Entry #5 Case Study Examples

I felt uncomfortable breaking the rules. I believe that making eye contact is an important aspect of personal interactions. It shows respect as well as creates a deeper connection between two people. For this reason, I felt uncomfortable not making eye contact when talking to people. I can see that they may have felt offended but most of them were puzzled with the way I acted. I make eye contact when talking to people and it may have felt different for them seeing me not looking them or seemingly distracted.
I also felt uncomfortable staring at people. As they say, it is rude to stare. When I stare at people, some of them look annoyed at me while others wondered why I was looking at them. While doing this exercise, I was trying to think what people might be thinking. Sometimes I feel like they think I am a bad person who is planning to do something rude or annoying.
Overall, I was not surprised at all that other people felt surprised, puzzled, or annoyed because not making eye contact was uncharacteristic of me and staring at people is rude. I learned that nonverbal rules are important in making good or positive interactions and in creating one’s image or reputation as a person.

Entry #6

Specific assets from various facets of physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, social, academic and professional life: dressing well or appearing presentable, physically healthy and capable of working and accomplishing tasks, organized, analytical and able to solve complex problems, intuitive, understanding, compassionate, helpful, a good communicator, has a clear set of beliefs that guides lifestyle or way of life, aware of norms, mores, and etiquette as well as ethical principles, highly interested in learning new things, trainable, able to challenge established ideas, able to follow the lead of others, professional in the workplace, collaborative, friendly, and dependable.
Liabilities: Limited knowledge of the locale that makes it difficult to travel from one place to another, a culture that differs from the culture adopted in the community, language barrier issues at times, financial struggles that limit access to opportunities, sometimes easily distracted, indecisiveness, impulsiveness, easily affected by first impressions that limits my relationship with other people, resistant to change sometimes, as well as to authority.
I can improve most of my liabilities by gaining more experiences in life and learning from others. Difficulties in travelling, cultural differences, and language barriers may be addressed by learning more about the country and travelling, as well as interacting with other people to learn more about the culture. In terms of addressing issues such as being easily distracted, indecisiveness, impulsiveness, being influenced by first impressions, and being resistant to change and authority, I need to check my behavior frequently so as to avoid them. Since I am already self-aware, particularly of my flaws or liabilities, then I would be able to identify every time I display these behaviors and avoid or correct them. To address financial struggles, I would have to work hard and focus on my career.

Entry #7

I employ different strategies to help me satisfy my needs. To gain information, for instance, that I would need to make decisions, I build friendships and good relations with other people and make sure to catch up with them so we can share information, I read news and current events, and observe trends and conversations on social media. Furthermore, satisfying one’s needs also mean working with different people towards the same goal. I plan to achieve this by building friendships and relationships, collaborating with other people in projects, and sharing my own knowledge and ideas when needed. I think another strategy would be to help others in their time of need so they would also help me when I need their help. In a way, this means developing a ‘give and take’ relationship. Other ways to satisfy my needs include looking for opportunities for self-improvement. I will look for career development opportunities, and education opportunities. I will also join training and workshops to further develop my skills and competencies. Finally, another strategy would be to give time for myself in terms of taking care of my personal needs. I need to balance my personal and professional life by giving enough time for family and friends, as well as working hard. In this way, I would feel less stressed.
I also employ different strategies to sooth my pain when my needs are unmet. I do so by listing down my accomplishments over the years to remind me how far I have come, thinking about how things could be worse so I would feel content about my situation, talk about it or ask advice from other people, read inspiration quotes and self-help guides that apply or make sense to me, and observe how other people were able to overcome their own challenges in life. I believe all these are necessary in helping me because when I feel discouraged or disappointed, I can motivate myself by identifying what I have at present time so I would know that despite challenges, I am still in a relatively good position. Thinking about this helps me feel motivated to try again or to look for other ways to improve my situation.
I think to optimize my communication, I would have to employ impression management strategies. This part of the text, I believe, is most important because in the workplace, I interact with different people. Naturally, we would have differences but it is important to maintain a persona that would benefit me well in the organization. I need to show, for instance, that I am cooperative and a team player, and that I am dependable, reliable, and capable. I should also show my skills and competencies in the workplace. To show these aspects of myself, I need to adopt and employ impression management strategies. To show my favorable self or personality, I will communicate well with others. I will be present by listening to others when they talk to me and communicating or sharing my thoughts and ideas when they would contribute to the organization. These strategies are similar to the ones I have formerly noted.

Entry #8

I consider my father, mother, and best friend to be good listeners. When my father and I talk about serious things, he is quiet and calm. He also lets me finish and after sharing information with him, he thinks about it for a long time before making comments or giving advice. My father thinks about what I tell him so I know that he is a good listener. While my father is a good listener because of the thoughtful way that he responds, my mother, on the other hand, is a good listener because she accommodates people through her words and actions. Her demeanor is encouraging, and would motivate people to share things with her. When I share something with her, for instance, she would make eye contact or even physical contact by patting my shoulder. My mother would also ask me questions while I share things with her, which is how I know she is listening to me. My best friend is a good listener because I can share everything with him without fearing that he would judge me. I believe that a non-judgmental person is a good listener because he or she can understand what other people say.
I consider myself as a good listener because when someone talks to me, I pay attention to them. I take note of what they say so I can respond appropriately. I have the greatest difficulty listening when I have a lot of things on my mind that distract me and when I have an issue with the other person talking to me. I find it the least difficult to listen when I am in a generally good mood and when I am not dealing with problems. I believe that my key strengths as a listener is that first, I give people my undivided attention. Second, I know how to interpret thoughts or ideas and I can predict or have an insight of what the other person is trying to say. Third, I am comfortable with gestures such as patting the other person on the back, making eye contact, and nodding my head to show that I am listening.
I want to improve my listening skills in terms of understanding and interpreting nonverbal cues. I think that doing so is an important part of the listening process because I should also be able to ‘hear’ what the other person is not saying but implying through his or her words and actions. I consider it important for me to listen when I can do or contribute something to a situation in the form of a response or idea. I will improve my listening skills by learning how to interpret nonverbal cues. I will do so by observing people and reading texts that explain nonverbal cues.