Gifted education involves several procedures such as testing, identification and tracking students to challenge their potential to the fullest. Initially, students take several tests including tests of intelligence, creativity, and motivation and must perform well enough to get into a gifted program. Following this testing, they have a label that they and others know quite well, gifted. Frequently, this means grouping them separately from their non-gifted peers. Accordingly, they follow a different curriculum, and attend different programs that are not available to others. Also, some practices that often occur when teaching or interacting with gifted students, such as a teacher’s or parent’s praise, convey direct and hidden messages. These messages, in essence, consistently remind them of how superior they are. Ultimately, they are taught to enjoy their superiority with a minimal or no clue about being virtuous. Most educators pay a great attention to increase their self-esteem while they were indifferent for the possibility of arrogance and conceit. Nevertheless, the “privilege” of being in the top 5 or smaller percent dramatically shapes the identity of the gifted individual from early ages. With the self–esteem enhancement movements in 80’s, the importance of humility as a significant virtue has been ignored among educators. They mostly perceived lack of self-esteem as a big problem whereas lack of humility was rather acceptable. However, potential of the gifted individuals, like any other person, deserves a more gracious treatment that regards them as human beings rather than better human resources for the nation and economy.

Corollary to the deficits in educators’ approaches to the gifted individuals, their emotional and moral development have been omitted. When one searches the studies on the development of positive moral characteristics of the gifted, such as, humility, there is almost no study on those issues. Humility in itself is a crucial virtue for several reasons. First, humility allows gifted individuals to recognize that they cannot control everything in every situation. Their superior abilities compared to their peers become a huge burden because others and their own expectations about themselves are mostly quite high. Failures and unexpected academic performance are less tolerable for the gifted. Crucially, humble gifted individuals can successfully handle challenging situations because their moral development valuing humility functions as a buffer zone and make them more resilient against challenges of life. People can have a more realistic view of themselves as long as they are well aware of their real inadequacies.

Vera and Rodriguez-Lopez (2004) pointed to the positive role of humility on competition in the organizations. They argued that fear of failure impedes people from taking initiative and humility helps people to reduce their fear of failure with the premise that people with no experience of failure are unlikely to try again. Secondly, humility helps gifted individuals to have a better and more realistic understanding about one’s self. Humble gifted people can realize their own weaknesses. This is also important for the gifted because very few people criticize them while many others praise their ability. In such a social climate, a true understanding of oneself is not an easy task. Thirdly, humble people can empathize with others easily. Gifted individuals mostly have concerns for others and have a keen moral sensitivity. However, feeling of superiority can hurt their healthy relationships with others; thus, other people become less likely to enjoy being together with them. Humble people have an increased valuation of others without a decrease in their valuation of themselves (Means & Wilson, 1990), and, thus, the need for humility is even more important for the gifted individuals.

Humility represents a major dilemma of gifted education: Although several procedures, facilities and resources are developed and implemented for the gifted, they inherently trigger a grandiosity effect. As a result of that, usual practices in the gifted education seem to nurture a less realistic view of self which is not less dangerous than the lack of self-esteem. Unfortunately, educators tend to ignore the presence of the dilemma and insist on particular practices without pondering upon the potential damages. What kinds of precautions can be taken to raise humble gifted individuals? What other messages should be given to them? Among many possible methods to overcome this problem, the following recommendations can be taken into consideration in educational and psychological practices.

1. Giftedness as a responsibility

Conceptualization of the giftedness needs fine-tuning. Traditional perspectives that seek the differences between gifted and non-gifted individuals have created a self-fulfilling prophecy: Gifted individuals have been marginalized and alienated. So-called unrealistic perception of giftedness has led to a perception of “superiority” over others. Remarkably, giftedness, as a concept, implies being the one who was awarded with some qualities which other people do not have. The concept also implies the passivity of the gifted because he was given, not necessarily because he deserves it. Corollary to this, gifted individuals should be taught about the responsibilities along with the gifts. Unlike the current practices, educators should emphasize the individual and social responsibilities corresponding to giftedness.

Individual responsibilities of the gifted individuals are related to the importance of realizing their personal strengths and skills and investing for their potential appropriately. In educational context, many gifted students tend to take the classes easy and pay attention to other “more interesting” things. They tend to make no effort beyond what the classes require, and their potential is not challenged. Individual responsibility defined as fulfillment of one’s own potential should replace externally defined responsibilities which are neither challenging nor motivating for the gifted.

Social responsibilities are critical for the gifted individuals because their potential can lead to both positive and negative changes at the societal level. Many scientific innovations facilitating our lives today are the gifted minds’ contributions to human beings. On the other hand, they could have devoted their potential to harmful innovations, too. The gifted individuals, therefore, are those who can build the civilizations with all advanced systems of technology, transportation and communication, and destroy them with mass destruction weapons, such as atom bombs. Employing the strengths and capacities to the benefit of human beings should be set as a basic goal for the gifted individuals.

