Class 12 Employability Skills
Class Notes on Unit 2 Self-Management Skills
Unit 2: Self-Management Skills
Self-management
Self-management, which is also referred to as ‘self-control’, is the ability to control one’s emotions, thoughts and behaviour effectively in different situations. This includes motivating oneself and working towards achieving personal and academic goals.
Motivation and Positive Attitude:
Motivation and positive thinking can help us overcome fears and take up new challenges.
Motivation
Motivation is derived from the word ‘motive’. Thus, directing behaviour towards certain motive or goal is the essence of motivation. An individual’s motivation may come from within (intrinsic motivation) or be inspired by others or events (extrinsic motivation).
Intrinsic motivation
It includes activities for which there is no apparent reward but one derives enjoyment and satisfaction in doing them. It occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it brings them pleasure. They think it is important or feel what they are learning is significant. Incentives related to the motive or goal can satisfy one’s needs.
Extrinsic motivation
It arises because of incentives or external rewards. Lack of motivation or incentives may lead to frustration, for example, employees who are kept on contractual basis for a long time may get frustrated and leave an organisation.
Positive attitude
A positive attitude makes a person happier, and helps build and maintain relationships. It even increases one’s chances of success. In addition, it can help the person make better decisions. People, who maintain a positive or optimistic attitude in life situations and challenges, are able to move forward than those with a negative attitude. Positive attitude helps improve mental and physical health.
Ways to maintain a positive attitude
It can take a little time and effort to build a positive attitude. Following are some ways that can help one maintain
a positive attitude:
- Start the day with a morning routine.
- Feed the mind with positivity, read motivating books, listen to music with uplifting lyrics, watch inspiring movies, etc.
- Be proactive. A proactive person decides how one must feel regardless of what may be going around or what the day may bring.
- Focus on constructive and positive things. Do not approach life with ‘problems’. Approach it with ‘solutions’.
- Learn from failures. Think what could have been better and work towards the goals.
- Learn to focus on the present. Negativity mostly stems out from anxiety of the past and future events.
- Move towards your goals and dreams. Be cheerful and work hard to achieve the dreams.
Techniques that can help you to maintain a positive outlook in the long run.
- Physical exercise and fresh air: Following a healthy lifestyle is essential for students. Practising yoga, meditation and deep breathing exercises help improve blood circulation and relax the body. Taking a walk or playing in the park helps one to get a lot of fresh air, which helps in becoming more active.
- Healthy diet: A healthy and balanced diet is important for a healthy body and mind. Eating a balanced diet, such as daal, roti, green vegetables and fruits provides the strength required to do daily work efficiently.
- Organise academic life: By keeping class notes organised, completing assignments on time and keeping track of all deadlines, stress can be reduced to a great extent. When you are not stressed, you can channelise your mind to achieve the goals.
- Adequate sleep: A good night sleep for at least seven hours is important so that the mind and body can get recharged to function better the next day.
- Holidays with family and friends: Visiting a relative’s place, such as grandparents’ house or a new place during summer vacation can help one break the the monotonous normal routine and come back refreshed.
What is stress and how to manage it?
Stress is a state of feeling upset, annoyed and hopeless. There are times when we feel nothing is working right, we are not able to achieve our goals and feel hopeless. During such times, if we manage and control our emotions, it helps us to sail through.
Some of the ways to manage stress are given below:
- Stay positive and analyse what is going wrong in a certain situation. Resolving the situation is easy once understood.
- Maintain an accomplishment sheet and enter even small achievements.
- Keep your thoughts in present. Pondering over past issues makes us feel upset and helpless.
- Talk to friends and family for comfort.
- Practise meditation and yoga.
- Whenever you feel negative thoughts are taking over, take a look at your accomplishment sheet.
Result Orientation
Result orientation is a term used to describe a person’s ability to recognise what results are important and the steps needed to be taken to achieve them. It means to focus on the result of an assigned task.
How to become result-oriented?
(i) Set clear goals: Is the first step one needs to take to meet the targets.
(ii) Prepare an action plan: An action plan describes the way a person or an organisation will meet the set objectives.
- What changes will occur after the actions?
- Who will carry out the changes?
- When will the changes take place?
- How long will the changes stay?
- What resources are needed to carry out the changes?
- Who should know and what should be communicated?
(iii) Use the right resources and tools:
(iv) Communicate with mentors and peers:
(v) Make a calendar: One must make a calendar to monitor the progress at regular intervals.
(vi) Work hard: One must work hard and believe in one’s dreams.
Goal setting
Goal setting helps us to understand what we want, how to achieve it and how do we measure our success. Writing a goal requires that we should understand its purpose and objective.
Let us try to understand how to define a goal.
- Identify what the goal is about, eg. customer satisfaction, speeding up the delivery process, etc.
- How the goal would make a difference? Use the acronym SMART to set goals.
Let us see what each letter in SMART implies.
- S: Specific: Specific goals give us a concrete target. Hence, a goal should have a specific purpose.
- M: Measurable: Goals should always be measurable.
- A: Action-oriented: Goals do not just come true on their own. Effective goal setting should be
- R: Realistic: Goals must always be realistically attainable.
- T: Timely: Goals must have deadlines. But one must always set a deadline to get the job done.
Self-awareness
Self-awareness is about understanding one’s own needs, desires, habits, traits, behaviours and feelings.
Steps towards self-awareness
- The first step for practising self-awareness is gaining a greater awareness of one’s emotions.
- The second step to practising self-awareness is making a habit of tracking one’s feelings.
- The third step for practising self-awareness is expanding one’s practice to areas of life beyond the person’s feelings.
Personality and personality traits
Personality is a cluster of thoughts, feelings and behaviours that make a person unique and different from others. Personality traits are defined as relatively lasting patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours that distinguish individuals from one another.
Five parameters describe an individual’s personality. These five dimensions are also called the ‘Big Five Factors’ and the model is referred to as the ‘Five Factor Model’, which is abbreviated as FFM.
- Openness,
- Consciousness,
- Extraversion,
- Agreeableness,
- Neuroticism
Common personality disorders
Personality disorders involve long-term patterns of thoughts and behaviour that are unhealthy and rigid. A personality disorder is a way of thinking, feeling and behaving that deviates from worldly expectations and causes distress, which lasts over time.
Cluster A: Suspicious
People falling under this cluster always mistrust others and are suspicious, even when there is no need to do so.
- Paranoid personality disorder: People with such a disorder mostly hold grudges against others, distrust for others.
- Schizoid personality disorder: The term ‘schizoid’ refers to the natural tendency to direct attention toward one’s inner life away from the external world.
- Schizotypal personality disorder: People with this type of personality disorder believe that they can influence other people or events with their thoughts.
Cluster B: Emotional and impulsive
This personality disorder is characterised by unstable moods and behaviours, which lead to unhealthy and unstable relationships, emotional instability and feelings of worthlessness.
- Antisocial personality disorder
- Borderline personality disorder
- Histrionic personality disorder
- Narcissistic personality disorder
Cluster C: Anxious
This personality disorder is characterised by feelings of worry, anxiety or fear, which have the potential to affect one’s daily routine.
- Avoidant personality disorder
- Dependent personality disorder
- Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
Steps to overcome personality disorders:
- Talk to someone. Most often, it helps to share your feelings.
- Look after your physical health. A healthy body can help you maintain a healthy mind.
- Build confidence in your ability to handle difficult situations.
- Engage in hobbies, such as music, dance and painting. These have a therapeutic effect.
- Stay positive by choosing words like ‘challenges’ instead of ‘problems’.
