MODULE SIX : MANAGING AND CARING FOR THE SELF

Self-Regulated Learning

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

 establish the gain of self-regulated learning; and
 apply in real-life situations the benefits of practicing self-regulation.

What is Learning? Psychologists often define learning as “a relatively permanent

change in behavior as a result of experience”. The psychology of learning focuses
on a range of topics related to how people learn and interact with their
environments. One of the first thinkers to study how learning influences behavior
was psychologist John B. Watson who suggested that all behaviors are a result of
the learning process. The school of thought that emerged from Watson's work
was known as behaviorism. The behavioral school of thought proposed studying
internal thoughts, memories, and other mental processes that were too
subjective.

Learning is “a process that leads to change, which occurs as a result of

experience and increases the potential for improved performance and future
learning” (Ambrose et al, 2010, p.3). The change in the learner may happen at the
level of knowledge, attitude or behavior. As a result of learning, learners come to
see concepts, ideas, and/or the world differently. Learning is not something done
to students, but rather something students themselves do. It is the direct result of
how students interpret and respond to their experiences.

What then are the factors that you consider important in your learning? Is it the
educator’s teaching style? The learning materials? The classroom?

Although it is true that the teacher, books, and classroom help facilitate learning,
it is actually not the most important consideration in learning. Your primary
concern in learning should be “you”. Yes, “you” are the most important factor in
your learning process. Are you motivated to do your learning tasks? Are you
confident in your ability to learn? Are you open to learning about ideas that
challenge your preconceptions?
What is Self-Regulated Learning?

Problem: As a first-generation college student and a single mom, Tina

strives for a better life for herself and her daughter. She knows that a college
education will set her on a path to a rewarding livelihood, but juggling college,
work, and family puts many different demands on her time. Tina is dedicated to
her studies and she dutifully highlights her textbook readings, memorizes
vocabulary words, and spends long hours studying the night before her first exam.
And yet, she earns only a mediocre grade. I guess I'm not cut out for college, after
all, she muses. I work so hard, but I still don't have what it takes to earn the
grades I need.

What advice can you give Tina? How would you convince her to go back to
school?

What Tina doesn't realize is that not all forms of studying are equal. For
students like Tina, learning to direct time and energy to the most productive ways
of studying and learning will result in a more effective and rewarding learning
experience, which in turn can boost self-efficacy and motivation. The key,
particularly for first-generation students and those who do not come from a
background of academic rigor, is to learn how to reflect on one's own process of
learning. It's not something that comes naturally to most students, and that is
where the right teacher can literally change the course of a student's life.

Self-regulated learning is how students regulate their own emotions,

cognition, behavior, aspects of the context during a learning experience. Self-
regulation, however, requires some degree of choice or intentional selection of
strategies to help you achieve a goal or behavior. Furthermore, it is a self-guided
study involving strategies, such as setting specific learning goals, planning learning
strategies on how to accomplish goals, asking oneself questions, monitoring,
keeping records, and evaluating one's progress. Self-regulated learning (SRL)
includes the cognitive, metacognitive, behavioral, motivational, and emotional,
and affective aspects of learning.

Characteristics of Self-Regulated Learners:

 They are aware of their own strengths and
  They utilize metacognitive strategies (for example, you question your
learning and you monitor your own learning as well as your approach to
academic tasks)
 They attribute any success or failure to factors within personal

The Cycle of Self-Regulated Learning. Self-regulated learning is a cyclical process,

wherein the student plans for a task monitor their performance, and then reflects
on the outcome. The cycle of self-regulated learning uses the reflection to adjust
and prepare for the next task. The process is not one-size-fits-all; it should be
tailored for individual students and for specific learning tasks (Zimmerman, 2002).

Steps on How to Achieve Self-Regulated Learning

 Plan, set goals, and layout strategies. This first step of the cycle may be
overlooked by many students as they dive headlong into a task.
Encouraging students to establish a plan before they start working on a task
will help them strategize right from the start. Although students may see
this as taking a step backward, it will ultimately help them be more efficient
with their time and effort.

