My personal organization & productivity streak is still rolling. I worship zealously at the altar of GTD, and I'm working hard to internalize the dogmas of Tim Ferriss & Merlin Mann. Feeling confident in my knowledge of modern productivity theory, I recently decided to pick up a slightly older (1989) but still immensely popular advice book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey.
My favorite points so far:
- True communication comes from a commitment to listening to others and understanding what they are saying.
- There has been a shift in the focus of American writings on the pursuit of success. Whereas success literature of our country's first 150 years focused on character - integrity, humility, temperance, etc. - the last 50 years' worth has been more self-centered, usually containing quick-fix tips on how to influence or intimidate others to get what you want.
- In order to understand ourselves, we must understand the lens through which we perceive the world.
So I'm reading this book and things are going well, when all of a sudden I hit a passage in which Covey warns against "succumb[ing] to growing secularism and cynicism," then professes his belief in natural laws that he believes have their source in God. I start to slide to the defensive: Whoa, I don't want this Mormon rewiring my brain! Maybe 7 Habits is to Mormonism what Dianetics is to Scientology!
Then I catch myself and think, What was that all about?
I've been a member of the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State for a few years now, so I'm always getting updates on the bullshit that the Religious Right tries to pull. Since none of my friends are very religious, I probably get more exposure in general to the bad/crazy parts of organized religion than the good/sane parts.
Now, I share some of Christopher Hitchens's beliefs about religion's adverse effects on society, but I don't believe that "all religious belief is sinister and infantile" (as Hitchens once said), I don't want to ignore good advice just because it comes from a man of faith, and I certainly don't want to start thinking that all forms of worship are evil.
After all, I'm now a devout follower of GTD.
2 comments:
Worship/Faith is an opinion - and everybody has plenty of those. Obviously you're going to disagree with people from time to time; but as long as you don't stop them from having their personal views, there is nothing wrong with dissenting with others.
Amen, brother. It takes different strokes to move the world.
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