Think And Grow Poor

[Stephen]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but dont we digest tones of PD literature every year; subscribe to blogs and sites; listen to audios etc and have we essentially moved significantly forward?

Not many of us.

Its because we think to much. We polish the golf clubs and dont get on the green enough.

Personal Development assists Procrastination?



(Devils Advocate Thread)

[supertom]

yes and you think the next one is going to complete your quest. I think its best to apply them one by one and if you dont master it than you shouldnt move on to the next one. I heard about someone you does this but with every chapter

[Plato]

No. PD is only a problem if you make it into an ideology.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Plato

No. PD is only a problem if you make it into an ideology.

Not really. To procrastinate you only need to pick up a book to avoid taking action, and fool yourself that this is what you need to do.

Theres nothing ideological about it.

[RT Wolf]

Self-Help Junkies

(Devil's advocate's devil's advocate).

Every once in a while I will take stock of what I've done since beginning PD about two years ago. I've gained a lot of courage and had a lot of interesting experiences (like failing a standup competition on tv), gotten into an amazing relationship that's been going on for over a year, went from no job to a few part-time jobs I enjoy, figured out what I want to do with school, am the healthiest I've possibly ever been, feel a lot like I hvae a lot of new options and stuff, started a website and exploring passive income. The internal changes have also been excellent, such as the paradigm shifts and undertanding myself better and better.

[Smarky]

Sinclair Lewis was invited to talk to some students about the writers craft. He stood at the head of the class and asked, “How many of you here are really serious about being writers?” A sea of hands shot up. Lewis then asked, “Well, why aren't you all home writing?” And with that he walked out of the room."

[Parthon]

Can you read a bunch of diet and exercise books and not lose weight? Can you read a whole load of how to run a business books and not start a business? Can you read many travel books and never go travelling?

I think it's possible and quite common in many areas of life to want to do something and not go through with the actions required to succeed. I think most people live their lives in a "I want to but haven't yet" situation that goes on forever, and it's those few that don't which we aspire to be.

When it comes down the the "but haven't yet" of our lives, we all have many reasons why not. Time and money are always a factor as are commitments, burdens and limitations. Honestly, they are just reasons and it's up to us to discover what's stopping us from doing and keeping us in the waiting.

So does Personal Development lead to Procrastination? Nopes, but it's certainly an easy place to procrastinate. Perhaps Procrastination lends itself easily to Personal Development.

Originally Posted by Smarky

Sinclair Lewis was invited to talk to some students about the writers craft. He stood at the head of the class and asked, “How many of you here are really serious about being writers?” A sea of hands shot up. Lewis then asked, “Well, why aren't you all home writing?” And with that he walked out of the room."

This touched something deep in me. I'm going to go write a book!

[Ninja]

One of my favorite books is "how to write a novel in 30 days", by the founder of NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month). Nano is held in November and the goal is to write a 50.000 word novel in 30 days. The book gives tips on how to do this, as well as reccomended sources of caffeine and ways to write without your boss seeing you

On a more serious note, the author tells about friends who quit halfway through November because they found a story they liked and wanted to work slowly enough on it to do it justice. When he called them six months later, they had not written a single chapter. He has named these people 'one day novelists', as in "one day, I'd really like to write a novel....".

This reminds me of the PD junkies: they prepare, prepare, prepare, but never DO it!

[Joely]

Originally Posted by Stephen

Correct me if I'm wrong, but dont we digest tones of PD literature every year; subscribe to blogs and sites; listen to audios etc and have we essentially moved significantly forward?

Not many of us.

Its because we think to much. We polish the golf clubs and dont get on the green enough.

Personal Development assists Procrastination?



(Devils Advocate Thread)

Don't know about you, but I've progressed one hell of a long way, and it's tangible month by month, sometimes day by day.

[Smarky]

Originally Posted by Ninja

On a more serious note, the author tells about friends who quit halfway through November because they found a story they liked and wanted to work slowly enough on it to do it justice. When he called them six months later, they had not written a single chapter. He has named these people 'one day novelists', as in "one day, I'd really like to write a novel....".

I really like this, thanks for posting. I find it interesting.

It's similar to what i've heard Steve Pressfield say, who wrote a book called the war of Art, he talks about the need to become a Professional at what you are doing and that is writing or creating each day, rather when the muse strikes or anything else, you have to do it, like it is your job and you have to for a few hours everyday otherwise you won't end up doing anything.

This is extremely interesting.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Joely

Don't know about you, but I've progressed one hell of a long way, and it's tangible month by month, sometimes day by day.

But we should be able to grow, just by the the following.....

#1 Experience & Reflection
#2 Observance and Imitation


You dont need a whole bunch of Self Help Parasites to tell you this.

(Remember - Devils Advocate thread)

[Jennihul]

There is no such thing as useless knowledge, in my opinion. What's bad is never striving at all. Or ceasing to educate yourself.

Besides, people define "rich" very very differently. The money is nice but life is about more than money...so is being rich. Being rich is actually more about giving than getting.

Jennifer

[Jonathan Mead]

That's why there's knowledge and then there's the application of knowledge.

If you spend all your time accumulating knowledge and never applying it, what was the point?

