We leave in a secular society where most carry out their lives attempting to find their niche, that one area where they excel and flourish. "How can one find that place," one might ask. The answer to that all too common question is simple trial and error. As said by transcendentalist Author Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." In order to develop and mature in the world, one must be open to new experiences and try new things, or face the harsh reality of missing out on all potential opportunities to succeed. Mastery cannot occur without first trial. World renowned tennis player Serena Williams did not wake up one day and proceed to ace serves on the court; she had to do something "beyond what [she] had already mastered." She had to take a …show more content…
Reminisce on that feeling of deafening uncertainty, the way it consumed everything around you. Now consider another time you attempted something new and enjoyed it. Ponder on that exhilarating jump into the icy waters below you, or that bold moment you explained a new method to solving a problem and were praised for ingenuity. These moments would cease to exist if you had not tried something new. As theorized by psychologist Erik Erikson, humans must develop around several developmental crisis, one of them being initiative versus guilt. This crisis states that humans must develop a will to explore and try new things. If one does not achieve this capability, they will be full of anxiety and guilt. This further expands on the need for people to experience new situations and find mastery. A heart can only beat for so long before it eventually comes to a jarring halt. When that time arrives, will you have lived out a life that was full of chances and fresh experiences? If yes, you would have grown and developed through your life span, finding that niche, be it a sport or a hidden talent, and flourished just as any and
He thought that the climb would fix all the wrong in his life and that the climb would impact the rest of his entire life. However, his adolescent self could not be more wrong; “It is easy, when you are young to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve, it is your God-given right to have it … [But] in the end, it changes almost nothing” (Krakauer 155). According to this passage, Krakauer explains how adolescents can become fixated on certain objectives and how they do not realize the short-term and long-term consequences. Therefore, he argues that adolescents who participate in high-risk activities for possible short-term rewards are ignorant, and do not realize the possible outcomes for events that usually only temporarily affect your
This essay will demonstrate my understanding of developments which occur at each stage of an individual's life cycle. I will relate these developments to two relevant psychological theories and discuss how an individual's needs must be met to enable them to develop.
Eric Erikson was one of the most famous theorists of the twentieth century; he created many theories. One of the most talked about theories is his theory of psychosocial development. This is a theory that describes stages in which an individual should pass as they are going through life. His theory includes nine stages all together. The original theory only included eight stages but Erikson‘s wife found a ninth stage and published it after his death. The nine stages include: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. identity confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, integrity vs. despair, and hope and faith vs. despair (Crandell and Crandell,
As Christopher Johnson McCandless once said: “The core of mans’ spirit comes from new experiences” (Krakauer, 57). Society has given the majority of the human population a predetermined cookie-cutter lifestyle for which they must follow in order to be accepted. This includes which virtues to follow, how to interact with others, and what is and what is it not acceptable. For many people, fitting into this mold is the only way they know how to live, but for a select few, it is quite the opposite. This small group of individuals dedicates their lives to living outside of social norms and opposing others’ instructions of how to live their lives. They are known to many as
Like Mr. James McGreevey, many individuals who are at the point of understanding themselves more clearly are faced with the unknown and are constantly challenged by all that is developing. The world in which we live is the same; it is surrounded by ever changing things and we, human beings are forced to accept and carry on our lives in complete unison with. People today seem to follow the same trend; their attitudes, hobbies and self-awareness all seem to change with the ticking of time. However many times an individual is left to journey through their new selves without the attention or the approval of those around them. If a person discovers a part of
There are many developmental milestone events and transition points that help form the identity of an individual. As one transitions from milestone to another, they are not necessarily losing or gaining anything, but are adapting to their new stage in life (Bjorklund, 2011). These transitions can affect other domains of human development including: physical changes, cognitive changes, personality or identity, social relationships and mental health. The transition into adulthood is a transition that varies widely between each individual (Bjorklund, 2011). Some young adults may enter military service, go into the workforce, get married, or go to college. This indicates that young adults do not have to go into a role they do not wish to enter and they have the freedom to make their own decisions (Bjorklund, 2011). This transition into adulthood varies in length for all young adults, and this time is spent solving issues that affected them in childhood, and will help them to become successful adults (Bjorklund, 2011). Emerging adulthood is the transition that takes place between the ages of 18 and 25 (Bjorklund, 2011). This transition gives young adults the time to explore and experience new things that eventually lead them to commitments of work and love (Bjorklund, 2011). According to Erik Erikson, one’s personality will continue to develop throughout their entire life, and, in order to have
