THE TEN BIGGEST IMPACTS ON MY PERSONALITY | IN COLLABORATION WITH FUTURE LEARN AND MONASH UNIVERSITY | AD

I wrote recently (here) about my thoughts on personality after beginning the Monash University course (via futurelearn.com); Introduction to Psychology: The Psychology of Personality. On completing week two of the course, I got thinking about all of the things that can impact a person’s personality. I mean, I talked in my first post about how I believe that ‘personality’ is who you are but that doesn’t mean that I think it’s ingrained in you – that it’s natural or always stable throughout all kinds of circumstances and situations. I 100% believe that your personality can be shaped by external events and how you internalize these, how they change your views on the world and the way you react in different situations. 

MY THOUGHTS ON PERSONALITY | IN COLLABORATION WITH FUTURE LEARN & MONASH UNIVERSITY | AD

I recently started a new course with Monash University via futurelearn.com – Introduction to Psychology: The Psychology of Personality and it, inevitably, got me thinking a lot about personality, what it means to me, how it is developed and how it can become ‘disordered.’ 


A while ago now, the powers that be, renamed the diagnosis Borderline Personality Disorder to Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder. I laughed when I was told – it was just further evidence that the ultimate people to make such huge decisions don’t actually know all that much about the things they make decisions about. If they did, they’d know that, for the majority of service users, the biggest problem with the phrasing of BPD was the ‘Personality’ part and not the ‘Borderline’ bit. Yes, people unfamiliar to the diagnosis will wonder what is meant by ‘borderline’ but that can be answered. I know there are varied rationale behind the use of the word in the diagnosis; with the most common one being that it means borderline between sanity and insanity but if someone were to ask what is meant by ‘personality’ then it’s a different story – personality is subjective. Everyone has their own definition of it and their own belief on what shapes it. I mean, William Sheldon (1940) believed that personality was determined by your body shape and size (somatology)! He held the assumption that larger people (endomorphs) are more likely to be bold and assertive whereas smaller people (ectomorphs) are more likely to be intellectual and introverted. Once upon a time, I’m sure this theory was regarded very highly and agreed upon by many but these days? I know I can’t speak for anyone else, but I felt like laughing when I heard that this was a serious theory!

TOP FIVE NOTEBOOKS THAT MAKE FOR WRITING INSPIRATION | FUTURE LEARN DISCOUNT CODE | AD

So I recently had a massive overhaul of my wardrobe and it spurred me on to sort through everything on the shelf under the coffee table. That shelf is like the ‘bottom drawer’ people talk about where you find random things and they just all go in that one place. Anyway! There was a ton of notebooks and organizers under there that weren’t being used and – I believed – weren’t going to be used. So of course, I threw out the lot and promptly started an online course with Future Learn! Going notebook shopping for taking notes on this new course inspired this post… I thought I’d take the opportunity to talk about my favourite five notebooks, and the writing inspiration they bring:

‘MAKE TODAY GREAT’

https://www.paperchase.com/en_gb/gifts/gifts-for/stationery-lovers/moglea-make-today-great-lined-notebook.html

THE IMPORTANCE OF NOT TAKING ON TOO MUCH | FUTURE LEARN | AD

Recently, during my relapse, I’ve found that a lot of professionals and those who care about me (mainly my Mum) have talked to me about how much I take on in life.

They have helped me to realize that before the relapse, I was doing a lot of different things at once; from courses with Future Learn, to the problems of others, to projects with different organizations.

EDUCATION

There’re so many courses on Future Learn that I’d like to do at the moment, but I’ve learnt to do one at a time and to add the rest to my ‘Wishlist’ on the site. Now, I’m doing ‘Beyond Diagnosis:Is Psychiatric Diagnosis Helpful?’ which is a module facilitated by the University of Liverpool so it’s degree level learning. Considering the highest level, I’ve ever done was my A Levels in 2009…

EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT CODE!!! | THREE FUTURELEARN COURSES I'D RECOMMEND | FUTURELEARN | AD

I'm beyond excited to offer you all a discount code of 15% off a* FutureLearn course!

*this code only applies to courses that are available to upgrade and not for degree's or paid-for courses

Aimee_Wilson_15

(This code will only be available for the first 80 people to use it!)

For the Writer:

1.     Start Writing Fiction

This course eight-week course is developed by the Open University and you’re advised to spend three hours a week on it. It’s also completely FREE but for £42 you can ‘upgrade’ to have unlimited access (which means there’s no eight-week limit) and a certificate. In this course you will hear from established writers who will talk about how they first began writing, and you’ll learn how to keep a journal and use it as a tool to develop your ideas and document your inspiration.

HOW EDUCATION HAS AFFECTED MY MENTAL HEALTH | FUTURE LEARN | AD

I’m honoured to announce that this post is in collaboration with Future Learn.

At school I excelled at English – from a young age I’d enjoyed writing (granted, back then it was for writing short stories on having my own horse) and one of my Middle School teachers predicted that I’d end up being a Journalist. But from as young as I can remember; we were taught at school that we do our GCSEs in High School, stay on for Sixth Form to sit our A Levels, and go to University to get a degree to get a job. We were never taught about Apprenticeships or alternative qualifications like Access to HE, BTEC, and vocational qualifications.