Monday 25 November 2013

Setting the bar too high

Recently the amount of assessments and exams I have had at university has been crazy and it really isn't showing any signs of slowing down yet! I feel like I have been spending a ridiculous amount of hours at my desk or in the library, pumped copious amounts of caffeine into my veins and the outcome is that I am just about staying on top of things.

Whilst I cannot reduce the amount of work and assessments that I have, what I can change is my attitude towards it. In my first year I managed to scoop an overall first and I was thrilled but this year I didn't want to step down so to speak and so I have been pushing myself to the limit to try and keep getting a first to the point where I actually got really down about having 'only' got 65 on one of my assessments, which quite frankly is ridiculous!

It was then that I realised I had been setting the bar too high! When I started university my aim was to come out with a 2.1 degree and whilst getting a first in first year was great I have begun to realise that second year is considerably harder and requires a lot more work! Therefore I have now readjusted my aims and I am once again aiming for a 2.1.

I feel as though a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders and I will now much more happily go to bed at a reasonable hour even if I haven't yet finished all of the work that I wanted to, I am taking much better care of myself, making times for my hobbies and I am overall a lot happier.

It is no secret that I haven't been enjoying university as much as I feel I should do lately and the pressure I was putting on myself to get that elusive first was making things ten times worse! The Christmas break is now in sight, I am going home on Friday and I 'only' have four assignments left so the end of Semester one is very much in sight and I am looking forward to having some time at home, even if I am working to fund my student lifestyle I will be able to see my parents, dogs  and boyfriend with much more ease and I won't have to put up with my 3am door slamming neighbours!

So the point of this post was to remind not only you, but myself that there is such a thing as setting the bar too high and sometimes it is not until you step back and look at the situation from a different perspective you realise this.  Have any of you ever realised that you had set the bar too high?

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