2. Importance of effort over ability

Overemphasis on abilities and consideration of abilities as fixed traits tend to block gifted individuals. If people think that they possess a superior capacity and this is more or less stable, they may have difficulty in making for their goals. They often compromise their high ability with less effort that may result in underachievement and dropouts. The importance of effort and struggle over ability and performance should be integrated to the educational system.

Valuation of effort can be achieved through differentiating the curriculum for the gifted students. For example, the research indicate that easy learning materials and having a better standing in the class with respect to school achievement lead to ability attributions while mental effort and task commitment induce effort attributions (Dweck, 2006, Nicholls, 1978; Schunk, 1994). That means students tend to attribute the achievements to their abilities in easy tasks while they tend to attribute their performance in hard tasks to their hard work. Preparing the curriculum at an appropriate level of difficulty, by which students can be challenged but still can comprehend the content with some effort, should be a major task for the educators. In this way, the frame of reference for the gifted becomes the degree to which they struggle toward their goals rather than the gifts, capacities and strengths they possess.

3. Learning goals instead of performance goals

Goal setting is a crucial aspect of the education of the gifted people. Goal setting is influenced by the way educators assess student performances. There has been a tendency to evaluate school performance through objective, psychometric measures. Even though those measures are more reliable, the information gained from those measures are restricted, comparing the gifted with their counterparts instead of indicating the level at which the gifted fulfill their potential. Learning goals which can be set through individual projects should be the focus of evaluation rather than performance goals which tend to reduce the evaluation to the numbers. Learning goals also seem to be safer for the gifted since it focuses on the discovery of strategies that lead to desired outcomes whereas performance goals tend to have deleterious effects as people are preoccupied with the end result. Therefore, a third task for the educators is to preserve the gifted students from the detrimental effects of mechanical measurement of the performance. In this way, students have criterion set at their own pace for their success rather than external criteria set by others.

The above suggestions, which can be the basic steps of the fundamental changes in the system, can be further enumerated. The dilemma with the gifted education mentioned above is institutionally induced; therefore, the solutions should be addressed at the institutional level. By virtue of those changes in the educational settings, the programs for gifted education can become more individual-based and less mechanical, ultimately caring more about the critical human virtues such as humility. The political developments helped the gifted education programs to blossom, but it brought some side-effects. Educators must see those gaps and generate solutions that care about the gifted individuals.

References

• Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
• Nicholls, J. G. (1978). The development of the concepts of effort and ability, perception of academic attainment, and the understanding that difficult tasks require more ability. Child Development, 49, 800-814.
• Schunk, D. H. (1994). Self-regulation of self-efficacy and attribution in academic settings. In D. H. Schunk & B. J. Zimmerman (Eds.), Self-regulation of learning and performance: Issues and educational applications (pp. 75-99). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
• Vera, D. & Rodriguez-Lopez, A. 2004. Strategic virtues: Humility as a source of competitive advantage. Organizational Dynamics, 33, 4: 393-408.

In this ever changing environment, managing resources has not only become very important, but it has also changed over recent decades.

The main concern is limited resources vs. unlimited needs; this has been the dilemma of people throughout history. Some societies thought that they had found the answer by trying to limit needs and wants, while some other societies promoted needs and wants, motivating people to work harder to satisfy the same. However, questions, such as How to decrease the cost of production? How to increase productivity? and What is the best method for motivating people? remained important through the last century.

These are the very same questions for which the business world is trying to find the answers.

The efficient management of resources is very important. The management of manpower plays a critical role in the satisfactory completion of this task. To maximize the use of all resources one must also maximize the use of human resources.

A New Approach: Coaching vs. Managing.

In recent decades, we have seen a new approach, the use and effectiveness of which has been increasing in management; COACHING. More organizations have become interested in coaching their employees rather than managing them.

Managers manage numbers, goals, objectives and activities for results.

Coaches develop others to reach higher levels of contribution, personal attainment, and success.

Managers ensure there is a place to work, a procedure to follow, and a system for monitoring business.

Coaches, on the other hand, build high-performance teams by focusing on interpersonal relationships with employees and guiding them to achieve their dreams and aspirations. Everything else is trivia that should be delegated to someone else or relegated to after-hours. A leader or coach makes the relationship with their employees the first priority.

Management today recognizes the need to have a winning organization; it must be more knowledgeable and competent in dealing with and developing people.

