Alicia C.

Gill

Mrs.Okeefe/ Mr.Crain-Davis

English 4

5/23/17

How do you know you're making the right choices in critical life situation?

Before answering this I would like to give a little background knowledge. On why I

picked this question for my research paper. I developed this question out of my own curiosity on

how to always be successful. For example, how I asked how I know what college is best for me,

what career path is best for me, and how will I know (what signs will lead me to achieving my

goals). I find this idea of research really intriguing to me. Therefore, making this research

relevant to me by giving me an opportunity to ask people these questions and compare the

differences. When Id done that each time I got a similar or different answer from the questions

asked. But what I really want to know was; is there a definite answer as in relying on your gut

feelings to led to to success. Or is it all bases off life experiences and there is no right answer to

my question. My question can be answered in so many ways, which makes it complex to search

it in google and reice a definite answer. After researching this question I would like to feel more

confident in the decisions I make with early life choices. Meaning I want to make a decision like

choosing to to study literature and not feel I might regret it.

Before I started to find an answer to my research proposal question. I knew there was a

chance the answer would be different amongst the different source I ask or maybe even the
resources I use. Due to the fact that everyone has their own expense to develop different theories

and opinions. I also knew there was a potential high risk that majority people would measure

success the same. I knew this from my own experience after asking people questions about

school and career choices. I developed a theory that maybe there is a common feeling we all feel

when making the right decisions. But I also on the other hand people claimed there is no way to

be certain or not you're making the right choices. While researching I will keep an open mind

and try to understand all resources I come in contact to. This will keep me from engaging in any

bias acknowledgements in my I-search paper.

Before I started to plan my research and make a layout of how I will get things done. I

started by listing my available resources: Blogs, websites, interviewing people in my

neighborhood, and maybe even my local library for finding hard copy resources. I plan to

interview people close to me and people I dont know so well. I plan to watch vlogs or

documentaries on people responding to my question. I plan on gaining a new learning experience

from this project. It will teach me to use all my available resources. While helping me become a

better writer when it comes to research papers.

From my first document I picked out a quote that is really important to my topic of

research. Many of us believe if I just do this one more thing, one more story, one more ad,

video that I dont want to do, it will give me the freedom to do the other thing I want to do,

Jones said. I am a firm believer that that is the No. 1 kiss of death in life. The answer is to do

what you love. This is inspiring because this is a woman who went to school and decided to

change her career to do what she love. This helps tell me that people care about doing what they

love and therefore they feel successful doing that. I also know this because in this documentary it
talks about why some ordinary people choose to become nurses. Even though they nursed

convicts that didn't stop them because they were doing what they love. This sources gave me

information on why people change career just to be happy. Which is helpful towards my research

because that could be one clue to making the right decisions. Also it tells me that emotions and

the way you feel should play a part in why you decided to do things.

This next quote comes from business insider: Habits of Highly Successful People.

Successful people "are emotional people like others," writes Himani Kapoor, citing a Lifehack

article. "But, they manage their emotions smartly." As psychotherapist Amy Morin told Business

Insider, mentally strong people are acutely aware of how their emotions influence their thoughts

and behaviors, and they monitor the fluctuations in their emotions throughout the day(Shana

Lebowitz) . This quote relates to the previous source by talking about emotions and how to deal

with succus. This source helped me by telling me how people use or may not use their emotions

when making decisions that could determine whether your successful or not. I feel like I can use

this information on myself to check whether Im taking the right steps or not to being successful.

This sources starts off as an interview done by Marguerite Ward with Tom Corley. An

accountant and financial planner who has dealt with a lot of people who were self made

millionaires. So he give his insight on what these people did that made them who they are today.

It talks about things like taking good care of your health, have multiple incomes, and avoiding

people who waste time. "You are only as successful as those you frequently associate with,"

Corley says. This quote is implementing the idea that who you surround yourself around is very

important. This helps with my research because this mean even your social life or the people you

surround yourself with can determine whether or not youll be successful.

Bradberry, Travis, is a writer who focuses on emotional Intelligence. What makes his the

appropriate candidate for source line is some of the things he talks about relate to his expertise.

That is how successful people make decisions and this article starts off by saying how successful

people know how to prioritize. Which makes the successful because they focus on the right

things. For example it talks about deal with serious issues or decisions in the morning and the

small once in advances. So that you can concentrate on what matters. Then it goes onto talking

about controlling your emotions so that when your angry you dont lash out. Another great way

to beat decision fatigue is to save small decisions for after work (when decision fatigue is

greatest) and to tackle complex decisions in the morning, when your mind is fresh. I like this

quote because its telling you what you can change in your life that could lead you to success.

