Doing what makes you happy.

I was talking to a friend just a minute ago and she told me that she is considering switching majors from biology to education.  She told me the main reason that she didn’t want to is because of the stigma that goes along with education majors.  This raises an important question: does it make you less amazing if you do something that is stereotypically easier? 

The answer to this question depends on why you are doing it.  If you are taking an easier path because you want work less, then probably not.  Hard work is a key to being amazing.  But, if you are doing to make you happier, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone, then you are becoming more amazing.  Being amazing comes from within.  No matter how successful you are, there will be someone that will not think highly of you.  That’s just the way of life.  But, if you find yourself amazing, then you are making a step towards becoming amazing. 

So, change majors, take a chance, do something you love and don’t let anyone try to stop you.  You are in charge of your own happiness.

Knowing your faults

I know that I forgot to write Tuesday.  I could give you a list of excuses, but the honest truth is that I forgot.  This slip-up reminded me of a post that I have been meaning to write since I started this blog nearly a month ago: knowing your faults. 

A piece of advice given to me by my dad that I still use today is: unless it becomes necessary, don’t tell people your faults.  People will figure out your faults anyway, you probably do not want to give them a head start.  It’s not that having faults makes you less amazing, because I still hold the idea that everyone can be amazing. It’s that constantly telling people your faults shows lack of confidence and makes it so people can’t see past your faults.

  Of course, you should be able to laugh at yourself (a blog post I will give later).And, every once in a while, it is okay, or even encouraged, for you to make your faults public.  But, don’t make it a habit and remember to love yourself in the process.

            But, just because you don’t announce your faults in public doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t know them.  If you can’t dance and are not willing to take the time to learn, then don’t sign up for a dance contest.  If you know you are a slow reader, you should then plan more time to read a book then someone else who is a speed reader.  I think one step to become amazing is uncovering you faults and either try to conquer them and if that is not possible, then account for them.   

A quick update

So I am going to keep today a little bit short.  I actually do not have much to write.  My resolutions this week were going fine, but went a little sour when I grew ill.   So, once I completely recover from this illness, I will be back towards making great strides towards my resolutions.  Also, I want to apologize for being a day late on my post.  Days tend to run together when you are sick.

In other news, classes are going well.  I ended up breaking one of my cardinal rules of college and skipping class on Friday because I was under the weather.   I encourage college students to always attend class.  You never know what important material will be covered.  Also, attendance in class is critical to receiving those important professor recommendations.  Luckily, I only have one class on Friday and a friend who is willing to let me copy notes.

I will be starting back up on my research assistant job this Wednesday.  Because I was supposed to start on Friday, but grew ill, I have been working a bit from home.  They are giving me more responsibilities, which is both scary and exciting.  Alright, See you all on Tuesday.  

How to succeed and learn when you have a terrible professor

After just starting a new semester, I have had to face a pretty significant problem- I have a terrible professor.  This class is supposed to be one of the easier classes that I would have to take.  But because my professor is a terrible communicator and just over all clueless, I have had issues understanding the material.  So I have been researching and using my own personal experience to compile a list of ways to cope with a bad professor.

1.     If possible switch to another section or wait to take it a different semester

·         The first week in many colleges is an add/drop week.  If, when first meeting your professor, you realize that he/she is not a good fit for you, switch to a different professor, if possible.  Or, take it a different semester.  Unfortunately, for me, I must take it this semester and with this professor or else I will not be able to continue my major. Also, if the reason you cannot switch to a different professor is that the other class is full, then just sit in on the other class.  However, do not take this as an opportunity to skip your main class.  Only your teacher will know what is going to be on the test.

2.    Form a study group

·         No matter how bad the professor is, there is going to be someone in the class that understands the material.  Forming a group with other students can help you grasp important concepts.  Just be aware that study groups can just turn into unhelpful hang out sessions if you are not careful in keeping on task.

