Personal Growth Paper: Psych 2030, Reflective Analysis, March 2024

This paper, focusing on personal growth, delves into the author's motivational orientation, primarily intrinsic motivation, as a driver for academic and personal goals. It explores strategies for coping with stress, including problem-focused approaches, and the use of meditation and relaxation techniques. The paper also reflects on experiences with depression and anxiety, highlighting the importance of support from family and friends, and the acceptance of situations to overcome challenges. The author emphasizes the significance of recognizing and addressing mental health concerns, along with a commitment to healthier habits and seeking help when needed. The assignment adheres to APA style and reflects on course material related to school contextual issues.

Running head: PERSONAL GROWTH
PERSONAL GROWTH
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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PERSONAL GROWTH
Personal growth is a process through which people try to develop oneself to gain one’s
full potential. It includes various techniques of improving one’s behaviours, actions and habits.
This paper focuses on the techniques through which I try to improve upon my personal growth.
The ways in which I motivate myself to handle my school life and personal life, my strategies of
coping with stress and the way in which I manage myself when going through certain depressive
or anxious phase is discussed in the following paper.
Motivational orientation
In order to progress through life, it is extremely vital that the person has proper
motivation to perform that action. Motivational orientation is the basis of motivation that allows
an individual to take interest in the particular activity that he wants to perform. For me it is
intrinsic motivation that motivates me to work through school and any other goal that I have in
my personal life. If I do not get motivated from within, no amount of rewards and money can
motivate me to do the job. For example, I would not do a task in school even if the teacher
announces an external reward like going to my favorite singer’s concert because I am extremely
motivated by internal rewards. If I feel like doing an assignment then I would definitely do it and
would not need any kind of external rewards. Intrinsic motivation is the kind of motivation
where people feel motivated from within because the task interests them (Legault, 2016). Even in
my personal life, I set goals according to my interests where I am sure of the fact that I would be
able to accomplish it because I love to do it. Achievement goal theory states the ways in which
students set their goals according to their competence and ability (Senko, 2016). I try to do so too
as I set my standards according to the ability of performing the task.

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Coping with Stress
There is no person on earth who does not have stress in his life. The pressure of school
and expectations of parents in my personal life creates a lot of stress that sometimes goes beyond
my control. In school, there is pressure of assignments, projects and presentations. Writing
assignments for so many subjects with a high quality and proper research is a difficult task. I
have a tendency to procrastinate and that adds on to my problems of meeting my deadlines. I
often find myself doing the task at the last minute. This creates a lot of stress in me. On top of
that, there is an added stress of meeting my parents’ expectations. They want me to score high
marks in all the assignments and examinations so that I get through a good university for my
higher studies that would help me in my future endeavors. This added expectation creates a lot of
stress in me. I try to lighten my mood by listening to music and dancing and I feel like I cannot
take the pressure anymore. I talk about my problems to my friends who advise me as to how to
handle the situation. Seeking support from loved ones helps greatly in reducing stress. Coping
mechanism strategies as defined by the psychologists Lazarus and Folkman, is the individual’s
cognitive as well as behavioral efforts to handle the demands of the situations that can be taxing
(Baqutayan, 2015). Problem-focused strategies are the most effective ones because here the
person learns to solve problems by directly confronting it. I would want to be more attentive to
my problems and focus on solving it instead of denying the problem. Another way to cope
through stress is to learn to control the emotions by way of meditation and relaxation techniques
(Chai & Low, 2015). I would try to inculcate the habit of meditation.
Experience with Depression and/or Anxiety
I am a person who usually handles stressful situations from a positive approach and
therefore, I try not to feel anxious with little problems in my life. However, one incident had

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taxed me so much that I could not feel any way out of the situation. I had failed in my school
examinations, which I had really prepared, had for. I was so lost after that particular incident that
I did not know what to do. I would not feel like eating or going out with friends. I would sit at
home all day and hardly interact with my parents. I would feel so helpless and hopeless at the
situation that I would cry my eyes out. I did feel that there was nothing left in the world and that
nothing positive ever could happen around me. Depression is the feeling of hopeless,
helplessness and worthlessness. It decreases the productivity and affects the relationships and
health too. I was facing the same things (Beiter et al., 2015). My parents and friends were
concerned about me and try to lift my mood with different tactics but nothing worked. I could
not find any way out of it. It was affecting my other activities and performances in school to. The
teachers were also concerned and tried to help me through therapy but nothing worked. I handled
the situation in the most positive way possible. I believed that I would study harder and perform
well in my academics. I would try to score better and not be demotivated by the failure that I
encountered earlier. Accepting the situation is the first step to solve the problem. Negative events
do trigger feelings of sadness, loneliness and worry in me. I feel that I am effective in using
“triggering” words and phrases.
Conclusion
Motivational orientation for me depends on intrinsic motivation. If I feel motivated from
within then I can work towards it. The way I cope with my stress in life is to confront the
situation that is causing stress directly and including healthier ways of coping with it through
meditation and exercises. Coping with anxiety and depression is never easy however, having the
support of the family and acknowledging the situation makes it easier to cope with. In terms of

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effectively monitoring my mental and physical health, I would try to talk more about my feelings
with the people I trust, eat healthy and ask for help from people.

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References
Baqutayan, S. M. S. (2015). Stress and coping mechanisms: A historical
overview. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(2 S1), 479-479.
Beiter, R., Nash, R., McCrady, M., Rhoades, D., Linscomb, M., Clarahan, M., & Sammut, S.
(2015). The prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and stress in a sample of
college students. Journal of affective disorders, 173, 90-96.
Chai, M. S., & Low, C. S. (2015). Personality, coping and stress among university
students. American Journal of Applied Psychology, 4(3-1), 33-38.
Legault, L. (2016). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
Senko, C. (2016). Achievement goal theory. Handbook of motivation at school, 75.