That is what my paper is all about find successfull stories and finding out what the people did to

get their. Then at the end I would compare and contrast all deference to see what all really works.

One of my sources from onlinecollege.org compares the greatest famous people and

compares it with how they struggled to get there. Bill Gates didn't seem like a shoe-in for

success after dropping out of Harvard and starting a failed first business with Microsoft

co-founder Paul Allen called Traf-O-Data. While this early idea didn't work, Gates' later work

did, creating the global empire that is Microsoft. This source helped me because now I can start

to have a counter argument. By showing the bright side to failure or making what seemed at a

certain time a bad idea seem good. I can also say whether we go through bad times or make the

wrong decisions it could still lead us to success. That idea on success a lone is my overall topic

so I have to talk about failure somewhere in my text.

She someone young woman can look up to. She had the odds against her. This quote talks
about how Oprah had odds against her and still making it to success. She ran away from home at

young age and was 16 and pregnant. These might seem light band decision she made in her life.

But she was still able to push through them and make it to success. So became so famous that

forbes voted her as 2013 most influential person. This source help push my theory on how bad

decisions we face dont always hold us bad from succus. If its destined for you to be successful

it's going to happen along as your will to put in the hard work.

Smith, Jacquelyn uploaded a video for business insider to find out what Americans see

the idea of success is or what it might appear like. In the beginning the people were asked to

define success. A lot of people thought success was something to hard to define. Some measured

their success by what other thought of them by the amount of likes they received on social

media. While another thought success was when their wife and kids were happy then they knew

they were successful. Towards the end the video revealed 90% believed that success is more

about happiness than power. This source helps by giving different perspectives but it goes back

to the theme of being happy. Also proving that not everyone sees success as the same things. So

people have less goals or easier goal to attain. This connects to my research paper because its

saying success is something that can be measured by yourself at the end of the day. So its up to

an individual to say three successful and have the explanation to why they feel that way.

This last source was done by myself and I interviewed Sargent Manthe on his opinion

and experiences with success. To find out if he would tell me anything different that I havent

heard before. One thing we covered in the interview was school and I found want Sargent

Manthe said was quite interesting. Question: What changed your mind about college and lead

you to the military?

Response: I seen the reality of college and what it didnt do for me. College is all about being

college focused not career focused and thats not what I wanted Mathe. What he said helped me

out a lot because Sergeant Manthe gave me some different answers. What I mean by this is that

he didnt say what expected him to. So I enjoyed that because I got a different experience

(answers) from what the average person would have had to say. This goes back to measuring

your own success because we all have different views and opinions.

After conducting this experiment I realized that success is something measured in

different ways. In other words meaning you measure success based off how you feel. Success is

something that looks different to each person. While some may go as life goes while never really

taking the time to measure success. After learning this I can incorporate this lesson into my life

by doing what makes me happy. Meaning I must feel comfortable and secure in what I decide

to pursue in a career. I also learned that whatever I decide to do must meet up to my expectation

in order for me to stay committed and intered in what I do. After my research I feel more

confident in making decision that can open opportunities for me in the near future.

Work Cited

Bradberry, Travis. "How Successful People Make Smart Decisions." Forbes. Forbes Magazine,

07 Oct. 2015. Web. 10 May 2017.

Http://www.onlinecollege.org, OnlineCollege.org -. "50 Famously Successful People Who

Failed At First." OnlineCollege.org. 15 Feb. 2017. Web. 14 May 2017.

Jula, Megan. Documentary Filmmaker Carolyn Jones Will Address Power of Do What You

Love. Indiana University Media School, Indiana University Media School, 11 Nov. 2014,

mediaschool.indiana.edu/news/documentary-filmmaker-carolyn-jones-will-address-power-of-do-

what-you-love/. Accessed 3 May 2017.

Lebowitz, Shana. "18 Habits of Highly Successful People." Business Insider. Business Insider,

30 Dec. 2016. Web. 07 May 2017.

Manthe, Patrick . His opinion on success. 17 May 2017.

"Oprah Winfrey." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017. Web. 14 May

2017.

Smith, Jacquelyn. Business Insider. Business Insider, Business Insider, 3 Oct. 2014,

www.businessinsider.com/how-americans-now-define-success-2014-10. Accessed 21 May 2017.

Ward, Marguerite. "9 Habits of Highly Successful People, from a Man Who Spent 5 Years

Studying Them." CNBC. CNBC, 28 Mar. 2017. Web. 07 May 2017.