Personal development planning for engineering

# 2.2 What you enjoy doing

Another aspect of finding out about yourself is to try and identify the kinds of things that you enjoy and are good at. One way of approaching this task is to identify and reflect upon your successes at work or outside work by completing a list of positive statements. However, in the spirit of reflective practice and learning from all experience there is also much to be gained from completing a companion list of negative statements.

## Activity 6

Aim of this activity:

- to take stock of what you enjoy and what you don't enjoy.

Complete at least three positives and three negatives from the following statements. Try and include why you feel that way about the particular activity or event. An example might be:

> I did well and am proud of my recent attempt at wallpapering. I hadn't attempted it before and was surprised at how well it turned out.

As you can see from this example, you don't need to limit yourself to work-related statements. Try and use a broad spread from across your day-to-day life.

Positive experience statements:

(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I did well and am proud of …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I valued most …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I became absorbed in …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I handled well …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I felt passionate about …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I learned quickly …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I felt I had achieved something …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I contributed …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I felt I belonged – it felt 'natural' …

Negative experience statements:

(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I did badly and am disappointed with …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I valued least …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I couldn't get to grips with …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I handled badly …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I felt frustrated about …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I learned slowly or not at all …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I felt I had achieved nothing …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I couldn't contribute …
(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
I felt I didn't belong – an outsider …

For the purpose of evidence collection, take a screen shot of your complete statements and paste it into your learning log.

Don't be disheartened by the negative statements. You may even notice that you've already dealt with some of the experiences, and that reviewing them can be more positive and enjoyable.

## Activity 7

Aim of this activity:

- to reflect on your answers to Activity 6.

Go back over your responses to Activity 6 and analyse your statements in a learning log post. Do you notice any trends in the types of experiences that were positive and those that were negative? What do you think these experiences can tell you about yourself and your abilities?

OpenLearn - Personal development planning for engineering
Except for third party materials and otherwise, this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence, full copyright detail can be found in the acknowledgements section. Please see full copyright statement for details.