This project has been exciting and different and I have really enjoyed completing it. It was different from other projects as it did not focus wholly on just the marketing. Because it is a business plan, it needed financial information and additional information on areas such as human resources, and I liked this as it made the project seem more realistic. I feel that it was more self-directed than other projects, and in some respects I thought this was good as it meant that we could complete the project based on our own idea, completely from scratch, and this was good because it meant that you could choose an idea that you’re passionate about. I thought it was bad in part as well just because it was the final project for the course, and more direction may have been helpful. However, I do appreciate that as a final project, you are expected to complete your work independently as at this stage.

I encountered some issues towards the end of the project in that I fell ill and was worried about whether I would be able to complete the assignment in time. Fortunately, I was able to complete the assignment but at the time, it did panic me. I used the emotional pathfinder to help me deal with my negative emotions towards the completion of the assignment. Here is my emotional path:

The Dominant Emotion: Stress and panic.

The Cause of The Emotion: Falling ill near the deadline and not knowing if I was going to be able to complete the assignment in time.

The Object/Focus of Concern of the Emotion: This emotion found expression through me being ill which was making my negative emotions more dominant. Obviously when you are ill, you can feel negative too.

The Emotional Intensity: This emotions were strong. Strong to the point where I began finding out about extenuating circumstances as I was convinced I couldn’t complete the assignment.

The Way the Emotional Response Evolved: Firstly I felt ill, and upset, then stressed and panicking. After speaking with my close family and friends, and having some reassurance from them, I began to feel more confident that I would be able to finish and began thinking rationally. I plowed through my work and found that it was not as hard as I thought I would be, and I would in fact be able to complete the assignment in time. This turned my emotion to determination, and I was determined that I would finish the assignment in time.

Speaking with people around me, especially those who are also completing this assignment, helped me to realise that I was just being negative and assuming the worst.

I have enjoyed this project overall. I do not feel that it is my strongest piece of work and I think this is due to the fact that I started the work very early, and by the end of the project, I was almost blinded to any improvements that I could make, because I had been looking at the assignment every day for 6 weeks, but overall, the amount of work I did complete, I felt impressed with. Seeing the finalised assignment was very rewarding.