Caroline Hortin

LE 1350
Gerald Giles
Salt Lake Community College
April 16, 2016
Personal Life Philosophy
In the research I have done, I have found a few things that I have chosen to
adopt into my personal life. My personal life philosophy comes from a mixture of the
experiences that I have had in my life, the ideas I have developed from those life
experiences, the values that I hold dear in life, and the research that I have done in
preparation for this paper.
The first part of my life philosophy is I am what I am and I cannot change that.
This philosophy comes from my own life experiences. There was a time in my life
where I was constantly down on myself and unhappy because I wanted to be something
that I wasnt. I consistently tried to hide behind other people and pretended that I was
someone else. I thought that if I spent all of my time pretending to be something I wasnt
that I would eventually either actually become that or convince the people around me
well enough that I could forget that I wasnt really like that. Through some life
experiences and some of the people that I have been blessed with in my life I have
learned that I am meant to be myself. It is my belief that someone is the way that they are

because of his or her divine nature. It is not merely an accident or coincidence that you
are a certain way.
The second part of my life philosophy is Be Mindful in your personal and
professional life. (Moscovitz) To me, this philosophy means to always be mindful of
myself in both the professional world and the personal world, but also to be mindful of
others. I try to treat everyone with dignity and respect whether I know them
professionally or personally. This idea has changed me and help me grow as a person. I
have developed more professionalism because of it and gained more respect form my
coworkers. I think I have also become a better friend.
The next part of my life philosophy is There are many paths to success.
(Beauchamp) This part of my life philosophy comes from many avenues. I have always
had a way that I have imagined my life turning out. I knew what I wanted to do since I
was 10 years old, and that idea lasted until I was 17. Then, through an injury that
happened to me I realized that that certain path was not going to be an option for me. I
began to search for a new life path and I found my true lifes passion. This has in turn
brought me happiness and success- even though it wasnt the way that I thought it would
all turn out.
Serve Always
For most of my life I have been the recipient of service. When I was younger I
made the decision that it was important to serve others. I wanted to make the world a
better place in any small way that I could. Though this philosophy I have made lots of

friends which was always something that was hard for me. I have always been a shy
person and through trying to better myself through service I have been able to come out
of my shell and get to know more people. It has also brought me a lot of opportunities
that would not have come to me otherwise.
When I was 14 years old, I had an operation to fix extreme scoliosis in my back.
Because of this surgery, I was left with a T-9 spinal cord injury causing me to not be able
to move the lower half of my body. During this time of my life, my family went through a
very hard time both physically and emotionally. My family was stretched extremely thin.
The neighborhood that my family resides in came together and served our family greatly.
They brought meals and even got together to redo our entire yard. The love that radiated
from these people is one of the biggest reasons that I adopted this idea into my life
philosophy.
Education will make all the difference
Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.- Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. (King) This is a belief that was instilled within me since a very young age. I
havent always loved school- or even liked it. Some days it was very hard to get there.
But I knew that education was very important. There was never a thought in my mind
about dropping out of high school and I always know that I was going to go to college
and get a degree- no matter what. Nothing at all was going to stop me from that. When I
was 14 years old and I was very sick I had to go to school from home and it was very

difficult. I thought about why I was really going to school and I changed my whole life
philosophy- no deciding that education was one of the most important thing to me.
Effect Change
You

must be the change you want to see in the world.- Gandhi (Edberg)

This well-known quote from Gandhi has always been a part of my

philosophy. It is my opinion and belief that the only people that was can truly
change is ourselves. I believe that we can have an effect on other people either for
the positive or the negative- much like this belief of Gandhis has changed my lifebut that we cannot actually change them. The only thing that we can do is to make
the world a better place and by doing this we can change other peoples life
philosophy through our own examples and make the world a better place.
Attitude is Everything
This final part of my life philosophy actually stems from an experience that I
had in 8th grade. I was in an English class and each quarter we memorized a poem
that we would recite to the class at the end of the term. The first quarters poem
was titles Attitude. Later that year I went through a very traumatic time in the
hospital after going through two surgeries that left me with a spinal cord injury and
a traumatic brain injury. This poem became a sort of anthem and I consistently

tried to keep a good attitude. Having this positive outlook and attitude helped me to
get better and be able to get back to my regular life.

Bibliography
Moscovitz DM (2007) 6 Personal Philosophies that Shaped Successful
Entrepreneurs
http://www.fastcompany.com/3024831/bottom-line/the-personal-philosophies-that-shapetodays-successful-innovators
Beauchamp KB (2007) 6 Personal Philosophies that Shaped Successful
Entrepreneurs
http://www.fastcompany.com/3024831/bottom-line/the-personal-philosophies-that-shape-todayssuccessful-innovators

King MLK (unknown)

https://www.google.com/search?q=education+quotes
Edberg HE (2013) Gandhis 10 Rules for Changing the World
http://www.dailygood.org/story/466/gandhi-s-10-rules-for-changing-the-world-henrikedberg/