3.    Go to the Professor’s or TA’s office hours

·         Even if the professor is unhelpful during class time.  Some one–on-one help might be useful.  For example, I one time had a physics professor who I had trouble following during the lecture.  I began attending his office hours and he gave me extra help.  Because he was more focused on me and was able to move at my pace, I ended up with an A in the class.

·         Also, professors often have TAs that not only took the class with that professor, they received a high grade.  The TA knows how to survive the class and can give you helpful tips on the material.  If the TA is unavailable, you can try to find a friend who has taken the class before.

4.    Follow the book

·         Often times, bad teachers are lazy teachers.  This means that the material they have is straight from the book, and sometimes, (yes is has happened to me on more than one occasion) the tests are DIRECTLY out of the book.   If you keep up and take notes, you can succeed.

5.    Get a tutor

·         Some of my friends are fundamentally against getting a tutor- even if they are free.  It’s almost as if they would rather fail than admit they need help.    Tutors know the material and, unlike professors, were not hired for research.    The tutors are not hired if they don’t know the material, nor if they are poor teachers.  Often times, colleges have them for free or at reduced cost.

6.    Try to change your perspective

·         On personal experience, I have noticed that if I think a teacher is bad, then I can only see them as a bad teacher.  The truth is, sometimes it is our own minds that are keeping us from learning.  If we can see the teacher in a more positive light, we are able to affect our own ability to learn.

A strange surge of happiness

When I first announced to myself that I wanted to start the amazing quest, something occurred in me.  A strange surge of happiness is the best way to put it. I think it has something to do with the fact that I am actively trying to make myself a better person.  And when you put yourself out there and announce to the world that you want to be a better person, a funny thing happens- you start to feel like a better person

.

So becoming “amazing”  is a never ending battle, but I guess the first step is the hardest to take.  For those who are wondering, here is an update on how I am doing on the resolutions that I started yesterday:

            I did make it to the gym yesterday and spent 20 minutes dying on a stair master machine.  It is going to be a bit of time before I can make it the full thirty minutes, but I am getting there.  Today (meaning Monday) , however, I was forced to skip.  I grossly under estimated my homework load today and didn’t have time to go to the gym.  I know it is just an excuse, but I am allowed two rest days a week so I guess I should take one. 

            On other news, I did sign up for the color run this February in Jacksonville, Florida.  for more information click here: http://thecolorrun.com/ I am far away from completing a 5k, so this month’s exercise routine will be mostly dedicated to completing that. ( do prefer cardio anyway)

            I did eat five fruits/ vegetables both today and yesterday.  It is actually a lot harder than I thought it would be.  Who knew I had so little fruit in my diet?

            Finally, the procrastination has decreased.  I restarted a tried and true productivity technique.  I call my five big rocks.  This technique basically requires that the night before I write the five most important things I need to do for the day on a small post-it and place it in my agenda.  I most do nothing on that note and do not need to do anything more.  Even though it might seem like you are not doing enough.  (I mean, we all seem incredibly busy, right?) but five things a day, done consistently, adds up  to a lot. Anyway, here is a picture of my "big rock" list:

            Alright, see you all on Thursday!

An Update

Because of my trip to Italy, my last few posts have been very formal.  Which is good for the most part, but it is not exactly how I see this blog going.

So I would like to give a quick update on how my resolutions are working out.   So the short answer to that is well, about 50/50.  Once again, because I just got back from Italy, I have had trouble starting up.  This is why tomorrow, 1/13/2012 will be the first day on many of the resolutions.

However, my first resolution, this blog, has felt like a huge success to me.  Yes, I do not have followers and get really excited when I get a new page view, but I have been keeping at it.  I am sure to publish on promised days and I say things I truly believe.  Therefore, resolution one is at top status.

My second resolution, eating five fruits and vegetables a day, has not been quite as successful.  This has been mostly because I had not had time to go shopping since I had returned.  But, today, I changed that.  My fruits and vegetables have been bought and tomorrow will be a success.

