Comments on: Developing Your Animal Strength

By: Is Dog Obedience School For You? | Self Help Station

Is Dog Obedience School For You? | Self Help Station — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:27:59 +0000

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By: ianmack

ianmack — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 22:46:36 +0000

my dog is driven with passion and purpose – but also won’t hesitate to roll in a rotting animal carcass if she finds one on the beach. so perhaps not all animal characteristics are desirable…

By: Steve Schapel

Steve Schapel — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 22:40:49 +0000

“You can’t force yourself to be unreasonably obsessed with a goal you aren’t passionate about.” Hey, I had a good laugh about that, so beautifully put…

By: Donald Latumahina

Donald Latumahina — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 17:20:14 +0000

@John:
I agree, the key is balancing different aspects of our life as you said. If we are able to maintain the balance, we will be able to stay competitive while keeping the peace of mind.

@Greg:
That’s a great way of putting it. Thanks.

By: Chess Thinker

Chess Thinker — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:32:40 +0000

I just wanted to point out that the 4 points do not necessarily come in that order… there have been times when I have started with REASON/PURPOSE to convince myself to do something and passion, obsessiveness etc grow from that. An example, would be frugality. There are other times when I started with CURIOSITY/PASSION and moved on to the other stages, like when I play(ed) Chess. Right now, I do not what the order has been, but I am into analyzing things until I am totally convinced that they make sense or they don’t.
I just wanted to say that once you have those four things about anything, you are so driven that you wonder why everybody else is not as driven. Whether or not you are compassionate or understanding of those who are not as driven, that’s another question not necessarily related to the issue being addressed by this post.
Nice post, once again.

By: Sara

Sara — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 23:57:26 +0000

Fire. in. the. belly.

By: Greg Morneault

Greg Morneault — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:27:52 +0000

I think John is absolutely 100% correct.

It seems to me John is referring to the animalistic qualities that emerge from a deep LOVE of something.

It also seems to me that the people who oppose John are referring to the animalistic qualities that emerge from a deep FEAR of something.

Shannon, I see a me-centric behavior arising from insecurity about one’s own potential. As a result, the obsession (or object of one’s attention) no longer continues to be about their passion, but about themselves. A person who is really passionate about something, who exudes this animalistic love, this obsession, will go to any length (including all teamwork necessary) to complete the task/project at hand. To me, a me-centric animal is an oxymoron.

Donald, if you are an animal who truely loves what you do is life really a race? The animal you characterize reminds me of a “9-5 hating what they do just to put food on the table” individual. Unfortunately, this is a somber reality for many in this world today. There is a big difference, however, from from obsessing over a job for FEAR of going hungary and obsessing over a job for the LOVE of progressing and evolving oneself.

By: John Wesley

John Wesley — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:27:14 +0000

Donald,

You’re right, it’s not good to always think of life as a race, and this does oppose that to some degree. The truth though, is that many aspects of life are competitive, and if you don’t treat is as a race you’ll be left behind.

I think it’s important to separate work/the race from the other parts of life that shouldn’t be competitive.

Shannon,

You make a good point, but I don’t think being an animal necessarily means being me-centric. People who are animals can be dedicated to working with the team, as long as that’s inline with their goals.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:21:07 +0000

I totally agree that purpose and passion are valuable characteristics to seek out in those who we hire. I also see the value of obsessive perfectionism, up to a point. There is something about this list that is excessively me-centric. Hire one person like that and you get somebody who’s making work miserable for the rest of the team, who has to deal with his/her unreasonable obsessiveness. Hire a bunch of people like that and you’ve got a bunch “animals” fighting each other instead of getting work done. Me, I would prefer passionate, purposeful people who care about supporting their team and their organization in achieving its goals rather than pursuing a personal quest where failure is akin to death.

By: Donald Latumahina

Donald Latumahina — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:07:42 +0000

Very interesting post, John. I do feel the importance of passion and purpose to give the determination as you described, and I totally agree with you. Just there is something about applying it which I haven’t completely understood.

Recently, many people talk about the importance of slowing down, about not thinking of life as a race. This concept of “becoming an animal” looks like the exact opposite: life seems to be a race in which we should run at full speed.

I understand that we need to balance these two views. But how should we do that? Or maybe there is something I miss here?