SHED THE NOISE
Unit 1 : Lesson 1
The first step in any life decision is toidentify ‘the noise’ in your life and to beginto figure out how to shed the unnecessarypressures you may feel.
Identifying ‘the noise’in your life
Whether you are aware of it or not, everyday we make decisions that define whatour lives will be like.
•How we decide to spend our free time
•What elective classes we want to take
•What friends we choose to spend timewith
Being aware of our decisions allowsus to greatly impact the course of ourlives for the better and make choicesthat move us towards our passionsand towards being happy.
If you are making healthydecisions and you are happywith your choices, you are morelikely to produce more creativeideas and be a more productivemember of society.
Every choice we make defines who we are and whatour lives are going to be like.
Unless we become aware of how and why we makedecisions, we wont learn to make choices based onwhat we want.
This will lead to frustration.
When it comes to young people as yourselves, this willlikely lead to frustrations in terms of what college youwant to go to, what field you want to study, andeventually, what career path you want to pursue.
As a middle school student you may havealready noticed that your friends, family andother people in your life have an opinion aboutthe decisions you make.
Maybe you are feeling thepressure to do certainthings, hang out withcertain people or just followthe crowd to please otherpeople.
These pressures will mostlikely increase as you moveon to high school.
What is noise?
No matter where it comes from, (family, friends,teachers, or society) the things we hear that we“should” be doing with our lives – we call this“NOISE.”
It is all around us and it is different for everyone.
“you should join the military like your dadand your grandfather”
“you weren’t meant to take honors classes,you are not that smart”
“you know you are not smart enough to goto that school”
“you are too little to play that sport”
By learning to identify “thenoise” we can determine whatinfluences are pushing ustowards our true selves andwhat influences are holdingus back.
Be open with yourself and youwill be able to determinewhat insight is valuable andreflects your true self.
Shedding the “Noise”
We have to do away with this “noise” – SHED THE NOISE– so it doesn't’t influence the decisions you make as youdefine yourself.
No matter what the “noise” is, nor where it comes from, itis important to remember that “shedding the noise” doesn’tmean throwing out everything we hear that we disagreewith.
It is about learning to be mature enough to honestlyconsider the advice and opinions you are hearing fromother people.
It is about learning what you can from what you hear anddeciding what messages you want to keep and whatmessages you need to let go of to stay true to yourself.
Exercise 2
What is your “noise.” Write an essay inparagraph form, about the “noise” youhear around you, even if your “noise”is self-doubting noise. Please useillustrations to help you describewhat you are hearing. Be as creativeas you would like. Surf!!