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Mead

That's why there's knowledge and then there's the application of knowledge.

If you spend all your time accumulating knowledge and never applying it, what was the point?

Thats interesting Jonathan, I tend to agree with jennihul: Knowledge for Knowledge sake is ok in my book, whetehr you apply it or not.

One of my regular activities is reading the classics. I am currently reading a huge book written a couple of hundred years ago. I cant really see me 'applying' the knowledge I get from it.

Its all about experience.

We live but a short time in this world. I want to make sure, I live it.

[martin]

There is always room for improvement, there are always new or alternative ways to do things. That's why I continue to read personal development books.

[Ninja]

Originally Posted by Smarky

I really like this, thanks for posting. I find it interesting.

It's similar to what i've heard Steve Pressfield say, who wrote a book called the war of Art, he talks about the need to become a Professional at what you are doing and that is writing or creating each day, rather when the muse strikes or anything else, you have to do it, like it is your job and you have to for a few hours everyday otherwise you won't end up doing anything.

This is extremely interesting.

True: you don't wait for your muse, you drag her out by her hair. Even writing crap is better than not writing at all. Often, writing is followed by inspiration and not the other way around. If it's really bad, you can always delete it, but chances are that there are still some gems you want to keep.

[Joely]

Originally Posted by Ninja

True: you don't wait for your muse, you drag her out by her hair. Even writing crap is better than not writing at all. Often, writing is followed by inspiration and not the other way around. If it's really bad, you can always delete it, but chances are that there are still some gems you want to keep.

I completely agree. I write on a working day basis, and treat it as an occupation now. It actually means that I do better writing and work faster and more effectively because I take time off and give myself a break.

As far as I'm concerned, there is absolutely no point reading book after book on PD, never following the advice within them and then blaming the authors that your life didn't change. You can't really blame the PD movement for your own lack of motivation or change. It's the old adage, you can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

[Ninja]

Originally Posted by Joely

I completely agree. I write on a working day basis, and treat it as an occupation now. It actually means that I do better writing and work faster and more effectively because I take time off and give myself a break.

As far as I'm concerned, there is absolutely no point reading book after book on PD, never following the advice within them and then blaming the authors that your life didn't change. You can't really blame the PD movement for your own lack of motivation or change. It's the old adage, you can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

I found it to actually be paralyzing. There was so much advice, that I felt I needed to do 1001 other things FIRST before I could get started in what I actually wanted. Now I take time to process information first and apply whatever I find relevant, before I take on a new book or article. Otherwise I get overwhelmed.

[Joely]

Originally Posted by Ninja

I found it to actually be paralyzing. There was so much advice, that I felt I needed to do 1001 other things FIRST before I could get started in what I actually wanted. Now I take time to process information first and apply whatever I find relevant, before I take on a new book or article. Otherwise I get overwhelmed.

Ahhh... You see I work the other way around. I think deep down I know what I need to do and when, and I only got into personal development because I was in the process of change and needed support to achieve what I wanted to achieve. I have a very specific set of goals and purpose in mind, so it's easy to disregard anything that my gut instinct doesn't gel with. I started changing my life without help, without reading any personal development stuff at all.

I can see why people struggle and get disheartened with PD if they feel overwhelmed and don't really have that sense of direction already. I see it as a tool. I'm just building up a set of tools to do what I already wanted to do.

[Smarky]

It's annoying me. I've had enough. there is way to much advice that conflicts and just a load of nonsense. I write a lot of things down and when I review those I can see a lot of growth in myself.

So i've decided to cut loose and develop myself personally. I'm going to use a lot of reflection and just find the best way forward for me, without looking and reading from books too much, figure what I need too out on my own through action and reflection.

Although right now, i've been caught up and obsessed for the past week about how I excatly do great things and what this path is. It's driving me completely crazy!!

[Jennihul]

Originally Posted by Smarky

It's annoying me. I've had enough. there is way to much advice that conflicts and just a load of nonsense. I write a lot of things down and when I review those I can see a lot of growth in myself.

So i've decided to cut loose and develop myself personally. I'm going to use a lot of reflection and just find the best way forward for me, without looking and reading from books too much, figure what I need too out on my own through action and reflection.

Although right now, i've been caught up and obsessed for the past week about how I excatly do great things and what this path is. It's driving me completely crazy!!

Well, you can't pretend you aren't full of all their knowledge by now so any success you have on your own won't really be all yours, will it?

But if you want to take all the credit, we won't fault you...

Jennifer

[Smarky]

Originally Posted by Jennihul

Well, you can't pretend you aren't full of all their knowledge by now so any success you have on your own won't really be all yours, will it?

But if you want to take all the credit, we won't fault you...

Jennifer

Ahh I typed something here and I left it and now it's gone cause I had to relogin! doh!

I'm too lazy to type it all out again haha.

But basically i'm going to take a year from my 25th birthday to my 26th just focusing on doing the stuff I have always wanted to do and focus on being me, creating, having as much fun as possible and reflecting on myself rather than listening too tapes, reading too many books etc.

[evelynlim]

What usually kicks us to action is when we are in a fix or in such dire straits.