Traditional management methods, which are organization-centered, although they have served business well and have accomplished a great deal, are now being challenged by the needs of the employees and customers. In dealing with these new challenges, most managers find that they are at the limits of their current skills. A changing business environment requires us to continuously improve our approach to management. Now is certainly the time for a new methodology which incorporates many of the approaches used by successful managers. That is the fundamental change.

The process of evolution is at the base of the need to develop a management competency in dealing with and developing people. The belief that all employees are self- motivated and that the manager’s role is simply to direct the activities of their subordinates through intimidation or any other method, assumes a results orientation with little regard for the means. In such a system, the employees generally have little opportunity to provide input to the process, and management becomes a numbers game, with little or no attention being paid to developing skills or people.

Because it is people who make things happen, and because we are dealing with a more enlightened and demanding work force, blind submission to direction is no longer feasible. We all want and expect a clear communication of roles, responsibilities and resources, and we expect to be evaluated as we perform our assigned tasks. We have to understand the dynamics of interpersonal relationships and how we are perceived by the people we are leading. We have to develop a competence and consistency in dealing with the people who are reporting to us. Indeed, we have to develop multiple skills, combining the sensitivity of a leader who is viewed as a capable and involved person with those of a trainer who provides the subordinate with skills enhancement and a defined pay off.

The new approach is employee-oriented rather than organization-oriented.

High Trust Leadership: High trust equals high performance.

Today’s younger generation, as well as many of the older generation, are assuming different interests which change the desired expectations and outcomes of their lives. We need to tune into these changes and be aware of the fact that unless we present a work environment that aligns with these expectations, we may not be able to keep our better employees. Without competent players, exemplary results become significantly more difficult to attain.

There is a pervasive and accelerating transition from the long term relationship between the employer and the employee, which represented the norm in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Quality of life, family and independence have become the priorities for the worker in the twenty-first century. Management must be aware of these needs and it has to address the means by which the organization and managers meet them.

Each of us can remember a number of instances when we asked someone to explain or show us how to do something. Whether riding a bike, shooting a basketball or solving a difficult puzzle, there was a moment when we asked for help. Yet, after we asked for help, we were impatient with the helper or coach and wanted to get back to hands-on as rapidly as possible. Your team members are no different. They want to put their spin on the advice or the directions. The easier the manager makes it for team members to set the rules on how and when they are coached, the more likely it is that they will develop the discipline to find the information themselves and make their own decisions. An integral part of coaching is teaching and reinforcing. Whether it is sports or business, winning and losing do not depend on trick plays or new systems. The information your competition has is the same as yours. So what are you going to use to win? It comes down to motivating people to work and to prepare to play as a team. In a word, it is COACHING.

Six Essential Skills;

There are six essential management skills, or personalities, that are needed in order to optimize our efforts to become an effective coach.

1- Relationship builder: Get to know your team well and as individuals. Make sure you understand them, their values, their personal goals, and their objectives.

2- Team builder: In understanding each member of the team it becomes imperative that the manager develops the skills to link and blend these individuals into a coordinated, cooperative, and cohesive team in order to address the common goals and objectives of all.

3- Planner: An effective manager must also be a planner. Your team will look to you for direction, strategies, improvement processes, etc. They will expect guidance in managing their time and activities. It is essential that you have the necessary background, knowledge and skills to define and establish well thought-out road maps and game plans for your team.

4- Interactive Communicator: The essential key to acheiving this skill and the foundation for successful interactions is effective and active listening. Acquiring and sharing know-ledge and information is an integral part of the business world.

5- Organizer: A manager must also be an effective organizer. Organization is essentially preparing a framework for getting the job done properly, effectively, and efficiently.

6- Experience gatherer: Finally managers need to focus on the need to become experience gatherers. Managers must continue to expand their knowledge and their skill base and share that growth with their team members. To be a good manager, you must be a good leader and a great coach first.

The importance of coaching is that the scope of opportunity and success expands significantly as the manager’s skill dimensions increase. Therefore, the more effectively the managers incorporate each management dimension into their management process, the more likely it is that they will be able to attain results that are otherwise perceived as unattainable.

Leadership Qualities;

– Challenging the process: thinking out of the box.

– Setting the example: Do what you want your team to do, lead by example.

– Recognizing and rewarding value: Look for the right things that team members do and reward them; do not look to catch mistakes.

– Enabling others to succeed and attain goals: Make it the team’s own goal that they will accomplish.

– Establishing and sharing your vision: Give the team a road map and future hopes and dreams to catch hold to.

– Maintaining your commitments: Never break a promise and ensure that the goals and objectives are clearly communicated.

The organizations which employ more effective coaches to lead their work force will have the upper hand in the competitive business world, and will be a center for attracting better people. Since everyone likes to be on a winning team, it is critical for organizations which want to maximize their resources, lower their operation costs, reduce their turnover and increase loyalty to build teams to win. I hope to see every organization building their own winning team and getting ahead of the game.

