Several of my previous blog topics; an orientation towards solutions, technology connects and disconnects and being of value, have gotten me thinking about a concept from a book I read in 1990, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven R. Covey. The concept that I was thinking about this week was the difference between character development and personality development.
Covey contended that much of what was going on in the self-improvement field in the 1980's was really oriented towards personality development whereas back in an earlier time in America, people such as Benjamin Franklin espoused character development. Character development's goal is to cultivate a virtuous life and be of service to others. Personality development's goal is to sell yourself to others for personal benefit. Development of both types has benefits in the short term but our spiritual growth demands we follow the basics of character development.
In many ways, the entertainment industry, "Hollywood", is the most successful industry in the United States over the past 100 years. I am not speaking in terms of financial performance here but rather in terms of cultural dominance. There are plenty of industries which have been more profitable, but the entertainment industry has successfully positioned itself on top psychologically, due to its ability to bestow celebrity. It has made celebrity the most desired attribute in our society ahead of even wealth.
Celebrity is an extrapolation of personality development as everyone knows that celebrities have a public "persona" that is different than the actual person and their private life. It is clear with a celebrity that it is the image of the person that is being sold, marketed and the image is what is really attractive to others. It is no wonder that personality development gurus such as Tony Robbins have intertwined their own celebrity with their methods of helping other's develop.
This past October, there were three fatalities during a sweat lodge ceremony being conducted by James Arthur Ray at the Angel Valley Retreat Center in Sedona, Arizona. Mr. Ray was running a "Spiritual Warrior" retreat where participants paid $9,695 per person to spend a long weekend with the self-help guru and author. Mr. Ray gained celebrity through his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live and the Today show. He fled to his home in California while the participants in his Warrior program were still heading to the hospital in Flagstaff. Mr. Ray has been charged with three counts of manslaughter.
I do not know Mr. Ray, what I know about his personality is that he presented himself very well and built a successful business based upon people wanting to spend time with him. What I know about his character is his reaction to illness and death during his ceremony.
I have not sought development from people who are out on the self-promotion tour. I have mostly sought to foster my development from people who live both a principled and accomplished life. I am indeed interested in principles and accomplishments rather than merely one or the other.
Shin-ichi Suzuki, whom I have mentioned in earlier blogs, believed that character was a skill (talent) to be nurtured and developed in others. While Suzuki gained world-wide recognition through the training and development of young musicians, he always saw his primary focus as developing fine human beings. In the books "Nurtured by Love" and "Ability Development from Age Zero", Suzuki writes with deep passion about how teachers and parents can work together to develop a fine character in their children. It will not surprise you that character is best developed in children when adults model values as they work towards results.
I would urge each of you reading this blog to choose to develop your character as you work towards creating results. Do this, even if there is less to show in the short term. When you work hard towards achievement with a process and discipline that respects people and honors values there will be an enduring quality to your accomplishments. You will build yourself as you build your creation and be a full person not a persona.
Showing posts with label covey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label covey. Show all posts
Monday, February 8, 2010
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The Call of the Wild and Recreation
For whatever reason, I have been spending a lot of time studying both the book and film, "Into The Wild". This is the story of a bright, college educated (Emory University) and relatively privileged young man who died at the age of 24 of starvation in the Alaskan bush near Denali National Park. Christopher McCandless (the young man) was an idealist and had rejected his family and disappeared into the vastness of the American west after his graduation from college.
He spent two years travelling as a "foot tramp", working odd jobs and camping mostly on the fringe of small cities and towns. He made occasional treks into the wilderness prior to his "Alaskan adventure" but did not really do any serious long-term ventures in the wilderness. Although it depicts him kayaking in the Grand Canyon in the movie, if you read the book (Jon Krakauer), you will find that his travels were in an aluminum canoe in the flat lower stretches of the Colorado river and eventually in the Gulf of California.
He read Thoreau and Jack London amongst others, who both championed the wilderness and man's experience of it. Thoreau's approach was based upon his direct experience and philosophical, whereas Jack London wrote romantically about Alaska while living a sedentary life in California. I will write again about Chris McCandless and my take on the lessons to be learned from his life stance and misfortunate accidental death but in this blog, I want to elaborate about wilderness.
Why does this story grasp me? I have always loved the wilderness and the "west". I used to imagine living in remote Canada or Alaska when I was a teenager in suburban Buffalo, NY. My first camping trip to Allegany State Park in 1969 with my boy scout troop was a transformative experience for me. I worked five summers at Camp Ti-Wa-Ya-Ee and attended the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry as way to live and work in the outdoors. My first job after college was in the Adirondacks where I lived for almost six years. Most of my time in real wilderness occurred in the Adirondacks where I hiked, camped, skied and snowshoed. As my economic circumstances improved, I began to travel out west when I could. I have driven and spent time outdoors through out the Rocky Mountain West, Desert Southwest and Pacific Northwest.