The third resolution, exercising will start tomorrow.  It is very hard to exercise too much when you already walk ten miles on the 7 hills of Rome.

My final resolution, not procrastinating, probably needs some work.  Yes, I did finish my thermodynamics homework as soon as it was assigned as well as other big projects accomplished before the deadline.  But, I am less than thrilled about my work this week and hope to improve again.  

I will try to send another update pretty soon!  Here is a picture of me in italy to keep you going.

What does it mean to be amazing?

The word amazing is just as broad of a word as it could ever be.   And it is of common knowledge that dreams are accomplished easier if we can give a concise definition to them.   So here is how I define amazing:

1. Doing well on things that you spend your time

            It is alright to have different interests than everyone else.  In fact, it is encouraged.  But, for whatever you spend your time on, remember to put your best foot forward.  That being said…

2.  Except don’t do well on everything

            It may seem a bit contradictory to what I mentioned earlier, but it is important to try new things.  So, pick one or two things to do well and choose wisely, (Later, I will explain the importance of practicality) and then spend the rest of your time getting acquainted with what life has to offer.  The world is a book; make sure you don’t stay on one page.

3.  Love and be loved

            Think people often forget that love is not just between a significant other, but also, between so many people in your life.  Amazing people tell their friends and family they love them.  They form bonds and create memories.  You can never feel amazing if you are going at it alone.

4.  Be yourself, but a first rate version of yourself

            Everyone has something that makes them unique.  Everyone has their own series of faults, talents and just personality traits that we can really only associate with them.  Some people try to hide who they are.  They want to fit in, so they wear the same clothes and act the same.  They do things they don’t enjoy doing and they become something that they think they should be instead of something that they are.  To be amazing, you must not only accept who you are, you must embrace it.  Love your weirdness, your talents, and your quirks because if you didn’t have them, you wouldn’t be unique and that’s all that matters.  

An Amazing Look

Something I have noticed, mostly with woman, is issues with personal appearance. Makeup brands, clothing stores, hair products all make millions of dollars a year trying to improve the way we look. Many people furiously argue that society should not be so look concerned.  However, it has become increasingly apparent to me that the way that we present ourselves creates a sort of symbol to how we want to be treated. For example, a backwards baseball capped man with pants that ride lower than expected will be, and arguable want to be, perceived differently than someone dressed in clothes that one could only find on Madison Square Avenue. Regardless of whether you agree with how society perceives you, it is important to remember that it does. Because of this face, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1.     Style and fashion are different

o    Fashion changes with the season while style is the personal look that you have created.  Fashion changes all the time while style only grows as you do.  It is more important that you are comfortable with how you dress regardless of how what is fashionable in the season. 

2.     Know your look

o    How you want to be perceived is something that you need in mind. As the popular saying goes "dress for the job you want, not for the job you have."  Although showing up to work in a batman costume is not encouraged, it is vital that you look the way you want to be perceived.  I am not saying that you should spend your fortune buying clothes only found at high end stores. In fact, I am a frequent costumer of J. C. Penney and Target.  However, loving the way you look is a step toward loving yourself.  

3.     Be comfortable in your own skin

o    I have thick, wavy hair and for years I have been fighting it. I have spent hundreds of dollars on straitening irons, hair creams and anything else that might make me wake up looking like a movie star.  But recently I had the epiphany that if you can be comfortable with the way you look at your worst, then no amount of money will make you love the way you look at your best.  So, in order to boost my self-image.  Once a week, even it is only for an hour, I go outside embracing what I call my "natural beauty."  Sometimes it is just letting my hair stay curly and other times it is going out without make up on.  What surprises me is the amount of compliments I receive when I do this.  Everyone is naturally beautiful in one way and it is something you must believe.  

Small Victories

Everyone has goals; things that they want to accomplish, but cannot for some reason or another. However, time after time as much as we want and need to accomplish these things, we often give up after a couple of weeks, days, or even just moments.  Stopping this trend is a way to excellence.  One way I have found to stop, or at least deter the trend from happening too often is celebrating the small victories.

