I love proverbs – especially those which contradict each other. 'Look before you leap' they say. Sound stuff huh? We all know from experience that there are dangers in making decisions or not thinking things through. But we also know (from equally persuasive experience) that 'He who hesitates is lost'. Most self development books tell us that procrastination is our enemy. (I’m not sure about this procrastination thing – isn't procrastination the time you take to make any decision? In which case does that mean that there are no problems in life where we are allowed to carefully weigh up the pros and cons?)

So which of the proverbs quoted above reflects the truth? Or perhaps a better question, which offers the best advice?

I am drawing your attention to this dilemma for two reasons. Firstly, to put you on Proverb Alert (so that the next time you hear a proverb - which is just a chunk of conventional wisdom - you at least pause and do yourself the service of asking whether what has been uttered is actually the any help at all). Secondly, I am trying to get you to consider investing in a copy of Design for Life™. I'll come back to that later.

The point is that both sayings reflect real experience and the truth. To quote yet another proverb (is this getting tedious?), proverbs are the children of experience.

There are of course benefits in looking before leaping and not hesitating so long that you lose out. But there are also dangers spending too long looking before you leap and not hesitating when leaping. Weighing things up can result in both a positive and a negative outcome.

My problem in writing Design for Life™ was to try and avoid giving readers what I call 'non-advice'. Mark my words, there's a lot of it about. One of my favourites is 'You need to strike a balance'. Maybe, but where? For me, 'non-advice' is advice that looks like advice but, when you pick at it, it is actually not very helpful. Design for Life™ does better by only providing advice and tools that have worked for me; the fruits of around 30 years spent taking a keen interest in this arena. That's one good reason why you should invest in a copy.

Just to be very clever about this, even proverbs sometimes recognise that they do let us down. So before you buy the wapping proverbial generalisation 'Old saws speak truth' (by the way, I have a large number of saws in my toolbox and they never talk to me), remember, 'wise men make proverbs – fools repeat them'.

John Cornbill
27 April 2009

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Archive

"Understanding your motivations is important" - 24 August 2009

"Change your Mind – Change your Life" - 17 August 2009

"Be careful of what you believe" - 10 August 2009

"How are you spending your life?" - 3 August 2009

"It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get up" - 27 July 2009

'Why do I need a Life Plan?' - 13 July 2009

'Why is Design for Life™ partly in Diary format?' - 6 July 2009

'The power of Positive Thinking' - 29 June 2009

'What makes you happy' - 15 June 2009

'Pause for thought' - 8 June 2009

'A web of contradiction' - 11 May 2009

'The answer to all your problems could be in the fridge' - 4 May 2009

'I love proverbs' - 27 April 2009

'I love it when a plan comes together' - 20 April 2009