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.