“Now I’d like you to step forward over here. They’re not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they’re destined for great things, just like many of you; their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? …(1)

In order to emphasize the point, he brings them closer to the photos and whispers in their ears:

Carpe… hear it? …carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.”(2)

In this article, we will look at the phrase carpe diem in detail and find answers for such questions as: What is carpe diem? Why is it so important? What if we don’t carpe diem? and How can we live by this phrase?

Carpe diem defined

Carpe diem is a quotation from the Roman poet Horace (65-8 bce). It appears in the last line of Poem 11 in the first book of his Odes, which was published in 23 bce. The Latin word carpe refers to seize, and diem refers to day.

Carpe diem is a way of thinking, perceiving, and approaching daily life. It simply means to seize the day and to know that yesterday has already left you, and as for tomorrow, you have nothing to prove that it will be yours. In which case, your true life is the present day.(3) Thus, make the present day the most important day of your life. Seize the day, catch the wind, and use all of your potential before it is too late to reach your goals and to realize your dreams.

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why they call it the present. Babatunde Olatunji

Carpe diem does not suggest that yesterday was unimportant or that tomorrow is not critical. Rather, it means that today is the only day over which we have some control, and that today is the day during which we can introduce differences into our life.

This idea is stated clearly in a Sanskrit proverb:

Look to this day,

This very life of life.

In its brief course lie all

The realities and verities of existence:

The bliss of growth,

The splendor of action,

The glory of power.

For yesterday is but a dream,

And tomorrow is only a vision.

But today, well lived,

Makes every yesterday a dream of happiness,

And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day.

The importance of seizing the day.

A Senegalese proverb says: If you wait for tomorrow, tomorrow comes. If you don’t wait for tomorrow, tomorrow comes. In other words, time marches on. However, we should not forget that every day is unique in itself, since each one of us has only one chance to live each day. No one has another life in the bank. Let’s ask ourselves: If I knew that today was my last day, what would I do? We most certainly would make good use of this day! This is what carpe diem means, and the reason why it is important.

The same idea can be seen clearly in the carpe diem cliché read by Prof. Keating to his students in the Dead Poets Society:

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may

Old Time is still a-Flying;

And this same flower that smiles today,

Tomorrow will be dying.(4) Robert Herrick

In addition, we should know that carpe diem is the key to understanding how nice, valuable, and important the current day is. When we realize this, we get a better understanding of what is really happening now, as well as a chance to respond to it with our full capacity on time so that we can make use of the opportunities provided by the current day. Thanks to this approach, we can live a more present-centered life, achieve our goals, and become more successful and happy. Richard Carlson’s formula for success illustrates this quite well: “When you focus your attention in this moment, instead of moments that are over or yet to be, you will maximize your productivity, creativity, and ability to accomplish your goals. Too many future-oriented or past-oriented thoughts cloud your vision and distract you from what you are doing. The more present-moment oriented you become, the easier it will be to stay on track, get focused, concentrate, and achieve your goals. In short, an undistracted mind is able to make wise, appropriate decisions.”(5)

No yesterdays are ever wasted for those who give themselves to today. Brendan Francis

What if we do not seize the day?

In this case, we never truly understand what is really happening around us. We either live in the past or the future – not today. If we do not capture the day and do not shape our life, we let other people and factors shape and direct our own life and so loose control of our own boat. We start making zigzags with every storm in the ocean that is our world. As a result, this vicious circle does not let us become who we really are and does not allow us to reach our goals and dreams, although we have the potential to do so.

Fr. Alfred D’Souza says: For a long time, it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.(6) source needed. Those who do not live by carpe diem will always face such obstacles. They will always get ready to live, but in reality, they will never live.

Furthermore, we must remember that every day is a new door with a new hope for a new beginning. If we do not seize the day, we think of today as past hardship and difficulty, as troubles and misfortune. Distressed, we imagine the possible future sorrows of disaster, become impatient and pessimistic, and feel unhappy. In being so, we resemble a foolish commander, who, although the enemy’s right flank joined his right flank and became fresh forces for him, sent a significant force to the right flank, and weakened the center. Then, while there were no enemy soldiers on the left flank, he sent a large force there and gave them the order to fire. No forces then remained in the center. The enemy understood this and then attacked and routed him.(7) As it is seen in this example, we ruin the center (the present day) by focusing more on past worries and future concerns than on the present day.

How to seize the day?

