Reflective Paper: Skills, Attributes, and Career Goals

This reflective paper is a self-assessment journal exploring a student's skills and attributes, including focus and attention, negotiation, time management, and public speaking. The student utilizes Kolb's reflective cycle to analyze their experiences and observations, developing ideas for future actions and career goals. The paper details the student's strengths in these areas, providing examples of their application in academic and personal settings, and also addresses areas for improvement. The student reflects on the importance of these skills for their future career, discussing how they plan to nurture and apply these attributes in professional and personal contexts. The paper concludes with a summary of the student's insights and a plan for their continued development.

Running Head: REFLECTIVE PAPER 0
Reflective Journal
Reflective Personal Development Plan
(Student Details:)
12/8/2018

Reflective Paper 1
Contents
Reflective Journal.......................................................................................................................2
Kolb’s Reflection Theory...........................................................................................................2
Focus and Attention...................................................................................................................2
Negotiation.................................................................................................................................3
Time-Management.....................................................................................................................4
Public Speaking..........................................................................................................................5
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................6

Reflective Paper 2
Reflective Journal
This reflective journal is based on development of my understanding of self through my
engagement with the learning as well as activities during the module (Atkins & Murphy,
2008). I will reflect on what I have learned as well as breadth and depth of my academic
reading understanding (Bolton, 2014). This reflective paper is containing my skills or
attributes include negotiation, focus and attention, time-management and public speaking.
Thus, I will also identify relevance of the above skills to my future career (Boud et al., 2013).
Kolb’s Reflection Theory
According to David Kolb, a learner goes through a spiral of instant experiences that leads to
observations as well as reflections on those events and ultimately develops ideas for the
future actions. In this reflective writing I will utilise Kolb’s above theory of reflection for
reflecting my skills and attributes in order to explore the importance of my skills and
attributes into my future career (Kolb, 2008). Kolb’s reflective cycle contains four key steps
as follows:
 Experience (Boud et al., 2013).
 Reflections and Observations
 Development of ideas (Costa & kallick, 2008).
 Testing generated ideas in practice (Bassos, 2016).
Focus and Attention
In my opinion after reading (Fast Company Magazine, 2018), focus and attention is the skill
of an individual where the person is wholly indulged in the activity, task or goal achieving
process (Future learn, 2013). More often attention is typically used in short term activities or
tasks, at the same time focus is used for comparatively greater and longer tasks and activities
(Conley, 2015). I possess these two skills in myself because whenever I perform any task
related to my academic career my attention cannot be broken by any personal activity or
issue. Likewise, I have set some goals such as short-term, medium-term and long term, and I
am totally focused towards them. I assess my goals’ status time-to-time for their achievement
by set time-lines; hence I might possess these skills effectively. My peer and tutor also
observed these skills of mine during my interaction with them. During academic seminars

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and workshops, due to my better focus and attention, I grab the things and logics instantly
which allows me to interact as well as ask queries instantly. Because of those incidents my
friends and classmates asked me many times that how would you understand all the concepts
and theories in class so quickly which we all cannot do frequently (South University, 2013). I
always suggest to all of them that my attention paid to my tutor’s sayings and teachings is the
key to understand all the academic theories efficiently and quickly. I have got appreciated for
my good academic skills many times from my professors, tutors and parents. In order to
quote a contradiction related to this skill of being more focused and attentive, I would like to
quote a situation which usually occurs during my academic career. The situation is that
whenever there is a need of appointing a leader for the group doing any activity or project
during my class, my tutor often appoints me as a student group leader, which gives me extra
responsibility and mental pressure many times. Yet when I worked as a leader of my class
group and took responsibility then I have learnt positive leadership and I learnt to work in
pressure which will be useful for my future career. The opportunities I have received due to
these skills of being attentive as well as focused are very much useful to build a bright career
and professional life. Thus, this attribute of mine gave me a lot of opportunities to learn and
cherish my personality and I have nourished my knowledge set as well (leeds beckett
university, 2015).
Negotiation
For me negotiation is a way through which people settle out differences or it seems like a
method using which compromises or agreements are reached so that arguments and disputes
can be avoided. As we know that during any disagreement, peoples reasonably aim to attain
the best possible outcomes for their position and they do not care about others. Hence, I
always prefer negotiation over disagreement and fortunately I might have the power of
negotiating individuals for the sake of both. I do not like when peoples get disappointed post
satisfying someone at the other side and this is the reason that I grabbed this skill naturally. I
know how to negotiate and settle down the differences between two groups or individuals so
that nobody can be disadvantaged or left behind (Costa & kallick, 2008). Whenever I face the
kind of situations where I feel like I am stuck in between the two decisions while dealing
with my friends and relatives then I utilize this skill of mine to make happy or satisfied all of
them easily. In this way, I have been known for this skill of convincing peoples for the
benefit of both side and this gave me strength as well as confidence while dealing with such

