Personal growth: Confucius’ approach to inner freedom September 21, 2017
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Goal Setting and Realization.Tags: Confucius, inspiration, life, philosophy, psychology, self-actualization, writing
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For Confucius, at least some of the character traits we would likely think of as relatively benign must have seemed to him like physical restraints.
Consider the language Confucius uses in this passage from The Analects:
“The Master had freed himself of four things: idle speculation, certainty, inflexibility, and conceit.” (1)
“Freedom” from “things.”
Perhaps if we thought of the personal faults we are trying to eliminate in less abstract terms and more as physical shackles or barriers, we might gain more satisfaction from our self-improvement achievements.
(1) As translated and quoted in David Hinton’s Book, The Four Chinese Classics
—Dennis Mellersh
Personal growth: Creative writing tips from a renowned author September 18, 2017
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Personal Development and Creativity.Tags: 60 Minutes, inspiration, John le Carre, life, personal development, philosophy, psychology, self-actualization, self-improvement, writing
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If your self-improvement program includes improving your creative writing skills, try using adverbs and adjectives less frequently and “let the verbs do the work.”
This is one of a number of excellent writing tips given by renowned author David Cornwall, better known by his pen name, John le Carré , during an interview with the CBS News program 60 Minutes.
The interview was conducted by well-known 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft.
If for some reason you are unable to access the videos, the accompanying article on the 60 Minutes website summarizes the tips by quoting le Carré.
Here’s the link if you are interested in pursuing this further:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-le-carre-rules-of-writing-from-an-international-best-seller/
Even if creative writing is not a major goal of your personal growth program the act of writing can improve your overall communications skills, provide a sense of creative accomplishment, and refresh your mind for other aspects of your self-actualization process.
Writing down your thoughts can be an important tool for self-discovery.
– Dennis Mellersh
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