 Use strategies and monitor performance. In this phase, students carry out
the plan that was outlined in the forethought phase. Ideally, students can
proceed with confidence because they have already established a detailed
plan of action. Here are some key points you can use to coach students
through this phase. You should use self-observation to reflect on the
actions taken and the effectiveness of the results, stick with the strategies,
even though it may be tempting to revert back to known (but ineffective)
strategies. Unfamiliar approaches may feel inefficient at first, but learning
the method can be as important as learning the material and monitoring
progress on the intermediate goals, and the strategies they are using. At
the same time, you can also monitor their progress and offer feedback

 Reflect on the performance. Many students focus solely on the extrinsic

outcome of their grades. While grades are important, reflect on how you
did on a particular assignment, and why. This self-reflection can help you
understand why you earned a certain grade and how to improve
performance. Activities like an exam wrapper can solidify this process.
Mindset Theory

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

 understand the Mind Set theory in its inquiry to the power of the
individual's belief in intelligence; and
 utilize mindset theory to understand the effects of the beliefs that
individuals hold for the nature of intelligence.

The Mindset Theory. In her 2007 book, Mindset, renowned Stanford psychologist
Carol Dweck says that it's not intelligence, talent, or education that sets successful
people apart. It's their mindset or the way that they approach life's challenges.
She proposed mindset theory as a way to understand the effects of the beliefs
that individuals hold for the nature of intelligence. This in turn has implications
for learning and education.

In this module, we'll explore the meaning of Dweck's idea of mindset, how
a "fixed mindset" can hold you back, and how a "growth mindset" can help you to
reach your goals. We'll also show you how you can adopt a mindset of growth so
that you can increase your self-motivation, effectiveness, and success. According
to Dweck, people either have a fixed or a growth mindset, and the one that you
adopt can affect every aspect of your life.

A. The Fixed Mindset. A fixed mindset is a belief that your intelligence, talents,
and other abilities are set in stone. You believe that you're born with a particular
set of skills and that you can't change them. If you have a fixed mindset, you will
likely fear that you may not be smart or talented enough to achieve your goals.
You may hold yourself back by engaging only in activities that you know you can
do well. Worse still, a manager with a fixed mindset may fear that their team
members' achievements will surpass their own expertise. Or they may feel
threatened if someone else spots an opportunity that they missed. To avoid being
"found out " as lacking skills, the manager may discourage a star team member's
development, and ignore their people's needs.
Dweck and her colleagues examined the brains of people with different mindsets.
The brains of those with a fixed mindset showed higher activity when they were
told that their answers to a series of questions were right or wrong – they were
keenly interested to know whether they had succeeded or failed. But they
showed no interest when researchers offered them help to learn from their
mistakes. They didn't believe they could improve so they didn't try.

A “fixed mindset” assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are
static givens which we can’t change in any meaningful way, and success is the
affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an assessment of how those givens
measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for success and avoiding
failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or
skilled.

B. The Growth Mindset. If you have a growth mindset, you believe that, with
effort, perseverance, and drive, you can develop your natural qualities.
Neuroscientist Gilbert Gottlieb asserted that intelligence is determined by a
combination of genes and environment and that your environment influences the
activation of genes during your lifetime. Whether your personality is determined
by nature or nurture is still heavily debated, but, according to Dweck, you can
develop your own skills, abilities, talents, and even intelligence through your
experiences, training, and effort. You use feedback and mistakes as opportunities
to improve while enjoying the process of learning and becoming more productive.
This is what Dweck calls "purposeful engagement." You also believe that you can
overcome obstacles. You choose to learn from the experience, work harder and
try again until you reach your goals.

A growth mindset thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of

unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our
existing abilities. Out of these two mindsets, which we manifest from a very early
age, springs a great deal of our behavior, our relationship with success and failure
in both professional and personal contexts, and ultimately our capacity for
happiness. The consequences of believing that intelligence and personality can be
developed rather than being immutably engrained traits,
Summary:

Fixed Mindset
 People with a fixed mindset believe that they're born with certain
intelligence, skills, and abilities that cannot change.
 As a result, when they fail at a task or face a challenge,
 Their fear that they might not succeed often stops them from progressing.
 Individuals with a fixed mindset tend to be interested only in feedback on
their success in activities to the degree that it serves to evaluate their
underlying ability.
 They are not using the feedback to learn, since they do not believe that
their success depends on their effort to learn.
 Rather, they believe that success depends on the level of innate ability that
they have.
 Therefore, they dread failure, because it suggests constraints or limits that
they will not be able to overcome.

