We are now onto Round 4 of the Personal Development Face-Off and I’m very excited to have two of my favourite bloggers battling it out today. This Face-Off has became a great success with over 400 votes for the first three rounds combined.
As an added bit of fun, it would be great if you could vote for your favourite answers in the poll below. In this fourth round we have Leo Babauta and Peter Clemens.
Leo Babauta is one of world’s most successful bloggers with over 100,000 subscribers to his site, Zen Habits. He’s also the author of ‘The Power of Less’, a book that focuses on productivity.
Peter Clemens is a writer for The Change Blog, and his free eBook was something I read about 4 times before I started this site. He also helped grow “Pick the Brain”, as one of the main writers.
Questions & Answers
| Leo Babauta |
Peter Clemens |
| What is your most effective productivity tip? | |
| Work on one thing at a time. Clear away all other distractions, and just focus on one important task. Get it done, move on to the next. It’s incredibly effective. | People often confuse being busy with being productive. It’s very easy to allow secondary activities to distract from what really needs doing; don’t let this happen to you! |
| To you, what is the meaning / purpose of life? |
|
| I have no idea. I’m just focusing on being present, and enjoying and making the most out of each moment as it happens. | For me, it is to be happy and to make a positive contribution to the world. |
| What advice would you give a shy person who wants to become confident? | |
| Start small. Start with situations that aren’t too scary, such as a gathering of family or friends you mostly know already, and start to slowly push out your envelope of comfort, talking to people you only know a little. Take small steps, and with each one, celebrate victory, and use that success to boost your confidence and take another small step. | Shyness is rooted in fear. When it comes to speaking up in a group of people or approaching someone you wish to speak to, feel the fear and do it anyway. As you practice, your confidence will grow and your shyness will disappear. |
| How would you encourage someone to stay focused on their goals? | |
| Just focus on one goal at a time. Really focus on it, and be sure it’s something you are excited about and really enjoy doing. Otherwise you’ll procrastinate or quit. | I would encourage people to write down their goals (writing clarifies fuzzy thinking) and to review them on a regular basis (I review mine each Sunday). |
| What is the main criteria for a successful relationship? | |
| Each person in the relationship should really want the other to be happy, and be happy himself (or herself). If you really want your partner to be happy, and aren’t just focused on your own wants and needs, the relationship is off to a great start. At the same time, you can’t totally submerge your own wants and needs for the other person – you have to be happy as an individual. |
A successful relationship is one where each person enhances the life of the other in some way (eg laughter, joy, mental stimulation). |
| How can people remain financially stable in this economy? | |
| Reduce your needs, and find opportunities to make money doing things that excite you. If you live in a smaller home and drive a smaller car and buy fewer things, you don’t need as much to live on. And there are millions of ways to make money, if you look for them. Find something your passionate about, and then find a way to make a living doing it. | People can remain financially stable and have peace of mind by 1) spending less than they earn (ie saving!); and 2) developing multiple streams of income. |
| If you could only give PluginID readers one sentence of wisdom, what would it be? | |
| It’s from Thich Nhat Hanh: “Smile, breathe and go slowly.” In one sentence, it sums up my philosophy of life. | Take the time to define words – eg success, rich, work – for yourself, otherwise your life will be lived according to social conventions rather than on your own terms. |
| Define the reason for your success in one word. |
|
| Simplicity | Persistence |
Vote for Your Favourite
(Note: Voting is now closed.)
There’s some great answers there and I really love Leo’s Thich Nhat Hanh quote.
I’m not going to vote because there’s no losers in this. In fact everybody gains, especially those that take the time to read.
One question that has been perplexing me somewhat. There is research that is starting to suggest there maybe a shyness gene and it does seem to be one of those things that is more likely genetic than learned behavior. I also don’t really believe that lack of confidence is necessarily a precursor to shyness. I know lots of people that have a crushing lack of confidence and it’s manifested in arrogance and a ‘look at me’ kind of attitude. I also know some very confident people that are shy.
Can it be reversed? Possibly in some people, probably not in all though.
Sorry if I’ve gone off topic somewhat!
Hi Tim, thanks for the comment.
