Individual's Belief In Self-determination And Personal Growth (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Submission Date Believe in Determination Ryan, a scholar in the field of psychology, defines determination as having the motivation to pursue challenges for own sake (848). Determination entails not only having the strong will to accomplish a particular task but also making informed decisions, learning to find solutions for specific problems, and taking responsibility for one’s life (Ryan and Deci 5). Often, I question the number of people who set goals or plan to achieve a particular thing in life but end up giving up and being frustrated. Over the years, I have realized that my success heavily depends on the day to day activities, attitude towards life, and the initiative that I take to solve particular problems. I believe in being determined not only because of my elder’s constant advice but also due to the experiences that I have gained since I was a child. However, it does not imply that I have never lost hope, felt frustrated, or lacked the drive to accomplish set goals. At my age, I derive pleasure in performing challenging activities such as hiking, athletics, and biking because I believe in self-determination. I believe if I am determined to do something, I should go for it because failure to do so may be a loss of a lifetime opportunity. Every moment I have a brief flashback of either my childhood or teenagehood, I get reasons to set even higher goals for myself. For instance, I can ask myself, “Does riding a bike for four hours have a positive impact on my life?” Once I figure out that indeed I will benefit from the activity, I go ahead and bike as the first huddle to cross before achieving that strong physique. In the past, I have accomplished so many things that I considered as impossible as out swimming a whale. While growing up, I experienced difficulties viewing life in general from a positive perspective. However, today I show gratitude to my parents who believed in me and took an active role in instilling basic life skills. Participating in some physically challenging activities such as biking helped me to believe in self-determination. I started biking at a tender age of four. I would get back home from school, munch a light meal to be on the same page with my loving mother and rush to the backyard to get my green bicycle. My teenage friends who were always waiting for me outside our gate would puff up the experience to make it more exciting and increase competition. Thus, I developed a lot of passion for the activity which made me join races to showcase my talent. These events required motivation, self-discipline, persistence, and self-determination. In as much as life huddles were inevitable, I made a conscious decision always to find a solution or an alternative way of accomplishing specific tasks, objectives, and goals. As biking became a part of my life, I decided to invest my skills and talent in hiking and athletics. These two activities were challenging at the initial stage, but that did not deter me from working towards my dreams. I once biked up Mount Hamilton which is one of the hardest road bike routes since you have to climb over 3000 feet with an average slope of 6%. I remember one of my friends gave up and sat down during the ride because of the scorching sun and rugged terrain that made...