Discussion Topic 1

Prompt #1:
The Three Questions:
1. What gives me joy? (What kinds of things am I doing when Im most naturally
content and happy?)
Living in the moment brings me joy. Feeling the sun rays on my skin, the
feeling of a full and happy heart, the feeling of serenity, the sound of the
ocean, the feeling of smiling and laughing all bring me joy. Spending time
with my sister, talking to my dad on the phone about anything and
everything all make my heart happy. Having plans to travel this summer to a
different country make me excited and ready to experience new things!
Hearing from, seeing, and planning things to do with my best
friend/significant other makes me feel grateful and happy. Helping others,
doing the right thing, and feeling unified with a group of diverse people make
me feel a feeling beyond happy. Having goals and achieving those goals
makes me feel proud and accomplished and like I am working towards even
more happiness.
2. What am I good at? (What are my strengths?)
I am an optimist. I radiate positivity. I speak my mind and help those who
cant speak for themselves. Im a goal setter and a goal-achiever. I am good
at planning, organizing, and prioritizing work. I am compassionate and caring
towards the earth, animals, and humans alike. I am exceptionally good at
motivating, inspiring, and persuading others. I am skilled at finding solutions.
I am also very good in establishing rapport, starting conversation, and
meeting new people.
3. What does the world need me to do? (What can I contribute?)
The world needs me to use my skills and my abilities to make the world a
better place. I feel it is my responsibility to influence positivity, equality and
peace, and better health for others. The world needs people to help each
other find happiness.
Prompt #2:
Consider this weeks reading, Managing Oneself, by Peter Drucker. While we do not
have the time in this course to conduct a thorough feedback analysis, we can
consider some of our key decisions thus far in our lives reflectively. Although,
admittedly, this isnt quite as objective of a process, it is helpful in light of the
qualitative self-assessment well be doing later in this class.
First, consider several decisions /goals you have made over the last few years
ideally one or two that worked out well, and one or two that didnt work out as well
as expected.
Briefly list those decisions / goals here: In October of 2012, I decided to move from
Dallas, TX to San Diego, CA in order to start over and pursue my education. I had
every intention and a strong desire to pursue a nursing career.

Now, reflect on the ramifications / results / successes / failures of these decisions /

goals, and respond to the following questions:
I committed to the decision to start a life for myself in San Diego, CA. I enrolled in
school to complete my pre-requisites to apply to a nursing program. I began to
work, make new friends, and work on finding myself and making me happy. I have
developed many new friendships since moving to San Diego. In the past two years,
I have really found what makes my heart happy. I ended up not achieving the grade
I needed in one of my pre-requisite classes to apply to the nursing programs and
decided to find another route to achieve this goal. I took courses to become a CNA,
certified nursing assistant, and eventually became a CNA. I searched for jobs, but
needed full time employment for financial and health care reasons and I wasnt able
to find full time employment for a CAN position. I did not want to completely
abandon my goal to pursue my education. Therefore, I decided to enroll at ASU in
order to achieve my BA. I found full time employment, healthcare, and I am going
to be graduating in May. It has now occurred to me that it is time to get back on the
route towards nursing. I am in the process of researching entry level Masters in
Nursing programs, healthcare options (since I am a type 1 diabetic and need health
insurance), and financial aid resources to pursue my career goal.
1. What results are you skilled at generating?
a. Im skilled at analyzing a situation and finding many solutions to
achieve the goal desired.
2. What abilities do you need to enhance in order to get the results you want?
a. I need to enhance my decision making skills when it is a decision I
need to make for myself.
b. I also need to commit myself entirely to the decision I make, no looking
back.
3. What unproductive habits are preventing you from creating the results you
desire?
a. My indecisiveness and uncertainty prevents me from making a decision
and committing myself to that decision 100%.
Prompt #3:
Now consider the following questions also posed in the Drucker article. Give each
one some thought, and provide a brief response to each.
1. Am I a reader or a listener?
a. I am a reader. I know this about myself and I try to write down
everything I can. If my roommate asks me to grab something from the
store on my trip on my way out, I have to ask her to text it to me
because I will forget, but for some reason if I read it in the text, I will
remember. Recently, my boyfriend has been apartment hunting. On
several occasions he asked me to call him to discuss the apartment
choices. I tried to have a conversation with him on my way home from
work and listen to the choices, but he became frustrated with me
because he assumed I wasnt listening. I was, I just couldnt fully
comprehend or remember everything he was saying so when he asked
my opinion I couldnt answer. I asked him to email me a list of the
apartments with bullet point details that way I could remember which
apartment he was referring to and help him make a decision. I am an