First, we should remember that “every day is a new door for new beginnings. And for everyone, every day has a private world out of this world, and its nature is dependent on the person’s heart, thoughts, and actions. [This is] like a splendid palace reflected in a mirror, [which] takes on the color of the mirror; if it is black, the mirror appears black; if it is red, it appears red. Also it takes on the qualities of the mirror; if the mirror is smooth, it shows the palace to be beautiful, and if it is not, it shows it to be ugly.(8) As we understand this and alter the shape of our own world with today’s heart, mind, actions, and wishes, we will make differences in our lives and acquire a more hopeful and positive perspective in order to achieve our goals and to become happy.

When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us. Alexander Graham Bell

Second, we should perceive the past as destiny, which cannot be changed, and the future as a new place that can be built with today’s thoughts and actions. Otherwise, we will always be occupied with past worries and future concerns.

Today’s opportunities erase yesterday’s failures. Gene Brown

“As for future days, they have not yet arrived, and to think of them now and feel bored and worried is a lunacy like thinking today of future hunger and thirst, and starting to shout and cry out.(9) Since this is the truth, reasonable people will think only of today in connection with hardship, suffering, and so on.

Third, we should recognize, accept, and appreciate who we really are and the conditions in which we live. Thus instead of complaining or admiring, we should look at those who are living in worse conditions than us and be thankful for the things that we have. In addition, we should use our wings of hope and determination to become like those who are living in better conditions than us. Doing so will help us to become more realistic and to live a more present-time-oriented life. Otherwise, our minds will be engaged with time-consuming, unproductive ideas and opinions. And, as a result, there will be no room remaining for carpe diem.

Fourth, we should be well-organized, systematic, and more focused toward our goals. We should not postpone anything, but rather should do things on time by making good use of each moment, for it is almost impossible to seize the day if we do not even know what to do, how to do, and when to do it. Such people can be blown from one coast to another by any little change of wind in their life.

You may delay, but time will not. Benjamin Franklin

Fifth, and last, we should not worry about anything; rather, we should make a serious effort to continue with a new eagerness and fresh enthusiasm each day.

Conclusion

Carpe diem is a way of life that makes people more successful and happier by helping them to live more in the present time. We should recognize that if we practice this idea, if we make today the best that it can be, if we can be attentive and sensitive to what is happening now, as well as make wise and appropriate decisions today, then we should be hopeful. Why? Because all of the efforts exerted and the hardships endured are like melodies of the happy future world in whose warmth the past and the future will be embraced and the present will unburden itself to its blessed friends.

Footnotes

1. Tom Schulman, 1989, Dead Poet’s Society Movie Script
2. Ibid.
3. Bediuzzaman, The Words, 21st Word, First Station, Fifth Warning
4. “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”, Robert Herrick
5. “You Can Be Happy No Matter What”, Richard Carlson
6. Fr. Alfred D’Souza, www.quotationspage.com
7. Bediuzzaman, The Words, 21st Word, Third Station, Fifth Warning
8. Bediuzzaman, The Words, 21st Word, First Station, Fifth Warning
9. Bediuzzaman, The Words, 21st Word, Third Station, Fifth Warning

These terrorist attacks show that the perpetrators share none of the aims of Islam, such as spreading Islam peacefully. You cannot spread Islam to other people by bombing them. Is there anything in Islam which legitimizes this terrorist attack? Certainly not! Jihad is a totally different concept, and can be declared only when Islam has to be defended. But Islam does not have to be defended in America, for Islam is already acknowledged here as one of the three monotheist religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. This is not a superficial acknowledgment”6 million Muslims now live in America. Islam is not an imported religion, and this terrorist attack has nothing to do with American Muslims. On the contrary, it was perpetrated by outsiders having political”not religious”motivations.

The goals for which they are striving are not Islamic, but probably are related to the current political goals of certain people who manipulate Islam to legitimize their quest. I do not agree with Samuel Huntingtons well-known œclash of civilizations theory, in which Islam is approached as an enemy to the West and must be destroyed. On the other hand, the media (especially, those who supply the information and constantly oppose Islam) are striving to maintain an artificial adversarial sensitivity against Islam.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict underlies the clash of civilizations and, in a way, is the primary source of all these events. Mutual terror has been experienced throughout the 54 years of this conflict. Palestinians retaliated with counter-terror campaigns to Israel’s terror at the governmental level. This has affected millions of people not only in terms of religion but also in terms of national-political status. Israel attacks Palestinians not because they are Muslims but because they are Arab Palestinians. The fact that 20 percent of all Palestinians are Christians shows that this is not a religiously driven conflict. Nayef Hawatmeh and George Habash are leaders of Palestinian Democratic Public Front and are both Orthodox Christians. They began organizing suicidal attacks before HAMAS was even founded. The foremost significant supporters of Palestinians are Edward

Said and Albert Hourani, who are Protestant Christians and, respectively, prominent figures in literature and history.