People express the decisions they reach each day and their desire to alter some of the outcomes. As I observe the world around me, some just graduating high school ours rebuilding themselves for something better in life. Everyone is striving to be something in life; it’s as if the returns are boundless by the time you graduate college. Just learning to watch people and the decisions they make can affect the means which I adopted to pick my profession. Becoming a paramedic educated me on surveying people and their habits. Being empathetic amongst the things you do, sometimes comes with a penalty, others come with admiration. The unique obsession that urges me to exceed each time is knowing that each human being is helped, through everything
This theory considers external factors, parents, and society in the development of personality from childhood to adulthood. He developed a series of eight stages that he believed everyone went through over their lifetime. The third stage is the “preschooler: initiative vs. guilt. This is the stage where the child began to find purpose. Erikson described that by the age of 3, children began to deal with conflict and have a desire to gain independence. Josiah definitely went through this stage. At the age of 3, Josiah began to explore indoor and outdoor activities and let his interests be the guide to what he would pursue. By kindergarten, Josiah wanted to pick out his own clothes and wanted to choose what he would eat for lunch. Josiah and I were able to balance his decisions and my rules by compromising. I was able to pick out two outfits of my choice but allow Josiah to pick from those two choices so that he had some sort of independency. I also noticed that Josiah begin to interact with his peers better. He was able to help make up games and discuss new ideas to his teachers. Erikson’s initiative explained the development of purposefulness, trying new activities, trying out new skills, getting more involved with peers, and conscience development. Guilt, on the other hand, results in an overly strict superego related to excessive experiences such as criticism and punishment, from parents. I
Sixty percent of Americans quit something at one point in their lives. Of that sixty percent, forty percent quit because they thought they mastered their task. For someone to fully grow, he or she needs to strive past what they've mastered. People need to learn more about what they've mastered in order to fully grow. Someone who tries something beyond what he or she has mastered will grow because he or she will gain new knowledge, figure out what he or she is best at, and fully grow as an individual. Someone who attempts to learn beyond what he or she has mastered is able to acquire new knowledge. Scientists do this all the time by figuring out if a theory is true or false and then trying to see if they can learn even more about it.
My theme for Defense of Mastery is “Life during WWII”. I have chosen to do this theme because it incorporates all of my core classes. I was going to create 2 models of Hiroshima before and after the bomb was dropped by the U.S. But instead I decided to create a small documentary about a woman who lived during WWII and experienced similar treatment than that of a Jew while in Germany under Nazi control. I will be interviewing her personally and asking her questions that relate to her life during the war. If I have time I will still try to create the model.
Erik Erikson proposed that throughout a normal human beings’ lifetime he/she will go through multiple development phases otherwise know as predetermined orders. He believes that if the order is followed and the things that are necessary to be experienced or get done are completed it will result in positive or negative results for said person. Being able to understand how people will act through life experiences is very important as it allows us to understand how people who suffered through things such as being abused are more prone to receiving a negative impact on themselves which can
My final artifact is from the Mastery Assignment in my Capstone course. This assignment taught me a lot about the various followership and leadership styles. Additionally, I identified the types of followers and leaders that are best matched together. This helped me understand what type of leadership style I should use for the various followership styles. This will be very beneficial in my quality management career. Furthermore, I was able to identify the types of followership styles that are desired in a quality management career field. Furthermore, I identified the desired leadership styles desired in quality management. Lastly, I gained valuable insight to my own followership and leadership strengths and areas of improvement. The
In the concluding chapters of Dr. Kent Ingle’s book, This Adventure Called Life, he illuminates how we can improve our lives for the future. Dr. Ingle gives detail on how we must identify with our fears and overcome it to move forward. “The only way you can continue to grow is to take the next step on the journey of life” (Ingle 70). However, Dr. Ingle declares that in order to discover and make new experiences we must be disciplined. We should not steer towards many distractions, because it will divert us from our divine design. In these remaining chapters, the overwhelming theme is the accomplishment of our life’s journey and fulfilling our diving design.
In Erik Erikson’s theory he explains that in every stage, a positive or a negative attitude is developed within an individual. During our developing stages we are either successful or we fail. Each stage will come to us whether or not we’re ready for them or not. You can think of the stages as learning stages where crisis occur .Only if we have learned from the previous crisis we are successful. You cannot avoid 1 stage and move to a next stage because of the developing process. The outcome of our lives depends on the way we chose to progress throughout each stage in life. Erikson had his own way in describing each stage in life that we all must go through.
For my life journey I have chose to use Eric Erikson’s theory I have decided to use his theory because to me his theory suited my life appropriately. Eric Erikson is a well known theorist from the twentieth century, he has produced many theories. One of his most known and recognized theory is the psychosocial development. This theory describes the steps a person goes through in life. There are nine stages in his theory. Originally his theory only eight steps, but his wife found the last step after his death and published it. The nine stages are: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy and soliditary vs. isolation, generativity vs. self absorption and stagnation, and integrity vs. despair. Although, I have not gone through all of these steps yet due to my age I am only twenty two. I will speak about the steps I have gone through so far.