According to Peter Drucker[1], one of the most important phenomena of our time is that more and more groups of people have the opportunity to make independent choices. They are free to decide what they do and how they live. Thanks to automation, in Europe and America, the biggest part of the population have the chance to choose jobs that do not only fulfil their most basic needs but also let their unique abilities develop. Another version is when they have enough free time to do activities that help them reach self-fulfilment.
The number of workplaces where people have to do mechanic routine work is decreasing, whereas there are more and more jobs requiring creative work. We also have to spend less time with housework, and so we have more free time thanks to home appliances. As a result, more of us have the opportunity to obtain the highest step of the Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs.
However, this chance gives us a type of freedom which we have to learn to deal with. For the first time in history, we need to manage ourselves. This opportunity had moved into our life slowly and gently, and it has just reached a level and enough people that its effect can be felt. The extent we take advantage of this kind of freedom effects the quality of life. The first extreme is when we do not live with it and simply react to the events surrounding us, whereas the other one is when we ourselves create situations that we are longing for. In the latter case, the likelihood to reach the level of self-fulfilment is much bigger, as we are consciously aspiring to it and do not reach it randomly. In order to put ourselves into advantage, we have to learn its method and to manage ourselves. We can start anytime. In each of our decisions throughout our life, it has an effect how we react to the surrounding events and whether we have conscious answers to them.
Nowadays, there are no direct recipes to most of these situations. Solutions are unique and come from human characteristics. A survey by Jim Collins conducted in 1000 multi companies has also revealed that the common point of the most successful leader groups is that there is no common point, except for one: they operate in a disciplined way (in its positive meaning) and have a high level of self-discipline. The fact that there is no common point is described with the leaders having no traditional and standardised management processes, they do not work based on traditional tools; on the contrary, they have built up a unique leadership system by using the experience.
Parallel with the growing level of individual freedom, more and more colourful solutions are to be expected, and there is less and less room for routine solutions. The degree of freedom is key to a higher level of efficiency, where creativity fosters the creation of better and more valuable results. This is how Wikipedia was born, for example, or a big number of open source softwares. Many have decided to use their free time do work on such products.
Stephen Covey calls this “the new era” or the “age of wisdom”, in which “we can freely choose our aims and directions, while adapting to the rules and principles of nature.” [2] Following the industrial age, we now live in the age of information, which is quickly flowing into a knowledge based era. Information and knowledge are both needed to be able to choose; this is why constant learning is a characteristic of our age. We are provided with information and have more and more knowledge. We also have to decide about which pieces of information we acquire, as we do not have the opportunity to get to know everything. The big question: based on what should we decide? On what should we turn our time and energy? Covey gives the answer that the age of wisdom is soon unfolding, when “information and knowledge are pervaded by aims and principles”. [3] In other words, our choices are primarily determined by principles and aims; however, to whom what goals and principles are important, is individual.
If we understand our own aims, principles, and motivators, we can consciously react to our inner dilemmas. We decide proactively in favour of solutions that are closer to us and help foster our goals. The process of internalisation helps us get to know our unconscious driving factors and thereby supports synchronised decision making.
I believe yoga helps by giving a suitable basis for life and determining our goals. It offer 10 basic rules as well (yarns and niyans); their main aim is to bring us closer to our internal self, to the universal energy that invigorates all of us. This is why it is important to think about what is important in our own life? These values will assist in determining our goals; just like a strong castle, they will be lying under your aims. It is worth spending some time with thinking them through, as later, we will use all our time with reaching these. It is not the same at all what these goals are: are they really the ones that make you happy?
Do you already have your life goals? And have you determined the ones for 2021?
[1] “Peter Drucker was the father of manager sciences. Ha published 35 books in his life, out if which 15 dealt with management questions, and 16 about economics, politics and society. On the two extremes, we may find his extra significant books: his first work, “The End of Economic Man” was published in 1939, while the last one, “Managing in the Next Society” in 2002. Between these two dates, his fundamental works such as the 840 pages long “The Practice of Management” and “The Effective Executive” from 1991 were published.
Resource: http://www.ceo.hu/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=33&Itemid=65 (2011.05.07.)
[2] Covey, Stephen R. The 8th Habit; From Effectiveness to Greatness. Bagolyvár Könyvkiadó, Budapest, 2010: p. 313.
[3] Covey, Stephen R. The 8th Habit; From Effectiveness to Greatness. Bagolyvár Könyvkiadó, Budapest, 2010: p. 313.