Growth Mindset
 People with a growth mindset, however, embrace challenges because they
believe that they can learn from experiences, develop their skills, and
improve with practice – all of which can lead to greater achievement.
 A growth mindset attributes success to learning.
 Therefore, the individual is not terrified of failure, because it only signals
the need to pay attention, invest effort, apply time to practice, and master
the new learning opportunity.
 They are confident that after much effort they will be able to learn the skill
or knowledge and then improve their performance.

Locke’s Goal Setting Theory

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

 set goals for your future endeavor; and,
 apply the plans that you made towards achieving your goals.
  Utilize Locke’s goal-setting theory.

What is Goal-Setting?

 Goals, as defined by Latham & Locke (2002, p.705) are “the object or aim
of an action, for example, to attain a specific standard of proficiency,
usually within a specified time limit.” They are the level of competence that
we wish to achieve and create a useful lens through which we assess our
current performance.
 Goal setting is the process by which we achieve these goals. The
importance of the goal-setting process should not go unappreciated,
according to Locke (2019), “Every person’s life depends on the process of
choosing goals to pursue; if you remain passive you are not going to thrive
as a human being.”

Locke's Goal-Setting Theory

Why do some people perform better on tasks than others? Edwin Locke's
Goal-setting theory approaches the issue of motivation from a first-level
perspective; its emphasis is on an immediate level of explanation of individual
differences in task performance. According to Ryan (1970), if individuals are equal
in ability and knowledge, then the cause must be motivational.

The theory states that the simplest and most direct motivational
explanation of why some people perform better than others is due to disparate
performance goals, implying that setting and adjusting goals can significantly
impact performance. Most people would probably agree that goal setting is one
of the main ingredients for a person to succeed. Dr. Edwin Lock pioneers research
in the 1960s about setting goals. His theory was inductively developed within
industrial/work setting much from where the SMART goal-oriented, he
collaborated with Dr. Gary Lantham to a seminal work “A Theory of Goal Setting
and Task Performance”.

Goal Setting Theory states that there is a relationship between how difficult
and specific a goal was and the people’s performance task. He found that specific
and difficult goals led to better task performance than vague or easy goals. As
defined by professors Edwin Locke and Gary Latham (2006), a goal is “a level of
performance proficiency that one wishes to attain within a specific time period”.
Locke and Latham stated, “goal-setting theory was based on the premise that
much human action is purposeful, and it is directed by conscious goals”. Goal-
setting theory predicts that people will channel effort toward accomplishing their
goals, which will, in turn, affect performance. Locke, who primarily developed the
goal-setting theory, proposed three factors that will make individuals highly
motivated:

 Goals are challenging and specific.

 They are strongly committed to the goal/s.
 They strongly believe in their ability to accomplish their goals.

According to Locke, those factors will occur if:

 People know what is required of them.
 They know how they are expected to perform.
 They can identify with the goal.
 Feedback is precise and frequent.

Five Principles of Goal Setting

Goals must have:

 Clarity. When a goal is clear and specific, there is less misunderstanding

about what behaviors will be rewarded.
 Challenge. People are often motivated by A goal that is too easy or too
difficult will not motivate the person to work hard on a task.
 Commitment. A personally relevant goal will motivate a person to work on
accomplishing The harder the goal, the more commitment is required.
 Feedback. Feedback provides opportunities to clarify expectations, adjust
goal difficulty, and gain recognition.
 Considering Task Complexity. Take special care to ensure that work doesn't
become too overwhelming when goals or assignments are highly complex.
People who work in complicated and demanding roles can often push
themselves too hard if they don't take account of the complexity of the
task.
How to Set Clear Goals. When your goals are clear, you know what you're trying
to achieve. You can also measure results accurately, and you know which
behaviors to reward. This is why SMART is such a useful mnemonic. However,
when a goal is vague – or when you express it as a general instruction like "take
initiative" – it isn't easy to measure, and it isn't motivating. You may not even
know you've achieved it! People are often motivated by challenging goals,
however, it's important not to set a goal that is so challenging it can't be achieved.
 Securing Team Commitment. To be effective, everyone must understand
and agree to the goals – group members are more likely to "buy into" a goal
if they have been involved in setting it. This doesn't mean that you have to
negotiate every goal with your members and secure their approval. They're
likely to commit to it as long as they believe that the goal is achievable, it is
consistent with the institution's ambitions, and the person assigning it is
credible.
 Gaining Feedback. In addition to selecting the right goals, you should also
listen to feedback, so that you can gauge how well you and your team are
progressing. Feedback gives you the opportunity to clarify people's
expectations and adjust the difficulty of their goals. Keep in mind that
feedback doesn't have to come from other people. You can check how well
you're doing by simply measuring your own progress.
 Considering Task Complexity. Take special care to ensure that work doesn't
become too overwhelming when goals or assignments are highly complex.
People who work in complicated and demanding roles can often push
themselves too hard if they don't take account of the complexity of the
task.

