Models explain how everything is connected, how we should act and what we should and should not do. But do they prevent us from seeing things for what they really are? As early as the eighteenth century, Adam Smith warned against being carried away by a love of abstract systems, and two centuries later Albert Einstein received a Nobel Prize for recognizing that models and logical systems are ultimately a matter of faith. The historian of science and philosopher Thomas Kuhn argued that science usually just works toward corroborating its models, and reacts with ignorance when – as is often the case – the models do not correspond to reality. This insight may not have earned him a Nobel Prize, but he did land himself a professorship at an elite university. We often believe so strongly in models that they take on the status of reality. I hate reality but it's still the best place to get a good steak. And what do you believe in despite having no evidence to support it? It reveals behavioral traits and tendencies. How much of a team person are you, and how much of an individualist? Do you pay more attention to content or to form? Do you feel more global than local? Use a pen to connect the lines. You are only creating a snapshot. What is preventing you from being the way you would like to be?
It is always said that we should live in the here and now. But why? It is an error, a nonsensical act of violence, to concentrate on the here and now with the conviction of thus grasping the essential. How much of your time do you spend thinking about the past, how much about the here and now, and how much about the future? Or to put it another way, how often do you think, wistfully or thankfully, about what has been? How often do you have the feeling that you are really concentrating on what you are doing at a particular moment? How often do you imagine what the future may hold, and how often do you worry about what lies ahead of you? You can't change the past. But you can ruin the present by worrying about the future. Traditional definitions can also be misleading. One of the most famous of these tools is called the political compass. War does not determine who is right – only who is left. Ask yourself where you stand. Where did you stand ten years ago? But how can job dissatisfaction be measured?
To what extent are my current tasks being imposed on me or demanded of me? To what extent do my tasks match my abilities? To what extent does my current task correspond to what I really want? After three weeks, analyze the shapes of the different sails. If you are moving, then your job offers you variety. If you can't do something, you have to work at it. To what extent do they match your abilities, and to what extent do they correspond to what you want? Our dreams are acted out in the future, and our hopes are pinned on fulfilling these dreams. Perhaps because we think we can determine our future. However, we tend to forget that every future has a past, and that our past is the foundation on which our future is built. Memory is the only paradise from which we cannot be driven. What were your goals? What obstacles did you overcome? What were your successes? Which people played an important role? It is the curse of talented people. He just needs to find out what he really wants, people say. His shortcomings are overlooked and his successes admired for the ease with which they are achieved. To begin with, he profits from this attractive yet fatal combination of talent and charisma. The personal potential trap can be precisely traced. Normally a talented person cruises along until a crisis point is reached. Are you prepared to expect less of yourself than you think others expect of you?