Brendan Wood

1 FEB 15
Flourish Reflection
In my opinion, the central message of this reading is that we are in
control of our own destination. There are many factors that can lead us in a
particular direction, but ultimately, we are the one who makes the final call,
a call that should be based upon the question, Where do I want to go with
my life?. What makes this book so effective, is how it hits upon the main
components of happiness, along with understanding and applying well-being.
This is critical to understanding yourself, and ultimately forms the foundation
to how you will make decisions. Continuing, this book dives into mental
strength and optimism, two more components of ones life that carry so
much weight in your future. My experience with this book can be described
as interactive. As I was reading the book, I was constantly applying it to my
life, envisioning every component talked about in my life. Once I related his
point to my life, I would move on to the next. Discussing this book in class
and talking about it with classmates was also a great experience, because it
helped us share our struggles and successes of life. I was able to relate to
the people in my group and realize that I was going through the same career
development pains they were. Working together like this was critical, and
with the aid of the book, we all learned an immense amount about how one
should carry themselves to set them up for a bright future.
Flourish is such a valuable asset to our career development class. First
off, when trying to find a career, one is naturally stressed out. There are so

many things running through your mind at once, that it can be a turn-off.
This book however, broke down the ideas that are central to ones happiness
and well-being, and taught us how to apply it in our lives. For me, the part of
the discussion that is the most useful to me in my career exploration was the
discussion on GRIT. I enjoyed discussing this for the reason that I love the
idea of mental toughness and telling yourself you can do anything you put
your mind to. It helps us realize that not everything is going to be easy, but
with focus and hard work, we can accomplish it.
We can use the content of this discussion in our career exploration
process by applying it at all times. As we search for careers, we have to
keep the definition of well-being and happiness in the back of our minds.
Continuing, we have to keep the concepts that go along with the big ideas of
well-being and happiness in the back of our minds as well. GRIT, emotions,
and constructive responding go hand and hand with ideas, and again will
keep us grounded in our career exploration process.