Michael, I’d not come across that quote before (though I used to work alongside programmers) — cheers for bringing it up!

Great to hear from you – how’s the business going? I don’t use Facebook all that much now, so I tend to be a bit out of touch on there.

Thanks for your comments on the article, glad it was a worthwhile read. I think you’re spot on when you say that “people may not need it, some others may not give a monkey about it, and quite rightly so”: there are plenty of folk who are perfectly happy with life as it takes them, and who aren’t interested in personal development / self-improvement type topics. (That’d have described me a few years back!) And I think there are dangers of becoming *too* inward looking. Obsession isn’t very effective.

You’re right, they’re good questions to keep coming back to. I often find that when I have the courage to ask the hard questions, I can see where I need to make changes.

Just wanted to pop in and say ‘Hi’ after I saw your announcement on Facebook about this blog. I’m very impressed with the blog and I quite enjoyed this article, I have to say. It looks like all the hard work is really paying off and you should be very proud of how much you have already achieved since you started your writing career, so I’m really happy for you!

With regards to this article, you’re spot on discussing the relationship between efectiveness and efficiency. This is, I think, an important issue that we – the majority of people – do not pay enough attention to. I do not say with this that we all should analyze ourselves in search for a “guide to optimize our erratic life”; some people may not need it, some others may not give a monkey about it, and quite rightly so.. But for some people these questions hold some interesting ideas from which you can learn more about yourself and perhaps offer the possibility to explore new ways in which you can improve soem areas of your own life. Without trying to get too phylosophical about this, it occurs to me that some of these questions are, in efect, going around the old say of ‘not giving a poor man a fish to ease his hunger, but rather teach him how to fish for himself’. Although in this particular occasion, the idea goes more around how to teach yourself to fish rather than teaching someone else, if that makes any sense.

In this respect, I am still unsure of how ‘effective’ or ‘efficient’ I am in various aspects of my own life. But the question, nonetheless, remains there to be continuously reviewed and discussed, which by all means has to be a good thing.

So, all in all, well done again for your article. Keep up with the good work!

Regards,
Jesús