I have been reading Steve' posts since January 2005. As i recall I stumbled up on it when I was searching for The Journal resources which is a great software I have used for the last 6 years. A couple of his pod cast I have on my MP3 player and listen too sometimes when I walk to work. To me his posts in addition to books, I like especially Stephen Coveys, and samurai literature, helps me to stay somewhat focused on personal development.
This post was another post Steve wrote that resonates well with my ideals too.
I have courageously
chosen to not participate in the forum discussions since I believe discussions does not help personal development. This thread is another example of that, where a great post ends in discussion of this post are fascistic, sexist or not. For me the use of this post, or any post, is to read then reflect if that is something I can use in my own development or not. I don't believe in absolute rights or wrongs in personal development it's your personal journey. If I stated my ideals and believes on this web site I would probably been given much worse characteristics
.
However I never see the reason to be offended by any post. All posts are Steve's views which I sometimes find useful and sometimes not. Sometimes agrees with and sometimes not. For instance when Steve writes about lucid dreaming i briefly skim through them and decide - not my cup of tea- .
I have a few reflections on the post that I would like to share, even though it is against my principles
.
Title How to be a man. It is a great title. It does not say anywhere that this not relate to a woman. But Steve always write about his own experiences and knowledge. That is what gives him credibility in my opinion. Since he is the male subset of our species he writes about that. He does not imply in the post that this does not can apply to women too.
For me this type of critique or argumentation can be used on all work. You addressed men what have you against women do you imply that we can't be like that? You speak about raw vegan food why do you imply meat is unhealthy? You speak about goal setting why do you imply relaxation is not important? For any given topic it will be another topic that is not addressed where you can use this argumentation. This is what politicians has to think about all the time. Example. You did not wear a flag pin your not patriotic, you sympathize with terrorists.
Another point that resonate well with me , but stirred controversy, is put your relationships second. What Stephen Covey would call family centered persons. Again my understanding of this is that Steve did not say that you should put your self in the center but your values or principles should be in center. A good example is the film Freedom Writers (NB Spoiler) where one of the girls had to go against her own family to witness in a murder case. My suggestion is go and see the movie and decide what you think is the right decision. I definitely put my relationships, for me it is my wife and kids, second. But I put my self in a third. (My values is first). So what do I mean with that. I would risk my life, in a heartbeat, to save my kids. However if my kids does not well in life for instance become criminals I will not cover for them.
So the final question is do I think this relates to women as well? I don't know. And I really do not care either. My personal experiences with women is that there are differences between the sexes. It is up to you to make your own judgments on that.
Why did I write this post? I do not know. Probably to show some support to Steve. However, I do not intend get into any discussions on what I have written above. I still believe discussions will not help my personal development.