The organizational formation of the terrorist group that launched the September 11th attacks deserves serious consideration. It seems that 60 to 70 people were actively involved; 19 of them are dead. But what about those who probably provided logistical support? How did they carry out their role unnoticed? For such an organization, there needs to be a mastermind, and I do not think that Bin Laden is the most likely candidate.

All types of terrorism, regardless of reason, are evil. While protesting terrorism, however, we should not ignore the reasons. America has to delve into the reasons and the roots of these events. It has to cast far-reaching look and search for real reasons, instead of dealing with symptoms. If America uses its power not to exercise sovereignty over others but to create a more peaceful world, this would serve its own interests. In addition, Muslims would benefit the most from it.

“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” – Mark Twain

Time is illusive, for it is hard to define, capture, or imagine. Just like the weather, we talk about it but cannot comprehend it or affect its passage. We complain about how quickly time passes, how modern life puts us into a permanent state of urgency, and how we cannot find time for such (usually indefinitely) postponed activities as reading a particular book, spending quality time with our family members, building new social or business relationships, or starting an exercise program. Yet nobody seems to be able to stop or even slow down time. Will better self-management lead to better time-management? Is managing time even important? What exactly is time? The General Conference of Weights and Measures defines one second of time as the interval needed for 9,192,631,770 oscillations of the Cesium atom.¹ A minute is 60 times that, and an hour is 60 times the latter. Thus we know what time is … or do we? Such definitions give no insight into time’s true nature. And there are further, more complex questions: Why do we seem to be unable to go back in time? What does it mean for one event to happen after another event? What do present and future mean?

Time-Management Is Really Self-Management

Even though we do not have a precise definition for time, we still try to manage it. Bookstores and libraries are full of books on time-management, and time-management seminars enjoy wide popularity within the business community. After becoming familiar with the field, one fact stands out: The subject being discussed is actually self-management with respect to time. To be more precise, we can manage ourselves only with respect to what we are doing as the rest of the universe continues to move.²

A successful self-management regimen requires a series of practical techniques, principles, approaches, methods, steps, tools, and strategies arranged in a way designed to construct a realistic framework. Erecting such a structure allows us to understand exactly what our goals are, how they will be reached, and how to begin internalizing the entire system. To make this a long-term program, we need to bring this new outlook from our forebrains to our hindbrains, thereby transforming them from abstract concepts into actual reflexs and habits.

A holistic approach to self-management with respect to time can help us accomplish this goal, for it is built around each person’s self. Incorporating the self’s physical, psychological, and sociological aspects allows a complete and coherent framework to emerge. And, moreover, it reflects the integrity of our existence because it is based on all of the various aspects of our existence.

Holistic Time-Management

The holistic approach to self-management is distinguished by its emphasis on self-knowledge. After all, both logic and common sense dictate that only that which is understood can be managed and led. If a business manager knew nothing about human psychology, behavior, or sociology, would it be logical to assume that he or she could manage a department successfully? Of course not. Using the same analogy, how can a person manage and lead his or her self without understanding its underlying dynamics and structure?

Both Western and Eastern schools of thought have developed definitions for “I,” the term we commonly use to distinguish ourselves from all others. They have many points in common. 

For example, both state that each person has:

A physical aspect to his or her existence (the body), as well as features in common with animals and others that are unique to him or her.

Various non-physiological aspects, such as a soul, mind, consciousness, conscience, ego, willpower, sixth sense, and so on. These indicate the existence of a non-material existence tightly connected to our physical existence. Sufism teaches us about constituents of our spiritual existence: the carnal self, the ego, the soul, the heart, the divine receiver, the evil receiver, and the mind, among others.³

Other people in his or her life with whom he or she has some kind of relationship.

Holistic Self-Management

The holistic approach to self-management requires that we understand the physiological, psychological and spiritual, and sociological aspects of our existence.

The Physiology Front. The logical place to start is learning how our body functions. One important aspect of this is familiarizing ourselves with its many rhythms, which can last anywhere from an hour to several weeks, as well as its timed release of the hormones secreted in our bodies.⁴ A realistic scheduling of our daily activities depends upon knowing which periods are conducive to what activities. For instance, it makes sense to schedule mentally taxing and difficult problems during the early morning, as that is a period of active energy hormones and mental clarity. On the other hand, afternoons are ideal for socializing and building relationships and long-term memory.

We experience mental lows during the day. Usually, we attribute these to the food we have consumed, a lack of sufficient sleep, or other external factors. While such assumptions might be correct, there is a more fundamental cause: our body’s circadian rhythm. This biorhythm, lasting for approximately 90 minutes, is the body’s way of asking for a short break. The most common manifestations of this are yawning, daydreaming, or loosing concentration. Listening to and honoring these signals allows our body to re-energize and achieve a peak during the next hour. Eliminating these signals with caffeine or other stimulants may bring a temporary rise in mental alertness, but also makes it impossible for us to obtain a natural mental peak. This need for a break does not go away; it either returns more strongly in the next period or causes us to experience stress during the rest of the day.

