@ Juliet – Yep, busy with “nothing”. Well put.

@ Vincent – I agree. I think its hard to sustain high levels of productivity without passion.

@ Davina – Yes, the crowds of people like in the Matrix. Little do they know that there is a red pill and a blue pill…

I took the time to read that article and the other related articles. They are all good stuff. I also spent some time on Clay’s old blog. And read most of the comments on some of his major articles. More and more I realize that some of the business concepts I have learned over the years really can apply to life if we know how to apply them!

The main one that stands out is the idea of “problem definition”. As you said, words, concepts, and their definitions need to be clear. Once we have a clear definition we can proceed to make a plan. Once we have a clear plan we can follow it. Which leads me to my next post about defining meaning in our lives….

Cheers,
Jeremy

Hayden Tompkins’s last blog post..Marriage: The Real Deal?

Yes, this series is very interesting.

The passion and productivity is a good point. Productivity where there is no passion can make one’s life feel even more empty. Constantly being busy with “nothing” creates a meaningless life.

Juliet

LifeMadeGreat | Juliet’s last blog post..Are You Using Your Personal Development Knowledge?

I believe there will be minimal productivity when there is no passion in the things we do. See how many greats had succeeded and the fuel to their success is their passion.

Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger

Vincent’s last blog post..Best Of Hit Your Goals at 2008

Davina’s last blog post..The Quote Effect: Naughty, Nice & Niche Bloggers

I suggest the best way to make the abstract more concrete is for the individual to define these words for themselves.

For example, corporations have a clear understanding and definition of “productivity,” which is essentially to increase units of output while holding or reducing units of input. Corporations also have a clear and understood objective of increasing profit. Why don’t individuals do the same?

As individuals, to be productive, we should first define what it is that we are trying to produce (more time for meaningful pursuits, greater health, improved relationships); then the definition for “productivity” can follow.

You may gain a broader understanding of my view, in the event you are interested, by reading a former post of mine, titled “Mind vs Brain: Priorities, Pursuits & Productivity.”

Here’s the URL: http://financialphilosopher.typepad.com/thefinancialphilosopher/2008/05/mind-vs-brain-2.html

Ironically, some of the ideas in that post were inspired by the ideas of other bloggers, such as Clay Collins.

You might also try looking into the question of words and defintions as well and the potential for language to distract people…

“Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man.” ~ Martin Heidegger

@ James – Thanks for visiting! Ah yes, the clear path is the easy path. Those that choose their own way often have their work cut out for them. They have to blaze a trail. Sometimes that trail goes through a really thick jungle. Sometimes its just through the open plains. I wish you all the best!

@ Kent – I always appreciate your deep thinking in regards to my writing. And I think I have to agree with your assessment. Again, to be fair, I did pluck random points out of the 5 different articles he has posted so far. What I was trying to do was draw a common thread between what he was saying and take it in my own direction.

From one fellow wordsmith to another I have to agree that word choice is very important. Self-awareness is a very good word choice. I had already planned to go deeper on this topic…

Your last point is very valid. Its ironic that sometimes the very thing we want our readers to do is what we tell them not to do in our blogs. And that is to not waste time in reading our blogs, just get out there and do.I know we hold the common philosophy that knowledge needs applied if it is ever to be useful.

My goal now is to think deeply about what I will write next that will actually help people apply it and have a higher productivity level based on their own self-awareness…

I think the question I want to ask myself is how to make the abstract more concrete?

Thank you again for your wisdom and insight…

Cheers,Jeremy

p.s. Im just re-reading your comment and I like your use of the word attention. What we put our attention toward is what we are productive in… that’s why people with multiple attentions, such as myself, never seem to get anywhere fast…

Unfortunately, productivity and passion are blogosphere buzz words that have been over-used to the degree that their respective meanings have almost become abstract.

To keep my comment a modest length, I’ll take issue with only one point (#9): “In virtually every field, the difference between success and failure, between profit and loss, between growth and decline is determined by the availability of information. In most cases, it’s fair to say that information is productivity.”

Information is certainly not productivity — the prudent ALLOCATION of attention is productivity! In fact, more information often translates to LESS productivity.

The almost entertaining irony here is that productivity and passion are topics that attract readers’ attention in the “personal development” and “self-improvement” realm of the blogosphere. In other words, bloggers know how to “steal attention” with certain hot topics. When the attention is attracted, it is consumed; hence, the blogger has more readers but the readers have less attention to allocate to productive resources…

Here’s a new suggested title: “Productivity is Pointless Without Self-Awareness”