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Destiny or Self-Determination? Square of Quotations No. 1


This is the start of a new series: Squares of Quotations. Every posting will focus on the balance between two good things and on their respective exaggerations (see info box below).

Today's topic: Destiny or Self-Determination?

Lots of attitudes we find annoying (in others as well as in ourselves) are maybe just exaggerations of an element of truth. When we give such an attitude a closer look, we feel that there is simply a need for a counterbalancing attitude.

As soon as we feel annoyed by how another person behaves, we might as well look for the element of truth in it and show our appreciation for it. That will make it easier to suggest a counterbalancing behavior, in order to highlight a path of improvement.

Of course one can also exaggerate the counterbalancing element of truth, possibly in an attempt to compensate for what was found to be too extreme, in the first place. Obviously, such an overcompensation isn't helpful either.

Two elements of truth plus their respective exaggerations form a square of values, describing paths of positive development. The concept of a Square of Values was first described by Paul Helwig (unfortunately, link in German only). Later, Friedemann Schulz von Thun extended it to include paths of positive developments, too. Only the form of a Square of Quotations is my own invention.

Self-Determination versus Destiny

 

«If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.»

Henry Ford
(1863-1947)

 «God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.»

Reinhold Niebuhr
(1892-1971)

«What the mind of man can conceive and believe, It can achieve.»

Napoleon Hill
(1883-1970)

«Fate rules the affairs of mankind with no recognizable order.»

Seneca
(5 v. Chr. - 65 n. Chr.)

What are your thoughts on this? Please leave a comment!

Ask the reader: what is your most timeless self-development problem?


Cyril the squirrel up for a challenge © Brian SnelsonCyril the squirrel up for a challenge © Brian SnelsonYou've been there, I bet! There's a problem that just refuses to be solved. As a matter of fact, your workarounds didn't really «work around» that problem. Sometimes, you're able to find a solution like a service or a product that will do the job. Alas, all of a sudden, the service or the product gets discontinued. Even worse: vendors and providers decide to split it up, into Scylla and Charybdis, oops: Classic and Premium. You've experienced the consequences: endless footnotes attached to suspiciously low prices, imposing limitation after limitation on you. All of that fine print tortures first your eyesight and in the second place your patience. Say goodbye to comparing offers and prices…

On this blog, I'm into discovering and describing timeless solutions for self-development problems. I've got some questions for you:

  • What are your timeless self-development and organization problems?
  • Did some solutions turn out to be Pyrrhic victories?
  • What is your toughest nut to crack, that obnoxious problem you'd like to see covered by a blog posting, here?

Please answer in a comment - I'll pick the toughest challenges and turn them into postings on this blog!

My favorite 5 personal development blogs


Priscilla Palmer tagged me to contribute a list of my top 5 favorite personal development blogs to her Personal Development List. Her list is already very comprehensive and I've found several pointers to great sites I did not know yet.

Well then, here's my list:

  • Problogger, by Darren Rowse
    Darren is blogging about - blogging. Doesn't sound like «personal development»? It is, due to his laid back, factual style of writing that is skipping the common hard selling lingo.
  • zen habits, by Leo Babauta
    Leo is a father of six, a busy guy and a phenomenal blogger. I wonder how he manages to get that many high quality postings per week out of the door. One day, I may discover that secret…
  • Made to Be Great, by Alan Torres
    For a moment, forget that worn out and ironic appeal of the word and let me say that Alan is nice, really. Besides his own insightful postings, he compiles the Made to Be Great Personal Development Carnival.
  • Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog
    Steve's site contains a tremendous wealth of articles. His style is energetic and straightforward, almost like a steamroller. You may not like everything he writes, but everything is genuine, for sure.
  • The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin
    In short, Gretchen is about the only blogger I know who can post both about household chores as well as about sex tips - and not lose credibility.

That's it, for now. Google Reader tells my that I'm subscribed to about 100 feeds now, so take this list with a grain of salt.

[2007-09-05 Update: Priscilla's List has stabilized meanwhile, so here it is:

and these collaborated sites:

]

Organize yourself: 7 things you can learn from Toyota


You can become effective and efficient not only by doing something, but also by refraining from doing something.

For instance, you might ask yourself how you're currently wasting time, energy and money - and how you could eliminate the causes. The Toyota Production System (TPS) takes this to a higher level. As you can tell by the name, the system is about manufacturing cars. Anyway, if you take a closer look, you realize TPS can  »

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