Goal setting is something that many of us recognize as a vital part of achieving

success. By understanding goal-setting theory, you can apply Locke and Latham's
principles to your goals. Their research confirms the usefulness of SMART goal
setting, and their theory continues to influence the way that we measure
performance today.

To use this tool, you must set clear, challenging goals and commit yourself to
achieve them. Be sure to provide feedback to others on their performance
towards achieving their goals, and reflect on your own progress as well. Also,
consider the complexity of the task, and break your goals down into smaller
chunks, where appropriate.
If you follow these simple rules, your goal setting will be much more successful,
and your overall performance will improve.

Bandura's Self-Efficacy Theory

In the end, you should be able to:

 explain the factors that influence the learning process;
 discuss how Bandura's theory of learning can affect one's learning.
 apply the theory of self-efficacy in one's learning styles.

The Mechanism of Human Learning

If cognition, memory, and intelligence are underlying mechanisms that
allow us to perceive, process, and apply information for daily adaption, then
learning is a natural consequence of these mechanisms. Learning is defined as “a
relatively permanent change in a person’s knowledge or behavior as a result of
experience”. However, the notion of learning is underlined by notions of self-
efficacy and human agency. Self-efficacy is defined as “the extent to which we
believe we can confidently learn and master a particular skill.” When an
individual has high self-efficacy, they are likely to engage in challenging tasks and
recover from disappointments quickly. On the other hand, people with low self-
efficacy are likely to avoid difficult tasks because of a lack of confidence and
results to having low self-esteem. Thus, self-efficacy is a crucial factor behind
learning and performance.

What is Self-Efficacy Theory?

Albert Bandura is credited with pioneering the self-efficacy theory – a set of

ideas that form a part of his social-cognitive theory of personality. The theory was
an outcome of the thought process that people generally tend to engage in
activities that they believe they will be successful at and shy away from activities
that they know will lead to failure. In simple terms, self-efficacy refers to your
belief in your capacity to perform necessary actions to product-specific
performance goals (Bandura, 1977, 1986,1997). Self-efficacy is the reflection of
your confidence in the ability to exert control over your own motivation,
behavior, and social environment. Those with a high sense of self-efficacy see a
difficult task as a challenge that must be conquered rather than a problem that
must be avoided. This outlook fosters deep interest in performing any activity. It
sustains them to continue with their efforts in times of adversity.

According to this theory, people who have high levels of self-efficacy tend
to feel that they can perform very well at an activity and therefore attach more
value to it. Humans normally self-regulate in order to achieve certain targets or to
foresee how they would perform in future activities. They do this through a
process of first identifying a goal and then modifying their strategy and effort
level to ensure that a goal is attained.

Self-efficacy regulates how people feel, think, motivate and behave when
confronted with a new or similar task. Therefore, understanding the level of self-
efficacy in a person will help us understand how and to what extent an individual
will get involved in a task and what the outcome could possibly be. Self-efficacy is
task-specific and can vary depending on the activity. For example, a person may
have a high self-efficacy for running marathons but a low self-efficacy for dancing.
Reflect on their capabilities, the soundness of their thoughts and actions, and the
meaning of their pursuits. As a consequence, they can make needed adjustments.

