Final January NaBloPoMo entry

1. Are you good at influencing other people?  
2. If you could persuade people to do one thing right now, what would it be?  
3. Did you feel a lot of pressure with January's NaBloPoMo?

I know I have been missing in action these past three days but I wanted to finish up the NaBloPoMo January challenge by answering the last few questions listed below!   

1.  I would like to think that I am good at influencing people as I am now in sales/recruiting.  I am just starting off in the field though so I hope I continue to improve my influencing ability.  As I mentioned earlier I am naturally an introvert but I enjoy connecting and influencing other people.  I just need my alone time to recharge now and then!

2. If I could persuade people to do one thing right now it would be to ship me some chocolate and free clothes for being awesome!  OK, just kidding.  I would persuade negative people to be more understanding and considerate of others.  I have seen too much negativity lately and I think life is too short for that.

3. Surprisingly, I did not feel a lot of pressure with January's NaBloPoMo.  I thought I would but my blogging has slowly become a habit.  Except for the last three days of course!  I will cut myself some slack since this was my first week on the new job.  In fact, I enjoyed this month's challenge so much that I am going to sign up for February!  Plus, it's a shorter month!

Happy Friday, all!

Rahel

Responsibilities

Which of your responsibilities stress you out the most?

Right now I am fortunate to be at a point in my life when I don't have a whole lot of responsibility.  I guess that's part of being in your 20s?   Also, I still live at home with my family which cuts back a lot of things I would otherwise have to take care of.  I do pitch in around the house though!  ;)  

I just started a new job today and while I am apprehensive about the next few weeks getting adjusted, I am optimistic.  Today was a good first day on the job and I am going to take it in baby steps. This is a new perspective for me as I usually put a lot of pressure on myself from the get go as I did in my last job.  It takes time to learn and adapt to a new work environment though.  So, I am going to practice self -love and trust that I will pick things up in time.

This entry reminds me of a little song by the one and only Miss Whitney Houston entitled "Step by Step."  

I'm takin' it step by step/bit by bit/stone by stone yeah/brick by brick. Step by step/day by day/mile by mile yeah/go your own way.

Rest in Peace, beautiful Whitney.  

Perfection doesn't exist

What puts more pressure on you: time constraints or achieving perfection?

Time constraints put pressure on me, not achieving perfection.  I have come to the conclusion that perfection is non-existent.  Don't get me wrong, I do have perfectionist tendencies.  Instead of aiming for perfection though, I try to aim high and be the best version of me.  I think that the quest for perfection is useless and that all we can do is our personal best.  

Are any of you familiar with Don Miguel Ruiz's The Four Agreements?  I am a big fan of his work advocating personal freedom from beliefs that create unhappiness in our lives. They are listed below.

1. Be impeccable with your word.

2. Don’t take anything personally.

3. Don’t make assumptions.

4. Always do your best. 

If everyone abided by these agreements, I feel like the world would be a better place!  

With all of the images of "perfection" in the media that we encounter on a daily basis, I have to make a point to remind myself that perfection does not exist!  The perfect looking woman on the advertisement has been retouched and has tons of makeup on.  The perfect looking family has their own set of problems and issues to deal with.  The perfect home in the magazine is not always well kept and sparkling clean.  Perfection is an illusion.  

Channeling anger through exercise + Turning over a new leaf re: procrastination in 2014

Never fear fellow NaBloPoMo bloggers, I haven't disappeared!  Just took a brief hiatus yesterday and now I'm doubling up on the entry for today.  

Do you think it's possible to control your temper when facing enormous pressure?

It is possible to control your temper when facing enormous pressure although it certainly makes it much more difficult!  Even as an "easygoing" person I remember often times crumbling under stress when I was in high school.  My high school years were very challenging academically as I took several advanced level classes each semester for college credit.  There were times when I lashed out passive aggressively at my family when really all I needed was an outlet to release stress.  Now, I have learned to channel any frustration and anger into exercise.  Zumba and Dance cardio classes at my local YMCA are my personal favorites!

Does pressure ever make you want to rebel and do the exact opposite of what is being asked of you?

