Psychology and Successful College Student
Journal Entry 21 (p. 230)
In this activity, you will explore self-defeating patterns in your life that may reveal unconscious scripts. You’re about to embark on an exciting journey into your inner world! There you can discover-and later revise the invisible forces that have gotten you off course from your goals and dreams.
1. Write about one of your self-defeating behavior patterns. Choose a behavior pattern that you checked on the list or identify a self-defeating behavior that isn’t on the list but that you do often. Remember to develop your journal paragraphs by anticipating questions that someone reading it might have about this behavior pattern. (Even you might have questions when you read your journal ten years from now.) For example,
What exactly is your self-defeating behavior pattern? (Example: I seldom do my best work on college assignments.)
I procrastinate a lot which adds a lot more stress than I need to my daily life.
What are some specific examples of when you did this behavior?
Specific examples are sometimes when I choose to do my journals or an essay for Comp 1 the night before it is due.
What may have caused this habit?
The things that may have caused this habit was my ability to do this in high school and still get great grades but this is college so it’s so much more stressful and it’s definitely NOTHING like high school.
What undesirable effects has it had on your life?
Again, it adds so much more stress than needed. This is a stupid habit and I have to learn how to prioritize a lot better.
How would your life be improved if you changed it?
My life would improve greatly because I could sleep so much better at night knowing that I got an assignment done and ready to turn in on time. I’d probably get the grades that I know I’m capable of also.
2. Repeat Step 1 for one of your self-defeating thought patterns or for one of your self-defeating emotional patterns. Once again, choose a pattern that you
In this activity, you will explore self-defeating patterns in your life that may reveal unconscious scripts. You’re about to embark on an exciting journey into your inner world! There you can discover-and later revise the invisible forces that have gotten you off course from your goals and dreams.
1. Write about one of your self-defeating behavior patterns. Choose a behavior pattern that you checked on the list or identify a self-defeating behavior that isn’t on the list but that you do often. Remember to develop your journal paragraphs by anticipating questions that someone reading it might have about this behavior pattern. (Even you might have questions when you read your journal ten years from now.) For example,
What exactly is your self-defeating behavior pattern? (Example: I seldom do my best work on college assignments.)
I procrastinate a lot which adds a lot more stress than I need to my daily life.
What are some specific examples of when you did this behavior?
Specific examples are sometimes when I choose to do my journals or an essay for Comp 1 the night before it is due.
What may have caused this habit?
The things that may have caused this habit was my ability to do this in high school and still get great grades but this is college so it’s so much more stressful and it’s definitely NOTHING like high school.
What undesirable effects has it had on your life?
Again, it adds so much more stress than needed. This is a stupid habit and I have to learn how to prioritize a lot better.
How would your life be improved if you changed it?
My life would improve greatly because I could sleep so much better at night knowing that I got an assignment done and ready to turn in on time. I’d probably get the grades that I know I’m capable of also.
2. Repeat Step 1 for one of your self-defeating thought patterns or for one of your self-defeating emotional patterns. Once again, choose a pattern that you