE for Austin. When I emailed Austin the details, he was discouraged because one of the requirements was a year of experience was required; which he did not have. By being supportive, I told him they would look bypass that because of how much knowledge he has and how hard working he is. So, by keep pushing and encouraging him day and night, he finally ended up applying for the position. Days past by and he did not hear back anything, which made him more and more discouraged. But I stayed by his side and kept reassuring him that things take time. One day, he gets a random number call; turns out it was from Microsoft and he ended up getting the job. I guess at the end of the day, I knew I kept pushing and encouraging Austin because I knew he would do the same for me. And I knew that he was made for greatness, all he needed was a little encouragement.
Example 3:
I feel I was at my best when I taught myself a programming language within a week. When I was working on my capstone project, I had been given a task to code in a language I have never done before. In the beginning, I was stressed out because these kinds of things always take time. But at the same time, I knew my team was depending on me and I could not let them down. And I knew this was not going to be easy, it will take time, hard work and dedication. So, day by day, I looked up videos; practicing every day and learning what this programming language had to offer. Every day, I would religiously sit in front of my computer for hours just programming away; trying to learn this language that I have never heard of. And one day, it just clicked for me; I understood exactly what I was doing. I had done it, I taught myself a new language and I knew that my team would be proud of me. I was proud of myself, I taught myself a new programming language within a week; something that usually takes 4 months to do. By doing this, it made me realize that I can do anything. I just have to believe in myself and focused.
I emailed 15 of my peers to be a part of this assignment, to help give me feedback and insight. Of those 15 people, 10 people responded; since its summer most people where on vacation or busy with their internships. So it was kind of hard getting a hold of people and asking them to take time out of there day to write this response out for me. That’s why it took me time to submit this assignment, since I was waiting for people to respond back.
The way that I analyzed and created the table above, is by grouping together my peers that were similar. From there, I had 4 main story authors: work colleagues, friends, group member and family members. The hardest part of this step was to read the responses that they wrote out, I was really nervous to see what my peers had said about me. As I read each response, I got more speechless and emotional. The amount of positive feedback that I got from my peers was incredible. I had no idea that I had such a huge impact on my peers, the amount of honesty and love that I got from my peers was humbling.
An interesting thing that I noticed was how similar each response was based on the grouping I had done. Like for example, all the responses that I got from my friends talked about how caring and trustworthy I was. This made me very self-aware because it made me realize I am my true self around everyone. I do not act or behave differently around like my friends or family members. Each response was unique in its own way, but the underlining theme and message was the same; which was so amazing.
The way that I selected people for this part was, I began to think of my strengths and the people in my life who I knew either had an impact of me obtaining that strength. Or people who personally saw me grow up to the person I am today, seeing my struggles, achievements, ambitions, etc. Based on that, I picked people out of that category.
My Final Best-Self Portrait
Caring and Understanding
I am at my best when I am caring and understanding. I really enjoy helping others, whether its helping by giving advice or just in general being there for them. I cannot stand to see people in distress. I myself have gone through a lot to be where I am today, so I when see someone struggling; without any hesitation I’m on their side, helping them with whatever I can. I always find myself in situations where I put my feeling aside and go help others. To make sure that I can be there for that person, without the intervention of my own feelings. The last thing I would want is for people not to come to me for help because they feel judged or that I am not listening. I have learned from the past, that by simply sometimes just hearing people out can make there day. The smile that comes on people’s faces are the reason why I love helping and caring for people. That smile is just so priceless and meaningful for me because that shows to me that I made a difference in their life. And that difference can be the reason why they are less stressed out or even happier than they were before. By caring and understanding people, it makes me feel warm and happy inside because I know just maybe I turned someone’s whole day around.