The Self as Proactive and Agentic

Bandura believes that through our agency, we humans are perceived as
proactive agents of experiences. Through these agents or agencies, we play a big
role in our self-development, adaptation, and self-renewal. Agency refers to the
human capacity to influence one's functioning and the course of events by one's
actions.

The concept of agency as a psychological dimension refers to the process of

behaving with intentionality. Human beings exercise agency when they
intentionally influence their own functioning, environments, life circumstances,
and destiny. To posit that human beings have agency is to contend that they are
self-organizing, proactive, self-regulating, and self-reflecting rather than reactively
shaped by environmental forces or driven by concealed inner impulses. This is not
to say that people always behave agentically. An intention is a mental
representation of a future course of action to be performed. It represents a
proactive commitment to act.

It is said that human agency has four features and it is through these four
functions that human agency is exercised:

 Intentionality. People create and engage in plans and strategies with which
they realize their predetermined intentions to act in a certain manner.
 Forethought. This addresses the temporal dimension of human agency.
People make plans, set goals, and anticipate the likely outcomes of their
prospective actions. To set plans in motion so as to bring about the desired
outcomes, people must self-regulate their thinking and behavior.
 Self-reactiveness. It is a process through which individuals not only make
plans and choices but also construct the appropriate courses of action and
regulate their execution.
 Self-reflectiveness. It takes place when actions must be examined in order
to be corrected. Self-reflection is defined as a mental process you can use
to grow your understanding of who you are, what your values are, and why
you think, feel, and act the way you do.

Deep Learning vs. Surface Learning

Apart from self-efficacy, human agency is an underlying principle in

learning. People are not merely products of inner forces or environments; they
are self-regulating and proactive. We influence our own environments by our
characteristics and behavior; we influence other people, and we influence social
groups in achieving large-scale benefits.

Differences between deep learning and surface learning have been consistently
studied in various research. Surface learning leads to mere absorption of facts,
rote memorization, extrinsic motivation, focus on structured curricula and
assessment that does not allow for autonomous learning to happen, and pays
attention to teacher performance rather than student learning. On the other
hand, deep learning strategies result in knowledge construction, making
meaningful connections, use of higher cognitive skills, enhanced intrinsic
motivation, better metacognition, and fosters discovery learning.
  Deep learning is a deep approach to learning concentrates on the meaning
of what is learned. That concentration may involve testing the material
against general knowledge, everyday experience, and knowledge from
other fields or courses. A student taking a deep approach seeks principles
to organize information.

 Surface learning takes place when students focus on external goals such as
getting a particular grade or award or pleasing or impressing someone else.
These students tend to do only what is necessary and focus more on being
able to bring out what they have learned rather than truly understanding
and absorbing the material.

Learning to be a Better Student

Growth is an inevitable goal for every person be it physiological, physical or

intellectual and change will always be present in whatever things we are engaged
in as well as things we do. As such, you as a student, need to understand that
mere passing and graduating afterward is not enough guarantee for you to
successfully land your dream job or become who you want to be in the future.
Being a student is more than just attending your classes religiously, reading books,
taking the exams, or doing your assigned tasks. Beyond such routines, you should
realize that these routines which at the time you find either exciting or boring,
sensical or non-sensical, and enriching or waste, are actually a preparation for
real-life endeavors. It starts in the classroom and must not necessarily end there.

In becoming a better student, several things need to be done. Aside from

mere listening to the discussions and lectures, you should have a good
understanding of what and why they are doing the particular tasks. To have a
good grip of the lesson, students must keep in mind that more than acquiring the
knowledge, what really matters is the application and appreciation of such
learnings in your life and your future. Simply put, “aside from having a good
learning environment where the needs of the students are being met, the
students should also understand the value of what they are learning and why they
are learning those”. (Kujjpers, Meijers, Gundy, 2011).

Just as there are differences in personality, there are differences in the

ways that we learn and use information. Some people are quiet and tend to be
reflective in the way they process information. Others are "take charge" kinds of
people who need to put the information to immediate use and to solve problems.