I define "Small victories" as the tiny milestones you hit before hitting your overall goal.  For example, say you want an A in your history class.  Receiving an A on your first test would be a small victory. How you choose to celebrate the victory is up to you.  Sometimes, I choose to reward myself with high marks by buying something that I would otherwise I would find a little too crazy to buy regularly. (It doesn't have to be something expensive; one of my rewards is buying the more expensive pen at Wal-Mart for acing my Calculus test).  But it can really be anything, really: letting yourself watch a movie, telling your mother, doing a cartwheel.  Just being afraid to be proud of you for the small things often deters us from accomplishing our big things.

Lately, I have been working on increasing the documentation of my life and trying to increase my writing skills.  So, I have started writing a journal.  Every night, before bed, I try to write in my journal.  Sometimes, it is just a sentence and sometimes it is a few pages.  I started the journal on June 12th and every month, on the 12th I write a sentence in the journal congratulating myself.  It sounds so silly, but honestly I get very excited about writing that sentence every month.  It brightens my day and lets me know that I am accomplishing a goal.  

I think celebrating the small victories is important. As I once read on interest "People say motivation doesn't last.  Well neither does showering, that why recommend it daily."  So celebrate the little things and remember that it takes thousands of steps to run a marathon. 

Where I Start

                 I am the type of person that wants to do everything at once.  I feel like I start running at full speed, which, at first, seems great, but eventually I run out of energy and revert back to a life style that no one would call amazing.  

                The best thing for me is to take one step at a time.  So I would like to share with you, a list of New Year’s resolutions that I have been debating on doing for a long time:

                The first of which is this blog. I feel like if I have something to call to every night, then I will be more likely to succeed. This blog will highlight my findings while trying “The Amazing Quest” along with different observations that I have found throughout life.    My goal is to post three times a week: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  And maintain the blog every off day.

                The next resolution that I am starting this first month, is eating better.  I eat terrible. I go to fast food, I have way too many sweets and I constantly miss my five servings of fruit and vegetables. Now, despite my terrible eating habits, I have managed to maintain a fairly thin body, so I do not want to exactly lose weight.  However, I would like to create a fairly balanced diet.  To begin, I would like to make sure that I receive my five servings of fruit and vegetables. Obviously, I will add more to my resolution as the year progresses, but I must do just one step at a time.

                My next resolution is exercise at least five times a week, thirty minutes a day.  I was about to accomplish this goal once before, by keeping an exercise journal.  But, unfortunately, that habit was lost when I lost access to a gym.   

                My final and most important resolution is to stop procrastinating.  Procrastinating is my worst habit.  I have a tendency to find all sorts of things more important than my work.  My goal is to do all simple homework (worksheets, math problems etc.) as soon as they are assigned and give assign unbreakable appointments with more time consuming projects.

Why I started

Why I started “The Amazing Quest”

                Everyone in life is given a certain set of gifts, an amazing set of talents that we are born with.  Life is about finding those talents and using them to make us happy.  Unfortunately, many of us don’t live up to our potential.  We waste time and money, give minimal effort to what is important to us and forget to do what we love.  The craziest part of all of this is we all have the potential to be, for lack of a better term, amazing. 

                I think that this idea came to me when I met this girl in my Physics class.  At first glance, she seemed completely normal.   However, after talking to her I realized that she was an amazing person. She double majored, with a 4.0 GPA and was looking into minoring in Physics. About month later, I found out that she had been nominated for a full bright scholarship.  After a rough semester at school, I realized that I was not doing the best that I could.  So I knew that I had to change.  After a few months of trimming and refining a set of resolutions, reading books and researching how people become successful.  I decided that it was time for me to start a new life style.  A life style where the hours I waste are dwarfed by the amount of hours that spend succeeding.  I want live up to my potential and become an amazing person.