Personal development: The importance and the limitations of hope December 23, 2017
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal development.Tags: achieving goals, Eric Hoffer, Hope, inspiration, personal growth, philosophy, psychology, self-actualization, writing
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Personal development: The importance and the limitations of hope
We are often told of the importance of the concept or quality of hope to the human spirit; but is hope enough to carry us through difficult times, or do we need to cultivate an additional personal characteristic?
The philosopher Eric Hoffer has the following to say about “hope”:
“There is no hope without self-delusion, while courage is sober and sees things as they are. Hope is perishable, while courage is long-lived. It is easy in an outburst of hope to start a difficult undertaking, but it takes courage to bring it to a conclusion.”
For “hope” we could substitute enthusiasm, and for “courage” persistence.
A high state of excitement or enthusiasm can be difficult to sustain over a long period of work.
We might be excited, optimistic and initially highly enthused about learning how to write poetry, to learn a difficult new skill, or to start a challenging self-improvement program, but we will need a drip-drip-drip* approach to get it done, and that requires persistence, or the ability to “stick with it.”
* Drip-drip-drip is Seth Godin’s metaphor for the approach needed to accomplish long-term goals.
— Dennis Mellersh
Personal growth: Is self-improvement eventually futile? December 20, 2017
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal development.Tags: Before the Sabbath, books, Eric Hoffer, inspiration, philosophy, psychology, self-actualization, writing
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When we are relatively young, the concept of personal growth and self-actualization seems like a far-reaching highway to endless vistas of possibilities; but as we grow older it’s possible we may reach the point where our efforts at further self-improvement may seem to have little rationale, or justification.
In his book, Before the Sabbath, the philosopher Eric Hoffer writes:
“Coming of short-lived stock, I have felt most of my life that my days were numbered. Yet only now, at seventy-three, do I have the feeling that there is no time left to make good what is lost or damaged – that any mistake I make is irremediable.”
It might be true as Hoffer implies that by the time we are elderly that we may run out of time to correct past mistakes; but actually, throughout our entire life, we are only one heartbeat away from oblivion.
I think the joy we obtain from our efforts in personal growth is in the process, even if the results may be imperfect.
So why not keep trying.
— Dennis Mellersh
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