Just as we have different preferences and ways of learning, we also change

and adjust our learning strategies based on our own development and on the
different learning situations in which we find ourselves. By understanding
ourselves and becoming more aware of these differences, we become more
capable of adjusting to new situations throughout our lifetime as learners.
Metacognition or "self- knowing" includes the following aspects of
understanding our "learning" selves:

 Knowing our learning "style" and how we learn best in different learning
situations.
 Our recognition of differences in learning tasks and our ability to match the
appropriate learning strategy to the task.
 Our ability to monitor whether we are understanding and learning in a
given situation or during the performance or a task.
 When we know that we do not understand, recognize the problem and
identify a different strategy that will be more appropriate to the learning
situation.
 Sometimes, studying is not enough to become excellent in school. Attitude
towards what you are doing affects your performance as well. Every
student can do better or even the best if only you practice a helpful and
healthy routine that would lead you towards success.

The following are some suggestions on how to become a better student:

 Love What You’re Doing. -When you choose a college course, be sure that
you really want it, so you’ll not regret it in the end. It’s nice learning things
you love to know. In whatever you do, always enjoy yourself. Studying can
be boring, but it would not matter when you love what you are reading or
doing.
 Be Positive. -Always be optimistic at school. You may encounter
circumstances that would test your patience and capabilities. When you
encounter problems, be courageous to face and solve them. Do not just
stay at your bed thinking of your problem – make a move to resolve it.
Consider it as a challenge and opportunity to make you a better student.
 Have Self-Esteem. Do not be shy to stand up and speak in front of a large
class. Be confident with yourself. This will not only be needed at school but
throughout your lifetime. Do not hesitate to share your ideas and strive to
be the best version of yourself.
 Pick Good Friends in School. - No man is an island; you can’t survive
without having a companion. Choose your friends at school, be with a
group who can help you be more responsible in your studies. Making
friends with the right people is another way to enjoy your study.
 Don’t Mind Time, Focus On the Discussion. Avoid looking at your watch
during classes, this is not only an insult to your professor, but it could also
distract you.
 Give your full attention to the teacher talking in front and listen
attentively. To be a good student, you must acquire and enhance your
listening skills.
 Set Your Goals. - The moment you enter and walk through the gate, be
sure of what you want to achieve. Be certain of what you aspire to in
school. Give out the best in you and reach for it. Your goals will keep you
going and keep you motivated.
 Do The Advance Reading. -If you are having a hard time with a particular
subject, do some reading. Also, read the topic that you think will be
discussed in the following days, so you’re already well-versed about it
whenever it is discussed. You can also use it to engage more actively in
class in the next meeting.
 Be Punctual and Always Show Up. -Your teachers will appreciate it when
you arrive early. It shows you are interested in learning from them, which
would also make them interested in teaching you. Also, never miss a lesson
because it would create a gap between the concept you learn yesterday
from today.
 Participate In Activities. -Do not just stay inside your classroom; be
involved in some extracurricular activities. Being at school does not mean
it’s all about reading. If you excel in your academics, try to do the same
with the non-academic activities in school. This will also help you increase
your social capability.
 Visit A Library And Read. -Reading is the best way to educate yourself, and
do not just read, try to digest the things you are reading. Spend your vacant
time at the library to study and do research. You could also borrow books
from the librarian and bring them home.
  Don’t Cheat. -Many students cheat because they are only after getting high
grades. However, good marks without actual learning is useless. The reason
why you go to school is that you want to learn so that you can be ready for
employment. The grade is just one measurement of learning. With
cheating, you miss the opportunity to assess your actual level of learning,
and you could end up having a hard time sustaining jobs in the future
because you didn’t really learn enough at school.

Discipline Is The Key. These tips are only tips, and they will not work without self-
discipline. The best way to gain better grades at school is by working diligently for
them. If you apply these tips with consistency and determination, then you have a
good shot at your goal.

Taking Care of the Self

At the end of the discussion, the student should be able to:

 understand the theories and concepts involved in the learning process,
setting goals, and caring for oneself.
 identify strategies and techniques in learning, setting goals, and caring for
the self; and
 apply the strategies and techniques in good study habits set specific and
achievable goals.

Taking Care of the Self. In our previous lessons, you were taught how to
understand yourself by examining different areas such as how you think, where
your principles (both moral and political), are anchored on, exploring your
physical being and the physiological aspects of it. Also, you were able to know
what are the material things that can be associated with one’s self, same with the
kind of self you present in your digital world and the technology’s impact on you.
After all these topics previously discussed, you are now at the last unit wherein
you will be putting the pieces back together and focusing on taking charge of
yourself holistically.