I think the ‘problem’ lies in that I probably could have worded that question better, maybe I need to expand my vocabulary. I’m pretty sure 99% of people understand what I mean by the question though, and judging by the answers there hasn’t been any confusion.
I know you are an “NLP guy” so maybe you have similar views to those of Bandler. That you are confident if you are confident about the fact you are shy
- Glen
LMAO – Oh yes, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used that line or something like:
“Could you find your way back to your car?”
“Of course”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure!”
“So you’re confident you know where your car is then”
At that point I lean back in my chair with my hands clasped behind my head looking smug and the client punches me in the face and walks out.
Haha, don’t you just hate it when that happens
I like both of them, but if I have to choose, I choose Peter.
Especially on the ‘shy-question.’
I have tried this a couple of times, and if I just do something, and feel the fear, I know I ain’t going to feel that fear again when I do that thing. It’s really strange to ‘feel’ yourself developing in things which you actually fear.
I like simplicity a lot, and I’m trying to give it a place in my life more and more. But persistence, that is just something that is already mine, I already know how to do it, I am already persistence most of the times.
Great face-off!
Stefan/DSK
I love the Thich Nhat Hanh quote too! I’ve twittered it!
Once again, thanks for another great Face-Off round here, Glen. I’m looking forward to future ones.
Cheers~
Mark
im loving this rounds, both contestants are awesome, i inclined to leo`s but im checking both sites out!
Hi Glen,
It is hard to vote on this one. Both of them have great answers and I am wondering if I can vote for both of them?
Cheers,
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Sure Vincent, if you have multiple computers
I have to say that I loved this point from Peter:
I think this is very important, and I think I’ll expand on the idea with a blog post in the future!
Peter… you brave soul.
Another great round with outstanding answers by both contenders.
I enjoyed their one word definitions for personal success. Add the word ‘love’ to ‘persistence’ and ‘simplicity’ and you have a real formula for success.
Kudos to both of you.
Glen,
Thanks for inviting me to participate in this face-off series; I had a lot of fun answering the questions. It is also interesting to see how Leo has answered the same questions.
@Marc LOL! I feel a bit like David going up against Goliath in this match-up. It’s all good fun though
You’re welcome Peter, thanks for taking part.
@You and Marc, of course Leo might look tougher as he is very well known and has a lot of feed subscribers. Just don’t forget that he is human as well
@Peter: I actually regret that we’re competing — your answers are excellent and I think our philosophies compliment each other well. If I win, it’s not because you’re not awesome, and if I lose, it’s an honor to lose to someone like you.
These ‘Face-Offs’ are really good Glen. Well it happened again. I liked both Leo and Peter’s answers which made it rather difficult to vote and I don’t have two computers to vote from. (As you mentioned in another comment above.) I liked Leo’s answers in particular for staying focused on your goal and his productivity tip. However with that being said, and because I am especially into ‘words’, defining them on my terms, and the like, I was particularly struck by Peter’s Statement of Wisdom. Look forward to Round 5.
My gut feeling is this is a tie. Some answers I felt more strongly about than others. I give this face-off a draw.
A lot of people have said that so I’m very surprised that the results paint a very different picture.
Thanks for the comment Bamboo
It was like in the final of a tournament. Both are my favorite bloggers.
Thanks for the interview.
leo’s advice on shy person becoming confident is on point.
peter’s suggestion on how to stick to a goal by writing it down is also solid.
really cool to get this kind of perspective.
really cool stuff
alex
unleashrealty
It is always interesting to see different responses to the same questions. It is a great education because we are being exposed to all kinds of perspectives! Thanks so much for this series, Glen!
Thanks for the great summaries of these two different (if only slightly) approaches. I’m already a reader of Zen Habits, so I’ll have to check out The Change Blog as well.
I’d like to add that we shouldn’t forget the distinction (a fine one, but an important one) between shyness and introversion. Those two qualities *can* overlap, but don’t always.
I never felt more free than when I learned that there’s nothing wrong with me…I’m just an introvert. Once I realized that, I started working with myself, rather than against and all kinds of personal growth resulted. This article (http://tinyurl.com/d7c8t) is a great, funny introduction to introverts.
Thanks again for thinking through so many interesting points for your readers.