{"id":1074,"date":"2011-02-21T11:58:09","date_gmt":"2011-02-21T18:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/?p=1074"},"modified":"2012-06-01T14:54:48","modified_gmt":"2012-06-01T21:54:48","slug":"the-information-you-take-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/career\/the-information-you-take-in","title":{"rendered":"The information you take in"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n\n
\nI heard about a discussion recently with a lady who was decrying the direction that this country is headed. My understanding was that she’s concerned about the influence of religious fanatics of various faiths and that religious law will overcome the United States.<\/p>\n

I happen to disagree, but that’s not the point.\u00a0 We can all hold opinions and express our concerns, it’s a free country.<\/p>\n

But I can guess exactly what TV news network she watches, because her opinions directly reflect what some personalities are putting out.\u00a0 And, like those on TV, she offers no particular insights about what steps to take.\u00a0 It’s just the elevation of anxiety.<\/p>\n

I don’t find that particularly useful.<\/p>\n

What I’ve learned over the years is that my moods, viewpoints and attitudes become a reflection of the information I take in and the people I hang out with.\u00a0 And that’s the danger with just connecting with people that agree with your point of view.\u00a0 They reinforce your biases and amplify your thinking to the point that you may not even be aware that other points of view might be valid as well.<\/p>\n

Here’s the exercise that you should challenge yourself with every month:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Am I connected with people who offer different points of view in a way which supports constructive dialog?<\/li>\n
  • Am I challenged to question my thinking and actions every day or two?<\/li>\n
  • What information sources do I use that really just inflame my emotional response rather than causing me to become a better person?<\/li>\n
  • Am I connected to the people who are more like the ideal person I want to be?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    It can be tough to give up habits which provide short term pleasure but are taking us in the long term direction.\u00a0 But it’s worth the effort.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

An important resource<\/h2>\n

I’ve been reading an interesting book recently called The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)<\/a> by Seth Godin.\u00a0 It’s something that might be useful for people who are struggling with the idea of whether to just quit, or to continue to work through tough times.<\/p>\n

Whether you’re struggling with key relationships, a troublesome job situation, or other kinds of major life decisions, this book can help you to think through the tradeoffs.\u00a0 It’s quite inexpensive and a quick read.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Carl Dierschow is a Certified Small Fish Business Coach<\/a> and author of the career management guide, Mondays Stink! 23 Secrets to Rediscover Delight and Fulfillment in Your Work<\/em>. He is a career coach for those going through interesting transitions, and works with small business owners who need to create breakthroughs in achieving their business goals. Find out more at www.Dierschow.com<\/a> and www.SmallFish.us<\/a>.If you are interested in individual career coaching, group coaching, or other resources which might help you with difficult choices, please contact Carl at carl@dierschow.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Connect with Carl on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and LinkedIn<\/a> to get timely updates and connections to a broader range of professionals.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, send an e-mail to newsletter@Dierschow.com<\/a>\u00a9 2010 Possibilities Partnership LLC<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How to think through where you get your information from.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,42],"tags":[76,37,18,39],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-carl","4":"has-excerpt","5":"has-more-link","6":"post-1074","8":"format-standard","9":"category-career","10":"category-newsletter","11":"post_tag-career","12":"post_tag-learning","13":"post_tag-relationships","14":"post_tag-values"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1074"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1076,"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1074\/revisions\/1076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}