The type and amount of food we consume also affects our self-management. Just consider how much time we spend preparing, consuming, and digesting food, not to mention the time we spend in the restroom and what we do after the meal is finished. Furthermore, certain foods may energize or slow down our mental functions,⁵ and can even affect our sleep patterns. Another important element of our physiological life is regular exercise, for this helps us maintain good health. Certain exercises help reduce stress and increase energy levels throughout the day.

Establishing a suitable program of self-management with respect to time requires that we understand our body and treat it accordingly.

The Psychological Front. A correct understanding of those metaphysical inner faculties that affect our behavior helps us control that behavior. The self consists of such inner faculties as the carnal self, the intellect, and the heart. Each of these have different roles and tendencies in affecting our behavior. For example, the carnal self has the vital role of preserving our physical existence. If it is not disciplined, it can lead us to gluttony and other harmful habits that ultimately destroy our self-control and self-esteem. The key to controlling it is to exercise our willpower when experiencing moments of weakness or temptation.

Turning desirable behaviors into habits also allows us to take advantage of the resulting benefits. For instance, if we make it a habit to wake up early and do lightweight exercises or meditate, we reap the benefits of early morning energy hormones. Even if we cannot achieve all of our targets for that day, at least we will have the satisfaction of accomplishing one of our daily goals: spending time on self-improvement and spiritual advancement.

Another essential human trait is our need for simplicity. The best way to achieve this is to use only one planner and concentrate on one task at a time, thereby eliminating lost notes, misplaced contact information, and missed meetings. Concentrating on one task at a time and minimizing interruptions allows the brain to use less time when beginning to concentrate on a difficult task (start-up time). An interruption of only a couple of minutes can have a negative impact upon this start-up time. Most experts agree that the best way to overcome this is to establish, and then inform your co-workers and friends of, a personal “interrupt-free period.” Other methods are changing your location, turning off your telephone and cell phone, and posting “do not disturb” signs.

Such time robbers as procrastination can be overcome by determining their root causes. For example, procrastination is often caused by a fear of failure. But this is a self-defeating behavior, for procrastination does not make the task go away; it only makes it harder to deal with and causes us to miss an opportunity. One easy way to beat it is to break the task into smaller segments and begin working on it segment by segment. Such an approach takes away our fear of failure, because we can see how success in one segment leads to success in the next. Other root causes of procrastination, such as a fear of success, negative associations, perfectionism, and disorganization, can be overcome in the same way.

As we are by nature visual beings, most of our mental capability is devoted to visual processing. About 80 percent of all input to our brains arrives through our eyes. Our visual memory is also far superior to our auditory and tactile memories. Thus, as time is invisible, we find it hard to imagine and fit it into our overall plan. One way to deal with this difficulty is to make time visible through a time map (also known as a time budget or a time policy). For example, using a calendar as our sole scheduling tool allows us to map every piece of time we have for the next several months. Writing down our activities, tasks, appointments, and other commitments makes time visible. Drawing borders, as well as putting signs, cushion periods, and other visible indicators, allows us to budget our time effectively. It becomes just like a blueprint to our house.

The Sociological Front. Finally, we have to acquire an understanding of how other people think and behave, how they respond to our actions, and why they need to communicate with us, for such things have to be factored into our time-management policy. Since our relationships with others can affect our emotional state, and hence our ability to manage ourselves with respect to time, we need to learn how others may help or hinder our efforts to reach our goals. We need to learn how to support our willpower by cooperating with others, to delegate effectively so that other people can help us achieve our goals as well as their own, to set up and run meetings, and to communicate effectively in order to minimize potential misunderstandings.

Some tools designed to help us manage our time are now on the market: MSProject, day planners, cell phones, and a whole host of computer-related gadgets and software packages. Choosing and then using them wisely and efficiently can make or break our time-management program.⁶

Conclusion

In summary, time-management is really self-management and deciding what to do and when to do it. Success requires self-discipline and self-management. Therefore time-management is actually self-management with respect to a schedule. Effective self-management is predicated upon a correct understanding of the self’s physiological, psychological and spiritual, and sociological aspects. The better we know ourselves, the easier it is to manage and control ourselves. The absence of such control invites failure.

