Introduction
“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand,”(Vince Lombardi,2010). This implies that personal quality such as determination is the key to successful individuals to achieve their goals which also can be the personal achievement of oneself towards his or her life. It also may be the significant strength towards the person’s employability skills. However, according to Flint-Taylor et. al. (2014), personal qualities are psychological attributes or personalities that one have which may reflect their attitude and behaviour. Personal quality such as determination will drive me to accomplish my goals. This study will focus on Personal Quality such as determination in which the quality is related to the Theory of Self-Determination.
I always struggle with my lack of courage especially when I am surrounded by my family, friends, and others. This can be even worse when I am dragging those negative vibes into my workplace. I used to have an ambition when I was a child which is to become a successful entrepreneur. In order for me to become a successful entrepreneur, I have to finish my undergraduate study in Bachelor of Business Administration and Business Management (BABM) in my college. After I finishing my bachelor, I wish to have my own business empire in the future. One of the challenges for me to achieve my goal is lack of motivation and support from my family and friends. That is why I decide to reflect my own problems and figure out a solution for my hurdle in order for me to achieve my goals in the future. I had attended a workshop of Personal and Professional Development in which I had learned about my personal quality and identified my strength.
Discussion of Determination as a Motivation to Achieve Life Goals in the Future
Based on the previous workshops in Personal and Professional Development course, it is found that determination is the key strength in developing my personal growth which is significantly important as a motivation to achieve a future life goal. I would not be able to motivate myself to achieve my goals without determination. Determination helps my personal skills in which this quality drives me to achieve my goals and needs especially in the job field (Carver and Connor-Smith, 2010). The satisfaction that I achieved can be used as a driving spirit for me to plan my vision better to achieve my other goals as well. I can apply this strength on a daily basis in which the way I learn about successful figures who used to fail before they succeed and look up to them in a positive way. There are significant differences between determination and motivation in terms of definition and how it works. According to Fernet (2013), motivation is an external factor which influences a person to do something. Meanwhile, the determination is an internal factor which drives a person to accomplish something that they do. This means a person can be motivated to do something but determination helps a person to break through all the challenges and obstacles. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is used to discuss the strength.
Self-Determination Theory (SDT)
Self-Determination Theory is a study which explains about personality traits of human and motivation plus, how do social environment can affect an individual’s personal development and their interaction with others (Legault, 2013). The theory emphasizes the foundation of human social needs and motivation to achieve goals. According to Deci and Ryan (2008), motivation is the driving force for individuals to think and act in order to fulfill their needs. According to the theory, human need three basic psychological needs to achieve personal goals which consist of autonomy, relatedness, and competence. The theory also emphasizes the motivational approach which can be divided into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Legault, 2013). Intrinsic motivation is a feeling of doing something purely for own personal satisfaction, while extrinsic motivation is an act of accomplishment from the external environment (Black, 2000).
I personally think that I am able to accomplish my own tasks without relying much on other people especially when it comes to the assignments. I have set up my goals to accomplish my assignments with excellent results in order for me to obtain a bachelor degree in the future. On the other hands, relatedness is focusing on the need to care for others (Reis et. al., 2000). I also have acknowledged others who have been helping me to achieve my goal and they are the one who always motivates me whenever I am down. My family, teachers, and friends are my inspiration for me to work harder and never give up on the things that I have targeted. Next, is competence in which refers to the need to be effective (Weinstein et. al., 2012). I used to be competitive learn to accept any challenges that I face to help me gain some necessary skills and experience that I need. For instance, I have never felt like all the tasks and assignment given by the lecture is a burden for me. Instead, I work hard to complete all those assignments by doing researches and collecting any information that is needed to help me get excellent results and accomplish my undergraduate degree course. Three fundamental psychological needs are the things that will help me to achieve my goals in the future.
According to Legault (2017), people who are motivated intrinsically are naturally do something which inherently satisfying as it is part of human psychological needs of autonomy and competence. On the other hands, extrinsic motivation is more focus towards relatedness in which how we are being motivated by other influences to help and give support to people who have the same goals. I would not be able to improve myself to be better and achieve my goal without extrinsic motivation. Every human has an instinct to satisfy their own psychological needs in order to survive especially in today’s world (Legault, 2017). Meanwhile, extrinsic motivation is the external influence which affects my action and behaviour towards other. I realized that my family, teachers, and friends have motivated me to do better in every task and assignment so that I can achieve my goals. Without them, I would not be able to enter college and further my bachelor degree in business management.
