As I was browsing through a bookstore in a nearby mall I was able to find a very enlightening book entitled "The Technique of Getting Things Done" by Donald Raid. It looks and sounds like the usual inspirational stuff one finds in commercial bookstore but a close cursory reading of the book will reveal that it has much to offer than inspiration.The main idea of this book is that people fail to achieve great things in their lives not because they lack intelligence but rather they do not know how to get things done in their lives. This simply means that many underachievers do not have the prudence to act at the right place at the right time.What the author says is very similar to a Filipino belief that success in life is not all about how smart or how much money a person has. A truly successful person is someone who is "madiskarte" or a person who knows how to use various circumstances to their advantage. Virtually all mentos commercials exemplify people who are "madiskarte" in a practical sense.
The book also implies the idea that too many people whine about their inability to do or finish a certain things rather than doing something about it. The pictures on this entry may seem rather silly but it catches the message perfectly. The guy on the left has every reason to whine about his inability to cook eggs to eat but he mprovised by cooking it with a magnifying glass. It may look silly but it shows a person who acts to get things done no matter how odd or awkward the solution may be. At least he did something to alleviate his situation rather than to mope about it.
The book also implies the idea that too many people whine about their inability to do or finish a certain things rather than doing something about it. The pictures on this entry may seem rather silly but it catches the message perfectly. The guy on the left has every reason to whine about his inability to cook eggs to eat but he mprovised by cooking it with a magnifying glass. It may look silly but it shows a person who acts to get things done no matter how odd or awkward the solution may be. At least he did something to alleviate his situation rather than to mope about it.
This book's main idea really hit a raw nerve on my part! There were many instances in my life when I simply bemoan the difficulty of finishing a task (like my dissertation!) instead of working on it one step at a time. The message came as a real slap on my face. I guess I better start reorienting myself to be more productive no matter how crappy my original work may be at first. Rome wasn't built in a day after all.
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Illustrations Cited:
Review of Solar Cooked Designs by Ashok Kundapur
http://ashokk_3.tripod.com/solar1.htm
Editorial Cartoon by Jimmy Purcell
http://media.www.jacconline.org/media/storage/paper212/news/2000/10/01/SocalConference/2005-OnSpot.Winnervisual.Entries-1042853.shtml
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