Who puts the most pressure on you -- yourself or others?
This one is easy for me! I am my biggest critic by far. I am sure others of you can identify with this. I am the oldest among my three sisters and by nature, the oldest child can tend to be an achiever. I actually just read a great article in the Huffington Post about how birth order affects personality. (Huff post article by Dr. Gail Gross) As the eldest child I fit the mold for the most part. I am a perfectionist, an approval seeker and a mini-parent. My parents never had to put much pressure on me to study and do well in school. I put the pressure on myself. It also helped that I went to a highly competitive high school and was surrounded by the type of people who did homework at lunch instead of just socialize.
Even now, I put pressure on myself to succeed as an adult. I want to earn a living and simultaneously live a life of meaning. After being out of work for three months, I can proudly say I just got a job offer this week. So I feel like I am on the right road now, but I want more out of life this year. I want to cultivate interests outside of work like my blog and writing in general. I want to continue to make time to exercise through Zumba and maybe even include a cycling class in my regimen. I also want to nurture my friendships outside of work and find a church home. And I hope I can even find a special someone this year. ;) These are all goals I want to achieve for myself. Perhaps I could call my self-motivation internal pressure? Regardless, I am motivated to live a life that I can be proud of for me, not others.
This one is easy for me! I am my biggest critic by far. I am sure others of you can identify with this. I am the oldest among my three sisters and by nature, the oldest child can tend to be an achiever. I actually just read a great article in the Huffington Post about how birth order affects personality. (Huff post article by Dr. Gail Gross) As the eldest child I fit the mold for the most part. I am a perfectionist, an approval seeker and a mini-parent. My parents never had to put much pressure on me to study and do well in school. I put the pressure on myself. It also helped that I went to a highly competitive high school and was surrounded by the type of people who did homework at lunch instead of just socialize.
Even now, I put pressure on myself to succeed as an adult. I want to earn a living and simultaneously live a life of meaning. After being out of work for three months, I can proudly say I just got a job offer this week. So I feel like I am on the right road now, but I want more out of life this year. I want to cultivate interests outside of work like my blog and writing in general. I want to continue to make time to exercise through Zumba and maybe even include a cycling class in my regimen. I also want to nurture my friendships outside of work and find a church home. And I hope I can even find a special someone this year. ;) These are all goals I want to achieve for myself. Perhaps I could call my self-motivation internal pressure? Regardless, I am motivated to live a life that I can be proud of for me, not others.
Your post resonated with me as I am the first born too. Congratulations on the new job and I hope 2014 is your year. Your goals like they will bring a lovely balance to your year. All the best and keep blogging.
ReplyDeletehttp://queasypeasy.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/handle-it-well-or-fall-apart-it-all-depends/
Thanks for stopping by! I'm glad the post resonated with you as a first born. Us first borns have to stick together! :)
Delete2014 is shaping up well for me so far and I hope yours is too! I look forward to checking out your blog.