Understanding one’s self is not enough, the essence of it comes to the part
where you take charge and take care of yourself. In, totality, all of which is part of
understanding one’s self plays a big part in one’s health. People at some point in
their life feel as if they're adrift in the world. They work hard, but they don't seem
to get anywhere worthwhile

Self-Care: Taking Charge

Self-care is defined as engaging in activities and behaviors that have a positive

effect on one’s mental and physical health (Greene, 2017). In an article by Davis
(2018) about ways to take better care of yourself, she mentioned the importance
of taking good care of your body, mind, and soul every day, not just when one
gets sick. Learning how to eat right, reduce stress, exercise regularly, and take a
time-out when you need it are touchstones of self-care and can help you stay
healthy, happy, and resilient.

Why Do We Often Fail at Self-Care? Practicing self-care isn’t always easy. Most
of us are crazy busy, have stressful jobs, or are too consumed with technology to
make time for ourselves. Me-time is usually last on the agenda. Worse, we can
sometimes feel guilty about taking the time required to take care of ourselves. So
getting started with self-care can be challenging.

How Do You Engage in Self-Care? Fortunately, there are many things you can do
to engage in self-care. To start, go to the link provided on the list of references
and take the quiz to know about your well-being. Self-care is vital for building
resilience toward those stressors in life that you can’t eliminate. When you’ve
taken steps to care for your mind and body, you’ll be better be equipped to live
your best life (Scott, 2020). She has come up with five domains wherein one can
look into and make sure that it is being attended to be able to make sure one is
taking charge of one’s health.

Five Domains to Ensure Self-Care (Scott, 2020)

 Physical Self-Care - Taking care of your physical health is very important for
you to function well. There is a strong connection between your body and
your mind. When you are physically feeling better, your mind will function
better too. Physical self-care includes eating healthy, having some physical
activities, grooming, and minding some physical health issues that may
need medical attention.
 Social Self-Care -Socialization is key to self-care. Close connections are
important to your well-being. The best way to cultivate.and maintain close
 relationships is to put time and energy into building relationships with
others. Everyone has different social needs. The key is to figure out what
social needs you prefer and how to make time for it.
 Mental Self-Care - The way you think and the things that you're filling your
mind with greatly influence your psychological well-being. Mental self-care
includes doing things that keep your mind sharp, like puzzles, or learning
about a subject that fascinates you. You might find reading books or
watching movies that inspire you to fuel your mind. Mental self-care also
involves doing things that help you stay mentally healthy. Practicing self-
compassion and acceptance, for example, helps you maintain a healthier
inner dialogue.

 Spiritual Self-Care - Research shows that a lifestyle including religion or

spirituality is generally a healthier lifestyle. Nurturing your spirit, however,
doesn't have to involve religion. It can involve anything that helps you
develop a deeper sense of meaning, understanding, or connection with the
universe. Whether you enjoy meditation, attending a religious service, or
praying, spiritual self-care is important.
 Emotional Self-Care - It's important to have healthy coping skills to deal
with uncomfortable emotions, like anger, anxiety, and sadness. Emotional
self-care may include activities that help you acknowledge and express your
feelings on a regular basis. Whether you talk to a partner or close friend
about how you feel, or you set aside time for leisure activities that help you
process your emotions, it's important to incorporate emotional self-care
into your life.

Stressors and Responses

Stress is a response experienced when a person encounters a threatening

situation. A stressor is a stimulus that causes stress. When the person feels
stressed, the body experiences a collection of changes known as a stress response
or fight-or-flight response. It is a collection of physiological changes that occur
when the person encounters a perceived threat or situations where the person
feels the demands outweigh his or her resources to cope successfully.

In general, stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension

resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. It is a mental and
physical response to the demands of your environment (i.e., at home, school,
work, etc.). it is normal to feel stressed. It is a universal, human experience. What
is more important is how you respond to stress.

Not all stress is bad. In fact, stress is good for human beings (to some
degree) to maintain overall good health. The human body may tend toward a
relatively stable equilibrium, especially those maintained by physiological
processes, yet it also requires stimulation to ensure optimal functioning of the
organs and tissues, such as the heart and muscles. How can stress be good? When
stress serves as a motivation for positive activities, then it is considered beneficial.
Beyond its optimal point, stress of any kind does more harm than good.

