PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY QUESTIONS

What does it mean to you to be a member of a profession?
What are your professional goals?
What is one thing that you could change about the way you currently act that would mean that you are more professional?
Create a collage of a photo of yourself being something you aspire to. For example, you could have a photo of yourself as Time’s Person of the Year, on the cover of Fortune magazine, opening a new hospital for the poor and so on.
ACTIVITY QUESTIONS

This part of the assignment is to be completed over three weeks. As you complete the assignment, bear in mind two important principles.

First, you need to find strategies that work for you. There are lots of options e.g. some people find that creating new habits is easiest when they are linked to existing habits (for example, if you want to drink a glass of water each morning you could link it to brushing your teeth). Others find linking a habit to a reward is the best approach. The important thing is to try a few options to see what works for you.

Second, a key important skill is to be able to examine your actions without praising or blaming yourself. So for the exercises below just note how many days you were able to complete your new habit. If you miss a day note it down, but above all, be kind to yourself – research shows that self-kindness is the key to maintaining good habits.

Week 1 – Sleep

As we have discussed in class, the foundation for optimal performance is a good night’s sleep. For week 1, write down:

a) how many hours of sleep you would like to get per night;
b) for each day what time you are going to go to bed;
c) for each day what time you are going to wake up.
At the end of the week compare this plan to what you actually did. If there were differences, write the main issue that prevented you from completing the habit and how you could manage this issue for the following week. Above all, remember to be kind to yourself!

Week 2 – Exercise

A key component of willpower is exercise. As per the report in the British Journal of Health Science we should aim to be engaged in some sort of moderate activity (i.e. anything except sitting or lying down) for at least two hours per day.

For week 2,

a) Choose one activity that you will do that will increase your activity level for the week; and
b) For each day note how much moderate activity you do compared to your goal.
Week 3 – Diet

A key component of willpower is eating well. As per the Nestle (2015) article above, while there are many fad diets, the fundamental principles of nutrition have remained the same for many years – a balanced diet consisting high in vegetables.

For this week,

a) Choose one change that you can make to improve the health of your diet; and
b) Each day note when you did or did not implement this change.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS

What aspects of changing your habits over the three weeks did you find easiest? Why?
What aspects of changing your habits over the three weeks did you most challenging? Why?
What strategies did you adopt to changing your habits? Which were the most (and least) successful?
What have you learnt about yourself that you can apply to changing other habits