Analysis of Strengths and Weaknesses of My Personal Quality
Based on the theory, I have found some strengths and about my personal quality which I think need to maintain in everyday life. Determination helps me to do something independently without relying much on others. Besides that, I also have set up my mission and vision that I want to achieve and planning ahead for my personal goals. Not only that, I have found that determination also builds my character as a leader because the determination is also emphasized on the consideration and tolerance towards others who have the same goals (Amiot and Sansfaçon, 2011). Determination helps me to clearly rectify my goals and help me to keep motivated all the time. Apart from leadership, other skills also have been applied such as communication, teamwork and interpersonal skills.
Meanwhile, there are some weaknesses which I need to consider to improve in the future. I have found out that I have a lack of knowledge on the way business is being run. Since I do not have any background on business even within my family members, I never know how does the business is being handled. On top of that, I have lacks of entrepreneurial skills which is supposed to be the most important aspects to become an entrepreneur. I do not have any kind of education or courses which related to business and entrepreneurship in my entire life.
Comparison between Personality and Value
Determination helps me to struggle in achieving my goals. My laziness in the only things that I have struggling most of the time. The reason why I am lazy is that I have never felt like achieving goals is something important which can affect my life in the future. Even when I am doing my assignment, I tend to lost focus easily. During the workshop, I begin to realize that future goals are important for myself especially when it comes to my career after I finishing my degree two years later. That is why, in order for me to achieve my goals, I need to be hardworking. Determination drives me to be hard working so that I can help myself to get a better job in the future. I need to focus on my academics so that I can get excellent results in examination. Nobody is going to help and decide my future if not my own will.
My Experiences from Workshop Exercise
From the previous workshop exercises, it is found out that I am struggling to see my own future and do not have goals in my life. Even though the workshop did explain about the things a person can do to achieve their goals but without determination, I cannot do a proper plan and be less motivated than I suppose to be. The environment also plays a vital role in keeping a person to be motivated to achieve their goals such as family, friends, relatives, teachers, and others. I do not have any basic knowledge of entrepreneurship and neither do people around me. The things that I have experience might be different from others who attended the same workshop with me. Most of my classmate have at least one or two basic understanding in business and management since a lot of them have been attended business school and took the business subject. Plus, some of their family members are businessman/entrepreneur and have their own company in which it will help them to understand about business.
Although there were a lot of challenges during the workshop, it also gave a huge impact on myself and I started to realize that entrepreneurship is nurtured and can be developed further only if we have a determination to do so. My lecture gave a motivational talk to all of us and it droves me to achieve my goals the only things that I need to do is to be focus and diligently looking for information, researches and articles related to business and entrepreneurship so that I can get to know a wide knowledge about this field. Beside that, this workshop also taught us a lot of skills that significant for personal and professional development such as leadership skills, communication skills, teamwork skills and also interpersonal skills. Those skills are valuable for me as its help me to develop my skills which is necessary if I want to become an entrepreneur in the future. I believe that the workshop did a great job in developing my personal quality and with that knowledge that I have obtained from the workshop, I can apply it when I am looking for the job or starting my own business. From the workshop, I believe that determination can drive me to accomplish my goals to be a successful entrepreneur in the future as long as I have a vision and never give up.
Contradictions Evident from Experiences
I felt like the experience that I went through is not be able to change my attitude. From the previous workshop exercises, I thought that it will not give any significance towards my personal strength. Even though I have never intended to come for the workshop, some of my inner feelings wanted me to attend the workshop. The talk that was given by my lecture made me learned a lot of things about my personal strength and what can I do to develop the strength. The workshop has taught me a lot of skills such as communication and interpersonal skill. Besides, I was able to work together with my classmate as a team and it helps me to develop my leadership skill as well. There is some improvement which I need to asses for further development such as problem-solving skill. In order for me to achieve my goals, I need to learn about effective problem-solving skill so that I can be independent and succeed in my own path. Besides that, I need to learn to organize myself to be more discipline such as creating my own study timetable, finishing my assignments and homework faster and stay focus during lecture and tutorial. If I able to organize myself, I can be independent and do things effectively.
Conclusion
It can be seen that determination is an important aspect of quality which is significant to develop personal growth. I can apply determination as a strength for me to achieve my goals and it can help me to succeed in the future. This quality will determine my future especially in the career of business and entrepreneurship which is the future goal that I want to accomplish. My short-term objective is to be determined and hardworking to achieve my personal goals. Meanwhile, with this quality, I hope that I can establish my own business and inspire others to be positive in order to achieve goals and ambition as my long-term objective.