At work, no.  I know I can't afford to rebel or else risk losing my job!  In school and at home, I think procrastination is often a form of rebelling and avoiding pressure.  I put off math homework in high school especially as it was not a favorite subject of mine.  Then at the last minute I would try to cram everything in for a test which just led to increased stress.  I shaped up in college and began tackling my tougher subjects like math  in more incremental doses so it wasn't too much in the end.  I need to work on this at home too as I will often put off household chores I don't want to do.  Then, at the last minute when I am forced to do it I can get into a panic mode.  Not healthy, I know.  Perhaps 2014 can be a turning point for me in not procrastinating!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and stay warm!  You know it's bad when schools in the South shut down because of icy roads.  No school for the kiddos today in our neighborhood!

Controlling those lovely things we call emotions

Do you have a bad temper?  How often do you lose your temper?

I don't have a bad temper and I am generally pretty easy going.  I am a very passive-aggressive person though.  I tend to keep things bottled up in order to avoid conflict.  Then every once in a blue moon, I will unleash some of the feelings I bottled up.  Usually those bottled up feelings will come out in tears when I am alone in my bedroom.  This is not a particularly good system and perhaps I should lose my temper every now and then to release some pent up frustration!

I really pride myself on keeping my cool in the workplace though.  I once cried in front of one of my first bosses for an internship in D.C. and regretted it deeply as I had let her mean words get to me.  I swore to myself that I would never again let that happen.  I would much rather cry it out at home or have a drink after work and talk it out with a friend.  My boss doesn't control my emotions, I do!  

What about you, fellow bloggers, how do you release your anger?  Maybe I can steal some of your ideas...;)

Perfection is overrated

Do you feel pressure to be perfect?  How much of it is tied to what you see online?

We as women tend to be very self-critical, myself included.  I wonder how much of this self-criticism stems from being exposed our whole lives to the airbrushed images of models in the media.  I used to feel more self-conscious about my looks, especially when I was in college.  I would compare myself constantly to other girls and wonder why I couldn't look as good as them or receive as much attention from guys as they did.  I am slowly learning to embrace my imperfections though.  I am not one hundred percent there and I don't know that I will ever be. Like most other 20 somethings, I am an avid social media user and maintain accounts on Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.  I often find myself comparing my life to a peer through looking at their postings on social media.  This is especially true with Facebook.  I have to tell myself that I do not and never will know a person's whole story judging from what they choose to share on social media.  So even if I wanted to compare, I couldn't!  Still, I catch myself wondering why my hair can't look like someone else's, why I can't find a guy like that and why my life doesn't look nearly as exciting.  I know it is human nature to compare but I need to remember that no one is perfect, especially me.  So, why waste my precious energy? Plus, it's our imperfections and quirks that make each one of us unique.  Living in a world full of Barbie dolls would be boring.   

Do any of you recall the 2008 Dove film/commercial, "Onslaught" which presented the impact that the media/beauty industry can have on young girls?  Well, I found it to be very insightful and relevant to our prompt's "pressure to be perfect" theme.  I believe it was a part of Dove's ongoing Campaign for Real Beauty.  Check it out below and let me know what you think!

Conformity

Do you still feel pressure of conform?  If no, what age did it stop?

As human beings I think we all feel pressure to conform to a certain extent.  And we should.  In our daily lives we all adhere to certain norms in order to gain acceptance from society.  I get dressed every morning and brush my teeth to conform to what is expected of me as a person.  And if I didn't, I would hurt a lot of people's feelings!  We abide by traffic rules and regulations to ensure the safety of our fellow human beings on the road.  If I drove on the left side of the road tomorrow morning I would be a huge safety hazard to all.  And I would be given the bird by fellow drivers and rightly so!  Conformity is not a bad thing; it all depends on context.  

To turn the table a little on conformity, I no longer feel pressure to conform to others expectations of how I should act.  I am by nature a quiet introvert.  I digest information differently than extroverts do.  I used to question why I couldn't be more talkative or outgoing like my younger sisters.  I think I have embraced my introversion over the past few years.  I am much more comfortable in my skin as an introvert.  In fact, about 30 minutes into my last job interview, my interviewer asked if I was an introvert to which I proudly said yes.  And I got the job!   For all of my fellow introverts out there, I suggest you pick up the acclaimed New York Times bestselling book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Won't Stop Talking  by Susan Cain.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book and felt empowered after reading the stories of other quiet people navigating the often high charged world of work.  Below is a link to the author's website--check it out!

The Power of Introverts- Susan Cain

Fellow bloggers, what do you think about the pressure to conform?