The wilderness is both incredibly beautiful and life threatening at the same time. I remember being awake at night in my tent in Yellowstone in the early fall of 1997 and listening to large animals (Elk in rut mostly) moving through the campground at night. This was my first night of camping where all that separated myself from a Grizzly bear was a thin fabric. There was both joy and fear and living in the moment. When you are listening for Grizzlies your mind is cleared of lots of the usual garbage that takes up its time.
In Steven Covey's book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", Covey lays out the demands upon our time (and mental energy) on a grid that looks at importance versus urgency. In the quadrant where importance is high and urgency is low, you will find both "relationship building" and "recreation". Covey goes on to describe what he means by recreation and talks about the renewing or refreshing properties of real recreation. I believe that spending time in the wilderness is powerful because of its ability to leave us refreshed or renewed.
In the wilderness, whether it's a desert sky or mountain vista, it is easy to see the world without humanity and modernity. It is easier to see and experience the more elemental or basic needs of living. It is easier to shed, if even for a moment or two, the mental conceptions and burdens that we and others with our compliance have placed upon ourselves.
When you have been working hard at creating and it seems to be getting harder to make progress, it is often time for renewal or recreation.
My friend and business associate Evan Smith, used to regularly remind our clients of Abe Lincoln's wisdom on tree cutting; When you find that the cutting is getting tougher, it is time to stop and sharpen the saw. Do you take time to sharpen the saw?
He spent two years travelling as a "foot tramp", working odd jobs and camping mostly on the fringe of small cities and towns. He made occasional treks into the wilderness prior to his "Alaskan adventure" but did not really do any serious long-term ventures in the wilderness. Although it depicts him kayaking in the Grand Canyon in the movie, if you read the book (Jon Krakauer), you will find that his travels were in an aluminum canoe in the flat lower stretches of the Colorado river and eventually in the Gulf of California.
He read Thoreau and Jack London amongst others, who both championed the wilderness and man's experience of it. Thoreau's approach was based upon his direct experience and philosophical, whereas Jack London wrote romantically about Alaska while living a sedentary life in California. I will write again about Chris McCandless and my take on the lessons to be learned from his life stance and misfortunate accidental death but in this blog, I want to elaborate about wilderness.
Why does this story grasp me? I have always loved the wilderness and the "west". I used to imagine living in remote Canada or Alaska when I was a teenager in suburban Buffalo, NY. My first camping trip to Allegany State Park in 1969 with my boy scout troop was a transformative experience for me. I worked five summers at Camp Ti-Wa-Ya-Ee and attended the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry as way to live and work in the outdoors. My first job after college was in the Adirondacks where I lived for almost six years. Most of my time in real wilderness occurred in the Adirondacks where I hiked, camped, skied and snowshoed. As my economic circumstances improved, I began to travel out west when I could. I have driven and spent time outdoors through out the Rocky Mountain West, Desert Southwest and Pacific Northwest.
The wilderness is both incredibly beautiful and life threatening at the same time. I remember being awake at night in my tent in Yellowstone in the early fall of 1997 and listening to large animals (Elk in rut mostly) moving through the campground at night. This was my first night of camping where all that separated myself from a Grizzly bear was a thin fabric. There was both joy and fear and living in the moment. When you are listening for Grizzlies your mind is cleared of lots of the usual garbage that takes up its time.
In Steven Covey's book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", Covey lays out the demands upon our time (and mental energy) on a grid that looks at importance versus urgency. In the quadrant where importance is high and urgency is low, you will find both "relationship building" and "recreation". Covey goes on to describe what he means by recreation and talks about the renewing or refreshing properties of real recreation. I believe that spending time in the wilderness is powerful because of its ability to leave us refreshed or renewed.
In the wilderness, whether it's a desert sky or mountain vista, it is easy to see the world without humanity and modernity. It is easier to see and experience the more elemental or basic needs of living. It is easier to shed, if even for a moment or two, the mental conceptions and burdens that we and others with our compliance have placed upon ourselves.
When you have been working hard at creating and it seems to be getting harder to make progress, it is often time for renewal or recreation.
My friend and business associate Evan Smith, used to regularly remind our clients of Abe Lincoln's wisdom on tree cutting; When you find that the cutting is getting tougher, it is time to stop and sharpen the saw. Do you take time to sharpen the saw?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