The comprehensive approach envisaged by a holistic self-management program makes successful and effective self-management possible by showing us how to manage the different aspects of our existence effectively and efficiently

Footnotes 

1. “International System of Units (SI).” Online at: www3.sk.sympatico.ca/gregtami/si-base.html; also see www.bipm.fr/enus/2_Committees/cgpm.html.
2. Harold L. Taylor, Making Time Work for You (Ontario, Canada: Harold Taylor Time Consultants Inc., 1998).
3. M. Fethullah Gulen, General Concepts in the Practice of Sufism (Fairfax, VA: The Fountain, 1999).
4. Michael Smolensky and Lynne Lamberg, Body Clock Guide to Better Health (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2001).
5. Michael D. Chafetz, Smart for Life (New York: Penguin Books, 1992).
6. Jan Jasper, Take Back Your Time (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999).

Speed, movement over distance in time, is as old as the universe; the sensation of speed was ‘experienced’ as soon as man was created and covered distances by walking. Man has ever since extended and advanced his power of movement until speed has reached its present, dizzying level and continues to increase. Man first ‘enjoyed’ speed through his feet, then on the back of domesticated beasts, then in carts and carriages, then bicycles and motor-driven vehicles. Today, man is on the verge of defeating, even annihilating, distances. The annihilation of distance is already a reality in the case of sound and image transmission by processes far ahead of the transportation of objects.

Speed has brought more ease and comfort, but has also had negative consequences. Whether the positive consequences outweigh the negative ones is still an open question, one we can only answer by balancing the technological advances against real and substantial gain in human happiness and in the meaningfulness of human life.

Buses, trains, ships and planes, running on some advanced form of electrical energy, or in the further future space-craft run on some form of pure light energy, will make it possible to cover huge distances in minutes. We will, at the same time, be able to press a button and receive sounds, images, colours, even smells, from long distances. As ‘time’ and ‘space’ are effectively reduced, the earth will really become a global village.

Human conquests over time and space are, as we have noted, set to go much further, bringing with them, in addition to many facilities, numerous problems. We are bound to admire advances in scientific research, new inventions and their application – all the wonders of civilization. However, need this prevent us from asking whether the dazzling speed – attained through man’s commitment to investigating every detail of the ‘book of the universe’ – has really served the nobler aims, those rather more important for human life than speed by itself. If, by subjugating time and space, by contracting the world into a village and reducing time costs to near zero, speed cannot reach the higher goals, does it really benefit mankind? If science, penetrating into the universe’s remotest corners for knowledge of the whole of existence, made the whole world as familiar as our own neighbourhood, uncovered everything in it, making it, as it were, naked, and did not do so for the sake of the higher human values, needs and desires, would it not be a kind of ignominy to use such a science – to be familiar with the secrets of an individual or a nation, and able to expose them?

Is speed an end in itself? That is, are inventions and developments in transportation and telecommunication made just to indulge a crazy, unreflecting addiction to doing things ever faster? It is doubtful if these sophisticated means of transportation and communication have led to any great advance in human values. We wish that they had, so that we might look forward to the peaceful co-existence of the world’s peoples in a world contracted to a village. But it is impossible to claim that the technologies of speed serve any such goal at present.

If we argue that speed is desired, not for its own sake, but for the service of mankind’s loftier goals, can we also argue that faster cars or trains or planes really contribute to the attainment of these goals? If they do, we can aim to contract time and space still further – to the very limits of science-fictional imagination. But it is difficult to give a positive answer to that question: the present applications of speed technology are far from achieving the desired goals.

If speed is meant to save time, to get things done faster or to reach somewhere faster, but the time saved, the things done or the destinations reached, are not part of some higher aim more important than speed, then what is all the effort for? If we have no general aim for our speed technology and no specific intention to realize this aim, then all our effort and the time saved will be in vain – like streams of water flowing nowhere, or rain falling on barren ground. Today, some proponents of speed, heedless of any general aims in life, are greatly impressed by a technology that allows one to leave the earth’s atmosphere in a few minutes, to carry sounds and images many thousands of kilometres almost instantaneously. They value only the speed, they evaluate only the technology, detached from its general consequences. However, speed is only a material phenomenon. Without specific goals it can be neither a foundation for progress and civilization nor a means to the realization of human values.While mankind found happiness in centuries when they travelled on foot or horseback, they have in this century, unfortunately, suffered from the most horrifying kinds of brutality despite very sophisticated technology.

Speed has never been the most urgent need of mankind. It was and is only a means to an end. A balanced view is important. Some have idolized speed and glorified technological advances, regarding these as everything; others, reacting against the uselessness of speed without purpose, have become hostile to modern mechanisms of transport or communication.

Speed should serve specific aims. It is to be welcomed and valued as long as it enables the realization of human values and human aims; as long as it brings peace and happiness and ends pangs of separation; as long as it contributes to the general harmony of the world and the solution of worldly and other-worldly problems; and as long as it advances scientific research and empowers scientific establishments. Without these benefits, speed in movement or communication is no more than a meaningless, insecure illusion.