Personal Essay Example: Behavior Identification and Correction

I have identified my short temper as the behavior to be addressed in this paper. I want to change this particular behavior due to the following reasons.

Short temper leads me to make wrong decisions, which makes me get into trouble so often

Most of my friends get disappointed by the short temper and often avoid spending their free time with me

I create fear among my friends

Short temper makes me disobey my parents and other elders who deserve my respect

There are six dimensions of wellness, which include emotional wellness, physical wellness, intellectual wellness, social and environmental wellness. Short temper falls under the category of emotional wellness. It can also be argued that some effects of the behavior affect social wellness. According to the trans-theoretical model, six stages of behavior change can be identified. These stages include pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance and termination. I can comfortably state that I am currently at the preparation stage. I have already acknowledged the fact that short temper is a serious problem that I have to overcome. I am in the process of developing the means to change this behavior.

Section 2: setting goals

I have come up with two goals that will help improve the current situation:

Establish emotions of fear or hurt behind the anger emotion

Develop a behavior of thinking before reacting every time I am confronted

These two goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and can have a specific time frame. However, there are several obstacles that are likely to complicate the intended change. Most of these obstacles emerge due to the aspect of human nature. One, I tend to believe that my short temper is triggered by minute things that I cannot account for. If I decide to list these triggers, the list is likely to be endless. Two, the more I think about some situation, the more anger I brew, and I am afraid of such situations.

I have several strategies that I believe can mitigate the identified challenges. I plan to keep myself busy and ensure that I read as many novels as I can. I intend to avoid watching movies that exhibit a lot of violent scenes. Another strategy I plan to adopt is to engage in more fun moments such as sports. Finally, I intend to get admitted to anger management class as I believe these classes can be constructive.

This challenging journey will require various resources that I have identified as readily available. My friends and family will be extremely helpful as I look forward to changing this emotional imbalance. I believe that the school library will also be important as I seek to read inspirational books such as Think Big by Ben Carson. The university also offers guiding and counseling services which also include anger management classes.

It is critical to track changes, and I will ensure that this process is effectively done. The best approach to track changes is basing on the trans-theoretical model to establish whether all the sections have been completed.

pre-contemplation Contemplation Preparation Action Maintenance Termination

Behavior 1 Behavior 2 Behavior 3 Behavior 4 The table above will serve as a checklist to establish the goals that have been achieved and those that have not been achieved. I also intend to use an honest opinion from friend and families regarding my progress.