Personal development, as it is
understood today, consists of a constant search for shortcuts: How to
be more effective. How to be happier. How to earn more money. How to
improve your relationships. How to learn faster. How to get ahead.
As a result, a new shortcut becomes
fashionable each year: Psychoanalysis. Gestalt therapy. Positive
thinking. The law of attraction. The placebo effect. New age.
Spirituality. The power of pyramids. Mediation. Tibetan yoga.
If you have tried out any those
shortcuts, you must have already figured out their limitations.
Fragmentary philosophies lead to fragmentary results. Confusion
engenders more confusion. You don't get the right answers by
silencing the questions.
The 80/20 principle constitutes the
ultimate shortcut. According to this principle, you can render your
life more efficient if you focus on your 20% most critical
activities. You can multiply your earnings if you concentrate on your
20% most productive tasks. You can be happier if you spend most of
your time with your very best friends.
However, none of those shortcuts, not
even the 80/20 principle, is going to tell you how to determine your
lifetime goals, choose meaningful activities, and select your friends
wisely. What would be the point of becoming more efficient at doing
the wrong thing? Why would you want to advance faster if you don't
know where you are going?
Do not let the 80/20 principle mislead
you. Do not make your future success and happiness depend on the
shortcut that happens to be fashionable this week. The only way to
determine wisely your long-term goals is to adopt a rational
philosophy. And the best way to reach those goals is to think for
yourself.
Text: http://johnvespasian.blogspot.com
Image: photograph of classical painting; photograph taken by John Vespasian, 2016.
For more information about rational living, I refer you to my books
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