There are three kinds of stress:

Eustress
 Considered as good stress
 A result from a situation or activity that you find motivating or inspiring
 Enjoyable and not threatening activity
 Example: Find the nerve to talk to your crush.

Neustress
 “Neutral” stress
 A sensory stimulus that has no direct consequences or effect on the person
 A situation or activity that you do not find threatening yet not enjoyable.

Distress
 Situations or activities that you consider negative, harmful, threatening
 It could happen for just a short span of time or it could linger for prolonged
periods (hours, days, months, years)
 Example: Being mugged on the streets or a long-standing family quarrel

What are Stressors? Any situation, activity, or individual that gives you mental or
emotional strain is a stressor. The list of stressors is not only endless; it also varies
from person to person. Good stressors can make you feel both nervous and
excited at the same time (the so-called “butterflies in your stomach”). It can make
you worry about being liked or accepted.
On the other hand, bad stress can cause you to feel angry, petrified, or depressed.
It can make you feel constantly on the edge. Other than the mental and
emotional strain, you also suffer pain, such as headache or you actually get sick,
such as going down with a fever. High levels of stress when unattended can
contribute to mental health problems.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Stress? Stress is the body’s reaction to any
change that requires an adjustment or response. The body reacts to these
changes with physical, mental, and emotional responses. People handle stress
differently. Symptoms of stress can vary. In general, signs and symptoms of stress
fall under any of these three categories: Physical, Cognitive/Perceptual, and
Emotional.

Other Types of Stress

 Acute stress - is a type of stress that comes quickly and unexpectedly but
requires a response. For instance, an exam that you do not feel adequately
prepared for.
 Chronic stress - is a type of stress that tends to occur on a regular basis. It
may leave the person feeling drained and can lead to burnout if not
managed.
 Burnout - is a result of the prolonged chronic stress in situations that leave
people with a feeling of lack of control over their lives.

Stress and the Filipinos: The Social and Cultural Dimensions of Stress

Filipinos are known to be the happiest people. Even in hard situations, you
can see the curves on their face. But smiles at some point are said to be a facade
of every hidden problem a person encounters. And with a problem, one will
experience stress which is invisible to people around. There are many causes why
such a person is stressed.

According to the article, Stress and the Filipino by Michael L. Tan, Filipinos
do face many sources of stress, around work and livelihood mainly. Overloaded
by work or so may cause stress so feeling worried about our livelihood will
contribute to stress. Rural or urban, do all face the stresses of family. Truly, the
family could be one of these sources of stress too. Though Filipinos are known to
be family-oriented people, as we have our relatives as our shoulders to lean on,
this extended family also is stressful for the obligations each family member
faces.

The expectations of their family are partly difficult for them. "Sure, Filipinos
are resilient, but this doesn’t necessarily mean we don’t feel stressed." Filipinos
do really feel stress but they hide it too well. They tend not to show it off to
people as much as they can. A better example of it from the article is the overseas
Filipino workers. They seem to be fine working miles away from home but deep
within them, they are fighting to deal with their stresses. Stress is normal but to
the point that it consumes you is another story.

Filipinos despite their happy personality isn't an exception of stress. They

do feel it but try hard to cope with it by finding meaning in a stressful world by
stress managing which recognizes joy, fulfillment, and pleasure. Surely, Filipinos
are resilient, this doesn’t necessarily mean we don’t feel stressed. In fact, it may
be one of the reasons why heart disease and strokes are among the top causes of
death in this country. Tan says it could also be a cause of “bangungot”, that
notorious phenomenon that has had Filipino men, many of them in their prime
dying in their sleep from a supposed nightmare.

Filipinos have a habit of smiling and laughing a lot. They smile when they
are happy, or sometimes even when they are sad or angry. Smiling has been a
coping strategy for many Filipinos especially during trying times and calamities.
For instance, Filipinos smile and wave at the camera while being interviewed even
after a fire or flooding incident. They always try to maintain a positive outlook in
life which makes them resilient and able to manage almost everything with a
simple smile.