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situations. Once my tutor told me that winning over the others does not work all the time, as
we must listen to others and let them win sometimes to maintain the harmony as well as
spread happiness all over. This advice of my tutor drove me for adding the skills of
negotiation in my skill set and I loved the experiences of getting desired things easily by
negotiation with the peoples (Heyrup & Bente, 2009). Contrary, my skill of negotiation
sometimes made peoples around me feel like I am manipulating them for my own benefits.
Yet at the end of the discussion they usually get to know that I was not manipulating them but
negotiating for the benefits of both sides. This skill in my skill set will allow me to develop
relationships with individuals at workplace, home as well as surroundings. This will build a
trust and faith in peoples towards me and my work related to my future career (Future learn,
2013).
Time-Management
According to me, time-management is the method of exercising and planning sensible control
of spent time on particular activities, especially for increasing efficiency (American
InterContinental University , 2016), effectiveness as well as productivity of the tasks
(Conley, 2015). I possess this attribute in my personality because I failed doing and
participating various important activities many times in past because of late by a very short
time. Hence I had to inherit this skill in my personality so that I can be a successful person in
my professional as well as personal life (McMillan & Weyers, 2013). I often see my father
and elder brother and observed that they frequently skip attending our family gatherings or
festivals due to their bulky professional stuff as well as lack of time management. Thus, I
decided that I will never inherit this shortcoming of them and overcome this, when such
situations will come, through managing my time effectively. When I decided and started
managing time effectively then I realised my academic results have been improved
considerably and I also got extra time for my friends as well as relatives. My tutor and
professors appreciated me for completing my assigned projects and assignments before time;
also they chose me as a group leader because of my effective time-management skill
(Hickson, 2011). Therefore, I always got appreciation as I am having this useful skill in my
personality, and I am sure that this thing will be continuing in future also. I have seen and
read that all great entrepreneurs and leaders were having great time- managing skills which
helped them in achieving their set goals and desires as well (Lawrence & Ashmore, 2014).
Contrary, sometimes the time-management skills gave me a feeling that I am a robot or a

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machine which has to manage all the things in their time lines hence I felt stressed many
times when things were not done within their time lines. Yet except those stressed instances I
always got leveraged because of my effective time management skills. Thus, I will keep
nourishing my time management skills so that I can be a successful personality during my
future career.
Public Speaking
In my opinion, public speaking is the way of communicating info to an audience and it is
generally done in front of a bulky audience, such as in schools, the workplaces and even in
our personal life events (Rogers, 2010). Hence, the profits of knowing how to speak as well
as communicate to an audience comprise improving critical thinking as well as verbal or non-
verbal communication skills (Moon, 2009). I also think that public speaking skills requires an
enhanced confidence as well as strengthen knowledge base. I also possess this skill of nicely
public speaking as per the opinion of my peers, family members and tutors. I do not hesitate
while speaking relevantly over anything in front of bulky group of peoples. This is the reason
that I am known for my effective public speaking skills among my friends and peers groups.
My effective speaking skills allow me to build connections, effect decisions, as well as
motivate change. My skills of negotiating over any matter require strengthen public speaking
skill set that I am already having because of good communication skills. As we all know that
without effective communication skills, the capability to grow at the workplace and daily life
would be next to impossible. Therefore, public speaking attribute of mine is one of the
most vital as well as desired forms of communication (South University, 2013). Contrary, my
public speaking skills caused me indulged in additional tasks which could have been handled
by others and hence it consumes my time assigned for other tasks and activities. On the other
hand, the disadvantages caused by this skill of mine are less than the advantages of speaking
efficiently in front of public including friends, peers, relatives and others. Thus, I can easily
predict that my great communication skills, effective public speaking and negotiating skills
will allow me to enter in complicated huge professional world in future which is having no
alternative for showing path to success (Southampton Solent University , 2012). Hence, my
speaking skills will be helpful in communicating effectively and efficiently with professional
as well as personal peoples in my life for my future career.
In conclusion, reflecting on my experiences and practice related to the skills include focus,
attention, time-management, negotiation and public speaking gave me a direction and action

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plan for my future career. I could evaluate and identify my skills, attributes and further
needed improvements in order to achieve success in professional as well as personal life. I
also got to know the importance of the above mentioned skills while dealing with the peers
and academic tutors. Therefore, I am now able to draw a future action plan containing the
desired skills and attributes for future success by reflecting my practices as well as
experiences related to the four mentioned skills of mine.
References
American InterContinental University , 2016. 6 Smart Goals for College Students. [Online]
Available at: https://www.aiuniv.edu/blog/2016/may/smart-goals-for-college-students
[Accessed 10 Augustus 2018].
Anon., 2008. In Costa, A.L. & kallick, b. Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind: 16
Essential Characteristics for Success. alexandria: ASCD.
Atkins, S. & Murphy, K., 2008. Reflection: a review of the literature. Journal of advanced
nursing, 18(8), pp.1188-92.
Bassos, B., 2016. What is reflective practice? In The reflective practice guide: An
interdisciplinary approach to critical reflection. Oxon: Routledge.
Bolton, G., 2014. In Reflective practice writing and professional development. london: sage.
Boud, D., Keogh, R. & Walker, D., 2013. Reflection: Turning experience into learning.
Routledge.
Conley, D.T., 2015. Student Aspirations: Key to Powerful Learning. [Online] Available at:
https://www.pearsoned.com/student-aspirations-key-to-powerful-learning/ [Accessed 11
Augustus 2018].
Fast Company Magazine, 2018. Eight career skills you need to be competitive in 2016.
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[Online] Available at: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/enhancing-learning-and-
teaching/0/steps/26451 [Accessed 09 Augustus 2018].

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Heyrup, S. & Bente, E.B., 2009. Reflection: Taking it beyond the individual. New York:
Routldge.
Hickson, H., 2011. Critical reflection: Reflecting on learning to be reflective. Reflective
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