Respectful and Trustworthy
I am at my best when I am respectful and trustworthy. Ever since I could remember, my parents always taught me to treat people the way you want to be treated. And that expression, stuck with me till this day. No matter what gender, age, ethnicity, race, looks or sexual orientation preferred, I will treat that person with decency and respect; because at the end of the day they are human. By respecting someone, I let them know that what they’re saying matters; even if I disagree with them. I believe that respect works both ways, if I repect others than in return I will get respect back. I have also noticed that respect can cause a person’s cofincnce to go up. For some people, being respected means that you admire the person for who they are and there abilities. And I agree with that, if me respecting you is causing your confiense to increase then makes me feel even more because of how such a small things can cause ahuge impact on someones life. If I ever make a promise to somone, no matter what happens I will never break that. I believe trust is a charactereis that means a lot to me because it shows commitment. If I every commit to something, I will give it my 100% to make sure I complete that within the requmirements and given deadline. If someones places there trust in me, I do everything I can to make sure that I do not break it. Trust is omething that cannot be earned back if broken. So by being truthworthy, I ensure that my commitment will always be withheld and. Being trusted by someone is the best feeling in the world, because to me it means that they have faith in me. And that faith can go a long way because it shows that person has enough confidence and trust in you; which at the end of the day is priceless.
Hardworking and Determined
I am at my best when I work hard and show charactertics of determination. Anytime I am given a task, I love going aboe and beyone to exceed everyones expections. The moment when someone praises the work you have done, shows how your hard work payed off. I have learned from the past, that anything can be accomplished when you work hard. And even if it isn’t, I still look at it as a postivie since I know that I learned something new out of it. By working hard, I am giving myself and others the satification that I will not give up; I know that good things do not happen overnight. So by keep working hard and being postivie, I know that I will get and deserve the succesff that follows. And if I do fail, I work even harder to figure out what went wrong and I do not give up. I still work hard to fix things out and not give up. I believe that by giving up, I am proving to myself and others that I am capable of being successful; which I am not okay with. Success is something that is earned, working hard is way to earn it. Even when I am in a group environment, I work hard because I know people have expections from me and I do not want to let him down. I want to work hard so that they get the same success as I am getting because at the end of the day success is always shared. If I am being successful, id want my team membesr to be succeful as well; and that requires for me work hard for myself and others.
Discoveries and Applications (Action Plan)
A) How does your best-self portrait correspond with the sorts of things that you spend the bulk of your time doing? What situations or contexts encourage your best self to emerge? What keeps you from operating at your best more of the time?
-By being in the IT field, I am always helping people or the company. I provide solutions to people that are in need. Solutions that down the road can cause them success. And in order to get those solution I have work very hard, because of how complex the issue is. I have to work hard because these people trust me with helping them and running there business effecialy. There trust in me is what causes them to have fiath that I will provide an effeicint solution to for them.
-My best self emerages when people are need in help, when I am given a challenge task to work on and when I make commitments. My caring/understand best self comes out when people are in need of help. My respectful/trustworthy best self comes out when I make a commitment to someone or if I admire someone for there abilities. My hardworking/determined best self comes out when I am given a task or if I end up failing a task.
-I believe the factor that keeps me from being my best self, is negative people. People who are always negavtie, who do not appreciate my help or who are. I sometimes tend to shut myself off when I see someone being negative around me. I just do not understand people who are negative when all you do is spread postiviely around them. For example, if I am taking the day to help someone and they do not even take that into consideration. I somtines just end up slowly drifting away from that person, because I feel like that person does not want me around or does not care that I am worried about them. So because of that when I am around that person I just shut off all of my best self characteristics to emerge.
B) How can you prioritize your life so that you maximize the potential for your best self every day? What can you do differently? What might you consider not doing anymore? Are there certain contexts you can put yourself in to maximize your potential?
-I think by trying to understand and relating to negative people I will maximize the potential for my best self to emerge. Even if negative people are pushing me away, and not letting me help them out. I will be persistent because them being “negative” could be a way for them trying to cope the struggles they are going through. So instead of just shutting off, I will take the time to understand them. And talk to them because maybe just like me, everyone else is also just ignoring them due to there negativilyt. So I wouldn’t want to add to that, by ignoring them when they acutally need help. I think what I can do is try to talk to and understand what’s going on with the negative people in my life. Instead of just helping them out once, I will keep trying and trying; until they infally understand I can there to help them.
Personal Qualities: Reflected Best Self Paper. (2024, Feb 09). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/personal-qualities-reflected-best-self-paper-essay
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