These next few posts are for me more than an audience (as most are). I am trying to work out some thinking on some various issues and writing them down for others to read and comment on is usually helpful. So, feel free to share your thinking or say this is misguided. Just make should you say why?
I am trying to work out my thinking on self-development. Questions like the following. Is more education better, necessary, or beneficial? Are the costs associated with education worth it? What type of development is most beneficial (academic, professional experience, professional education, etc…) Is formal education “better’ than informal? How do people respond to ability stress (stress felt from lack of ability in one or more areas)? How does one development in their self the motivation to development them self? How does one motive other to do so?
Those are a lot of the question swirling around in the (slightly) old noggin.
Starting Point – Core thoughts?
My basic philosophy toward life is a process orientation. Nothing fancy! Life is a process of development. Choices offer the confines of the development process and not everyone starts at the same place. Choices and experience shape the life one leads and what opportunities are presented before them. There is a, seemingly, obvious nature aspect to the process. For example, I was lucky enough to be born in the United States and to upper middle class, hard working parents. Who made a conscious, daily decision to stay together and raise me with an intentional set of priorities. Most of that was out of my hands, but it shaped my experiences and choices significantly. It is and has been much easier for me to walk down the path of life than others, and still, it is easier for others than me. This cannot be overlooked, but mostly these things exist outside my control. So easily enough, I choose to discount them and focus on the things I can control.
So, I generally think of life as a toolbox. Whether it is a Craftsman Stainless Steel toolbox or a cloth sack is largely out of my control – due to the through process above. What I do with the toolbox is my task. What tools do I put in this box? How do I reinforce the toolbox so it does not fold in on itself from the weight of too many tools? How do I stack the tools? How do I prioritize the tools for use and easy access? These are all choices I make along the way.
The toolbox is both a confine and a resource. I am limited by how well equip is my toolbox. For example, I cannot build a brick wall if I only have a hammer and nails. However, I maybe able to leave the brick wall and come back to it later when I have some concert, sand, and bricks. Alternatively, I maybe able to build the stud walls needed to support the brick wall and let someone else lay the bricks. Then I can learn from them how to build brick walls. Make sense?
This may be over simplistic, but all analogies are at some point.
What I want to move toward is a look at how toolboxes are built and prepared for the task and future tasks (imaginable, but not known). This is where the self-development and self-investment ideas move into play.