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

insurance agent at GEICO and my job consists of people calling in to

voice needs, requests, problems, and concerns. Some people voice
these concerns in short sentences. Others have long winded stories. I
know I am a reader and therefore, as I am listening to people, I type
key points of their request in a notepad to the side. After, I confirm
with them to make sure I understood their request correctly.
How do I learn? Make some connections to OGL 498 Pro-Seminar I
(Assignment #1 - Plus / Delta Significant Learning Experiences Structure
and Transfer)
a. As I mentioned in the previous question, I am a reader. One way I
learn is by reading (actually seeing) the material I need to learn. This
goes hand in hand with doing. I am a visual and kinesthetic learner.
Reading the material and then actually doing what needs to be learned
helps me to fully comprehend the matter and remember what I
learned.
Do I work well with people (and in what relationship), or am I a loner?
a. I work well both as a loner and with a group of people. I prefer to work
with a group of people. As a team member, I usually achieve
exceptional results because I find that working towards a team goal, I
am part of the teams success or failure which provides a lot of
motivation for me to do well. As a team leader, I am a great motivator
and organizer.
Do I produce results as a decision maker or as an advisor?
a. I am working on improving my decision making skills. I am a great
advisor. I have no problem analyzing a situation and advising of the
best decision or the outcomes of many decisions. I am very good at
helping others make decisions, but when it is a decision that directly
impacts me, sometimes I have trouble making those decisions.
Do I perform well under stress, or do I need a highly structured and
predictable environment?
a. I perform very well under stress, but I dont prefer to perform under
stress. I have worked in sales for the majority of my working career.
At times, especially under the pressure of a quota, I am able to achieve
exceptional results. I feel much stress in these situations, but I am also
so focused on accomplishing the goal that I manage to outperform my
expectations.
Do I work best in a big organization or a small one?
a. For the first time, I am working in a big organization. I work at GEICO,
a national insurance provider, with a few regional offices around the
country. The regional office I currently work at has over 2500
employees. I have worked for large, national corporations before, but
not with regional offices as big as this one. I tend to work best in
smaller organizations, or rather, smaller units of a larger organization.

Prompt #4
For this prompt, complete (and include) the identities exercise / table, and then
answer the following questions. (Insert Completed Identities Table Here)
1. How do your various roles influence how you see yourself?

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

a. I see myself as each of the roles I indicated. To sum it up: I am a

young, goal-oriented, optimistic individual who seeks to travel, help
others, promote equality for humanity and animals, make a difference
in the lives of diabetics, be the best sister and daughter I can be, live a
happy life with a happy heart, enjoy the moment and one day add the
roles of wife and maybe mother to the list.
How do your various roles influence how you see the world?
a. I see the world as a place filled with opportunity to learn and
experience all sorts of new and different things. I see the world as
filled with opportunity. I see the world in need of servants to the earth
itself, humanity, animals, etc.
How do you currently prioritize your roles?
a. It is hard to prioritize my roles, but from the greatest priority to the
least, I am a diabetic, optimist, adventurer, sister, daughter, student,
girlfriend, liberal, vegetarian, and insurance agent.
Which roles are most (and least) attended to?
a. Every role is very important to me for different reasons. My role as a
diabetic is important to me for my health and to live. My role as a
student is important because my achievement as a student will help
me to achieve happiness in my career. My role as an optimist,
adventurer, vegetarian, and liberal are important because those are
roles that develop as part of my character and my beliefs. My role as a
sister, daughter, and girlfriend are also very important roles because I
care so deeply for those people in my life. My role as an insurance
agent may not be my favorite, but it is also extremely important
because it is my source of income which is important to live and also
sustain other roles in my life such as affording diabetic supplies.
b. A lot of my time is dedicated to my roles as a diabetic, student, and
insurance agent.
Are you happy with this prioritization?
a. I would not like to attend so much time to being an insurance agent
and it is only because I dont find joy in what I do for a job. However,
that is where the majority of my time is spent.
What changes would you like to make?
a. I am in the process of making some changes right now. In the past
couple of months, I had the realization that I will be graduating and
since I graduated high school my goal was to achieve my Bachelors
and pursue my career. I am achieving my Bachelors, so what was
next? Pursuing my career? The career I want and have always wanted
is in healthcare and I realized, now that I have my BA, I dont have to
stop pursuing my educational goals. I can continue to learn by
pursuing my Masters and in pursuing my Masters, I can achieve my
career goals of becoming a nurse. I plan to continue to take courses to
apply to Entry Level Masters in nursing programs within the next
couple of years.
How do you see your roles changing in the future and how will that affect
your identity?
a. With the changes I mentioned above, I anticipate that my role as a
student is still going to be one of my biggest priorities until I graduate
from my Masters in nursing program. After, I feel much more confident

that as the role of a student will be replaced with the role of a nurse, I
will be much happier.
Areas of Identity I am
a

