Running head: TARGET BEHAVIOR 1
TARGET BEHAVIOR 2
Target Behavior Report
Please create 10 to 12 Slides but create it in pdf format
Introduction
There are various key concepts and definitions that have impacted my views so far in the course. Stress management is one of the core needs of the society today given the various stress associated problems that people are facing in the world. There are various techniques that have been developed today that are meant to control the personal lives of stress and avoid situations where individuals are facing chronic stress. There are various mental and physical symptoms of stress and they vary in everyone based on their situational actors.
There are some symptoms such as physical health decline that someone can face when they have stress. Stress can also develop and turn into depression (Hoeger and Hoeger, 2018). Managing stress is one of the core things to know so that one can live a successful and happy life in the modern world. There are various demands that can make a happy life difficult to achieve, anxiety can affect the well-being of an individual from the physical to social functioning. There are several practical stress management techniques that are there in the world today used by both professionals and non-professionals. At the same time, there are self-help techniques that can assist in stress management.
The first assessment tool that I selected is Assess Your Stress. The tool is important in identifying the physiological indicators of stress together with the subjective rating of stress that one has. I selected this tool because it is easier to show and conduct as an individual. At the same time, it is more realistic and one can measure the various things such as the pulse rate (Hoeger and Hoeger, 2018). The results that I obtained is how that I have a faster heartbeat at 85 beats per minute.
At the same time, I recorded 16 breaths per minute which is at the extreme of the of the average respirate rate. I was not engaged in any physical activity before this and I have no medical condition that could warrant these numbers. The results from the stress-o-meter show that the levels are at 5 for the moment. These results show that I am going through some form of stress and they are a surprising especially the physiological signs. I did not expect to have a heart beat that is faster than usual. I agree with the results because there has been a lot happening in my life lately that the stress could have gone unnoticed.
The second assessment tool that I selected is the Symptoms of Stress Assessment. This tool is useful through looking at various problems that one might be experiencing such as headaches, muscle pain, frustration, or sleeping difficulties (Hoeger and Hoeger, 2018). The tool is useful in looking at how frequently one experiences some symptoms and how best the problem can be handled. There are some patterns that the tool can help in bringing forward based on how frequent they arise. One is able to recognize some symptoms of stress that they might dismiss because they are regular occurrences.
I selected this tool because it can help one to view the symptoms and seek a change to them or the frequency that they occur. The tool has helped me in understanding the various negative symptoms that might be manifesting in daily life. I uncovered that there are some symptoms that I might have which I tend to ignore sometimes. I discovered that I am frequently anxious, irritable, restlessness, and have difficulty concentrating. The results were a surprise because I thought they are just regular occurrences in life as opposed to symptoms of stress. I agreed with the assessment because there must be a reason behind the various symptoms. The overall impact was getting me to take the needed steps so as to propagate change in my life.
The third tool that I selected was the Perceived Stress Scale. The tool is one which has been there for a long time and it helps in understanding how various situations affect the perceived stress together with our feelings. In each of the situations, one is asked to indicate how one feels or thinks about a situation. The tool also looks at how often some of the situations and feelings occur. The best way to use the tool is to go through it fairly quickly. The PSS is important as it does looks at the perception of someone about what is happening in their lives (Hoeger and Hoeger, 2018).
I selected PSS because one of the core aspects of stress is the perception that we have. It asks important questions such as how often one has felt that things are going their way. This is an important way of looking at life and perception is equally important as reality. The results show that I got a score of 18 which shows that there is moderate perceived stress. The results were not surprising to me and at some point, I thought the scores would be higher than they actually became. I agree with the results, however, that I might be going through some form of stress.
The fourth tool which I identified is Inventory of College Student’s Recent Life Experiences. I selected this tool because I am a college student and it is, consequently, relevant to my life and is one of the best tools to use. The tool is also good because it identified the various individual exposure to various sources of hassles and stress. The inventory is also important because it helps in identifying the extent to which the stressors were experienced in the past month (Hoeger and Hoeger, 2018). It is a tool which is designed specifically as a response to problems that are faced by college students.
The tool is particularly important because it has included stressors which might not be available in other areas of life such as social rejection and conflict with professors. The results showed that I have 61 points out of the possible 140 points. I was not surprised with the score because even if college life is stressful, it is moderately less compared to other areas in life to me. At the same time, I learned that college can be challenging in various ways that one might not know unless one takes such an assessment. I agree with the score because it shows that these are the stressors that one is exposed to every day.
The results of these two assessments have shown me that it is critical to enact behavioral changes so as to have a better life. There are two behavioral changes that I believe are important in living a more fulfilling and happier life moving forward. The first behavior that I have identified is to add more sleep and rest in my schedule going into the future. Sleeping more will help in getting into routine and living a life where I am free of irritation, stress, and anxiety. The use of these assessments has also showed me the importance of taking at least one balanced hot meal in a day. I identified a change in my life especially with the sleeping for more hours. It is important to get the rest and it has helped in balancing work and school.
Target Behaviors
The first thing that I did was make the effort to sleep for at least 8 hours every day. Sleeping for such hours has helped in getting better in other areas such as school and work. Sleeping has helped in getting more concentration on the activities that take place in the day. Sleeping for the 8 hours has been made possible because of discipline and avoiding distractive behavior such as watching movies. I measured the sleep that I had using my smart watch to record daily the number of sleeping hours that I have.
The results that I experienced was more energy everyday as well as high concentration levels. At the same time, I was able to identify various changes in my academics through completion of tasks in time and few outbursts of anger. One of the things that was first interfering with the goal of sleeping for 8 hours every day was watching movies and going out with friends. I realized that I need to prioritize my health and this is where I decided to avoid anything that was interfering with getting 8 complete hours of sleep.
Having a balanced hot meal at least once in a day has helped in making sure that there is balance in life and having enough energy to carry out the activities that I have. Previously, I would go for even a week before getting a balanced hot meal and would go for fast food most of the times. Taking a balanced meal has rejuvenated my body and I have more energy at the moment. One of the things that I have also experienced in my life is some loss of weight because of healthy eating. The main thing that interfered with this goal is the availability of time to prepare a balanced meal or the resources to purchase a balanced meal. It took a lot of discipline and it facilitated this goal. Healthy eating has improved my everyday life.
The first day of sleeping for eight hours was challenging but within two days I was able to get 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep. I found it useful to power down all of the devices so that there is complete concentration on the duties that are there for me. When it comes to healthy eating, the first days were challenging because of the change and the time limit when it comes to carrying out these activities. Within a week, I was able to adopt eating healthy every day and it has become the way of life. Reducing the time spent with friends has also assisted in achieving of the goals that are set. When I am in the company of friends, I ended up eating the unhealthy foods and being awake when I should have been getting my daily sleep. I recorded a decrease in anxiety and stress and an increase in the number of hours I sleep.
Conclusion
There are several lessons that I have taken from the self-assessments and the behavioral changes that I implemented. One of the insights that I developed is that there are a lot of stressors that one can ignore in their lives. There are some stressors that one can avoid and pressure on time and mental space. Sleeping well and eating healthy food gives the body energy to handle some of the stressors that one might find hard to avoid.
Stress management requires someone to be proactive in dealing with the stressors and developing the coping mechanisms. It is important to make sure that one adopts the discipline measures that are there to get better at managing life because some of these stressors are unavoidable. Work and school will always be there and one can work better when they are not under unnecessary anger or anxiety.
References
Hoeger, W. K., & Hoeger, S. A. (2018). Lifetime physical fitness and wellness (13th ed.). Cengage Learning.
