Essentialities and self-learning LO17643

Richard C. Holloway (thejournal@thresholds.com)
Thu, 02 Apr 1998 21:21:45 -0800

Replying to LO17636 --

Winfried,

I've been following these threads on the periphery (claiming other priorities
as the reason for minimal participation) when I read this posting. I want to
respond with a differently than you asked--I too enjoy disorder, change,
(hedonism--well, okay, that too) and so forth. Many people want to help me
(and you) to manage our time. These often tend to be the same people who are
always trying to manage or control something (including myself)--and I think
they're full of --uh, good intentions (whew!).

Time cannot be managed. You could preach to me until you are blue in the
face, and I would simply not believe (nor can you provide any proof to the
contrary) that time can be managed. So, I presume that the drill has to
do with managing myself. Hmmm. This sounds like personal mastery.
Managing myself. Okay.

But, what it really means from some people is that they want me to
prioritize the things that I don't particularly find important or
necessary. Teachers are like this, aren't they? Always demanding that
students learn things that they don't understand the need for. So, in
this we are in agreement. I need to manage myself to ensure I do things I
don't want to do, because they provide some form of necessary or essential
development for me to do the thing I want to do. Sort of like practicing
on the musical instrument is a prerequisite to successfully playing a
beautiful composition.

The elements necessary for me are the following: 1) the belief that a
given action will provide me the skills necessary to achieve a specific
goal; 2) that my motivation (my vision) is strong enough to alter my
behavior so that I'll work on those skills (what Fritz calls structural
tension); 3) that I have the time to pursue this goal (creating a focus
and eliminating distractions).

Well, this is probably enough--off my soap box

regards,

Doc

Winfried Dressler wrote:

> Is there anybody out there, who can help with this? I am not looking for
> time-management rules. I know them all up to Covey. But they don't help -
> I mean may be they would help but I can't manage to put them into action.
> It reminds me of At's example with the "complex harvesting": It sounds
> easy when you read about, but in reality, it is much more complex.
>
> Yet, I am sure that time-"management" is essential to self-learning.

-- 
"Truth does not emerge from opinions; it must emerge from something
else-perhaps from a more free movement of this tacit mind.  So we have to get
meanings coherent if we are going to perceive truth, or to take part in the
truth."  -David Bohm

Thresholds--developing critical skills for living organizations Richard C. "Doc" Holloway Olympia, WA Please visit our new website, still at <http://www.thresholds.com/> <mailto:learnshops@thresholds.com>

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