Student

Type 1 Diabetic

Sister

Daughter

How does this role

define your selfconcept or views?
Education is very
important to me. I have
and continue to work very
hard to be the first college
graduate in my family.
My health is extremely
important to me. I must
have health insurance for
the entirety of my life and
so my career choices take
that concern into
consideration. I choose to
monitor my sugars, take
my shots, eat healthy, and
exercise in order to
maintain a healthy
lifestyle to lower the risk
of complications later in
life. Type 1 Diabetes isnt
an easy illness to manage.
I am very passionate
about educating others
about Type 1 Diabetes
because the majority of
people dont know much
about the disease and
often get it confused with
Type 2.
My relationship with my
sister means the world to
me. Our mom suffers
from mental illness and
addiction, so my role as a
sister has been one of my
biggest responsibilities
throughout my life.
My parents are in the
process of going through a

How does this role

influence your
priorities and your
actions?
School is my priority. I
manage my time in order
to complete my other
obligations/roles in life as
well.
I consistently monitor my
blood sugars and take
insulin shots throughout
the day to manage my
diabetes. At every meal, I
must count my carbs and
do my calculation for how
much insulin to do based
on what I am eating. I
have to take into
consideration how any
activity, food, stress or
sickness may affect my
diabetes. My
responsibilities as a
diabetic come first in my
life because those are the
responsibilities that keep
me living on a day to day
basis.

It is almost a sister/mom
role. I try to protect my
sister, set a great example
for her, and be there for
her when she needs me.

I have always and

continue to work really

Girlfriend

Insurance Agent

divorce and my mother is

mentally ill and an addict.
So my role as a daughter
is very different as a
daughter to my dad and a
daughter to my mom.
Either way, in both roles, I
try to be a daughter that
makes them proud by
accomplishing my goals,
especially
educational/career goals.
It is one of my beliefs that
in a relationship, you cant
be that persons
everything. You cant be
every role to that one
person. Its an impossible
expectation. In my
relationship, my boyfriend
and I hold the same views.
As a girlfriend/boyfriend to
each other, we are a
source of happiness for
each other. By just being
ourselves and fulfilling the
role of a companion, we
each help to make the
other person happier,
smile more, and be a
better person.

I am not particularly fond

of this role because it
does not give me joy. It is
my means of income,
however, so it is very
important to me to excel
at this role. The fact that I
do not enjoy my job and

hard in my academic and

professional life to make
my parents proud. As a
daughter to my mom, this
role requires me to be
very strong and assertive,
but also very caring.

My time is very limited

because I do have so
many roles and
responsibilities that
require a lot of my time.
My relationship is one of
those roles that I dont
devote all my time to, but
it is important to me to
dedicate the time to it in
order to maintain
happiness. There are
times when a relationship
requires more time of you
and in those cases,
without a doubt, I would
dedicate the additional
time. My partner is my
best friend/my partner in
crime/ and a huge source
of happiness for me.
Dedicating my time to this
relationship is also
dedicating time to me.
I set an alarm to wake up
every day I have work. I
show up on time. I
complete my work
responsibilities.
Sometimes my job
requires overtime of me,
which I dont like, but

Vegetarian

Liberal

Optimist

that the organization does

not work very hard to
make its employees feel
valued makes it difficult to
fulfill this role.
I am vegetarian for two
reasons. The first is for
my own health concerns.
This diet helps me to live
a healthier life. The
second reason I choose
this lifestyle is because I
value the lives of animals.
I believe in fighting for the
rights of animals and
representing their voice.
The animal agricultural
business is incredibly
powerful and right now is
responsible for producing
more than double what
the human population
consumes. I strongly
oppose the animal
agricultural business and
firmly believe that my
choice to live a vegetarian
lifestyle makes a
difference.
I am very liberal. I believe
in equal opportunity and
equality for all. I believe
in government action to
alleviate social ills, protect
civil liberties and human
rights.
I am an optimist, no
doubt. I choose to look on
the bright side of things
always because it makes
me a happier person.

because it is my sole
source of income, I do it.

I dont eat meat. I try to

live a vegan lifestyle as
much as possible. This
lifestyle is a little more
costly when I go grocery
shopping and sometimes
subjects me to criticism or
stereotyping when others
observe what I am eating.

I do my best to read and

stay involved with what is
going on in political news.
I vote at every opportunity
I can. If someone asks my
political opinion, I very
respectfully carry a
conversation.
Not every situation is
sunshine and rainbows,
but being an optimist in
life helps to face towards
the sunshine when it stops
raining and others seek
out the sunshine you

Adventurer

I love to adventure! I love

to try new things. I think
it is important to
experience different
cultures, sights, sounds,
tastes, etc.

radiate at times.
I like to travel. I am
planning a trip to India/Sri
Lanka or
Cambodia/Vietnam this
summer. I want to travel
around the world in my
lifetime. I like to hike. I
like to meet new people. I
like to visit cultural
festivals.