The Absent Minded Professor

Change- Changing Yourself or Your Perspective?

// March 11th, 2010 // Unconventional Life

I sat in the sun today and thought about change. Personal growth, self help, ambition, therapy, whatever your poison there are a ton of blogs and books out there dedicated to “improving” oneself. At its bottom line it is all about change. It led me to wonder: has any one really addressed the idea of whether or not there are some things about ourselves that we don’t change, so much as manage? Will all the organization tips in the world make a disorganized person organized? Will all the training to simplicity make someone with a complex mind view things more simply? Will all technical manuals and tips and tricks in the tech blogs make a non-tech-savvy person tech-savvy?

I’d like to propose a new idea: there are fundamental things about ourselves that we won’t ever change- that we can only manage. What do I mean by manage? Well, since I’m a professors of sorts (except that small detail that I’m not, actually, a professor) let’s refer to our handy dandy Webster’s shall we?

Manage:
Etymology: Italian maneggiare, from manohand, from Latin manus

1. to handle or direct with a degree of skill
2. to treat with care (as in: managed his resources carefully)
3. To work upon or try to alter for a purpose
4. To succeed in accomplishing (as in: managed to escape)

So managing involves handling something carefully and with a degree of skill so as to alter for a particular purpose and, eventually, to succeed at said endeavor.

If I’m right (which I am by no means certain of, there is still much to debate on this topic) and there are things in ourselves that are part of our “nature” and therefore not changeable directly then this definition of “manage” has just given us a number of tools to effectively work with the things intrinsic to ourselves that we may not be too pleased with.

Let’s break down the tools given in Webster’s dictionary:

1. Handling something (carefully): This is the part where you can’t just ignore the things you want to work on, they must be handled (and carefully) directly by you on a day to day basis. Say you’re disorganized- you’ll have to stay conscious of it, so that daily you can direct that part of you that is disorganized to remember (by rote or through some other system) to do certain things that contribute to organization.

What things, you ask? That’s the part about “with a degree of skill”. Get out there and learn from the previously mentioned blogs and books what systems of organization there are and find one that fits you. For instance you might start using Remember the Milk to track what tasks you need to accomplish. Or perhaps Google is more your style, in which case check out Getting Organized with Google Calendar from a blog over at rightclickofficeservices.com.

Whatever path you choose, stick to it. Remind yourself daily (handle the part of you that is disorganized) to complete the necessary steps to stay organized.

2.  So as to alter it for a particular purpose: Let’s face it, disorganized people don’t want to be disorganized. They want to frantically hunt for their keys every morning. There’s nothing wrong  with them as people, it’s just not in their nature to be organized. But that doesn’t mean they can’t, as demonstrated by this part of the definition. Once you’ve gained some skills and started handling your disorganization keep yourself on the path to alter your disorganized behavior. It will be more work for you, probably, than someone who is naturally organized, but it will pay off as you see the altered state.

The last part of this section states “for a particular purpose”. Have a measurable purpose, like “I want to always be able to find my keys in the morning.” or “I want to be able to pull a file folder and have all my tax information on hand.” Target your organization toward one goal at a time, and, if possible, take one step closer to it every day. Having a concrete goal will mean you will be able to see your progress, and break up your big task into smaller pieces.

3. …to succeed at said endeavor: This is the great part. When you look around and realize that while you may tend toward disorganization, you’ve managed it day and day out and can always find your keys and always know where your tax information is at the end of the year. Keep managing it day in and day out and you should be all set!

There you have it. Webster’s Dictionary has given us the tools to manage things about ourselves that are part of our nature that we would like to change. So, does this mean you can change anything about yourself, with enough time and effort? I’m still not sure, since I know from experience struggling against disorganization is a daily effort for me- so have a changed? Or am I just managing it from day to day?

Have your say in the comments! Or, if you’ve successfully changed/managed something in yourself, share how you did it.

Thanks, Faithful Readers,

-The Absent Minded Prof