Question

Share an experience you had when you took time just for yourself. How did it make you feel to renew or reset yourself - to become balanced?  Connect this experience to Covey’s 4 dimensions: physical, social/emotional, spiritual, and mental. Explain how this experience impacted each of these dimensions.

Answer 1

I was preparing for my CAT exam. I was putting lots of efforts to excel in the test but the results were not showing in the mock tests that I was giving. I was feeling very dejected and was on the verge of going into depression as my efforts were not fulfilling my objective. I started eating less, keeping quiet. It was then that my mother suggested that I should take the weekend off and go to our farmhouse. The leave would give me new energy to buck up and prepare for the examination.

I went to the farmhouse. The serenity of that place and beauty of nature made me feel very light. I did meditation there and felt quite relieved. I also introspected to understand where my efforts were going wrong and whether I was in the wrong direction for preparation. This introspection helped me in strategizing effectively for my exam and I scored 99.02 percentile in the final CAT exam.

The impact of the above incident on Covey’s 4 dimensions:

• Physical: I had been straining my mind and body. The stress level had become quite evident. This weekend off helped me in reviving my body as well as my mind. I felt re-energized and awaken. I could feel more energized and could concentrate for longer hours after this incident.
• Social: Under the pressure to crack the exam, I had become very aloof. I used to keep quiet, remain in myself. This loneliness was making me have mood swings. After this incident, I was able to become my previous self who is an extrovert and likes talking to people. I started enjoying life and my time for preparation.
• Spiritual: The meditation that I did in that farmhouse helped in refreshing my minds and giving me a new dimension to think upon for my preparation strategy.
• Mental: I was lacking the mental peace due to the high pressure of cracking the CAT exam. This weekend off helped me, meet my inner self and cleared various objectives in my mind. I was able to concentrate more and could easily analyze any situation.