People Mechanics, Part 2

Of course, there is the “Knowledge is power,” contrasted with “ignorance is bliss.” I always think that a mediocre individual came up with that last saying. The first statement, however, holds some interesting ramifications with it…if we look a bit deeper.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics: In a closed system, unless energy is added to it, the amount of chaos will increase and eventually take over the system.

In this context, when I think energy, I think power. What do you want to do today? If you are a “blissfully ignorant” person, how much energy will you need to exert in order to accomplish said task? The larger the task and the less energy you have to devote to it, the more time it will take to apply the proper amount of energy to the task at hand.

Now, I’m using metaphors: Your competencies or talents; skills; level of awareness of yourself, your surroundings, and of others; those things that give you a unique differential advantage when compared to others in your environment. This is your power, this is from where your energy exudes. Power can simply mean commanding respect when you walk into a room. It can mean being able to reconcile an account better than anyone else. It can mean having the necessary components in yourself and your life to go into business.

Take, for example, a guy that works in construction. After a while he grows unhappy with his construction job and wants something in more of an office environment. Maybe only a college class or two in his personal portfolio but a high level of desire to see to the satisfaction of meeting his goal of getting out of construction and into an office: He plans, prepares, and produces. Plan how to get from where you are now to where you want to be: Have a goal in mind and plan with that end in mind. Prepare yourself to meet this goal. Produce the results necessary.

In physics there are two kinds of energy: Potential and kinetic. If kinetic energy is the energy of motion, then potential energy is the energy that might be there but hasn’t been realized yet. Traits such as desire and motivation are potential energy: The planning and preparation stages are when this potential energy begins to manifests itself as kinetic energy. By the time that you are producing what you want to happen there is likely enough momentum built up to help you get ahead.

Another physics principle there: Inertia. An object at rest will tend to stay at rest, an object in motion will tend to stay in motion. How do you change either? Exert energy!

Are you satisfied with where you are now? Perhaps you are or you know people that are, and this prohibits them from realizing their full potential. Their satisfaction has manifested itself as the maladaptive behavior of complacency.

In the past you or people you know may have reacted or behaved in certain ways that may have been destructive, unhealthy, or just plain bad. Because history has taught people who use maladaptive behaviors that they can often get away with them, they will have a tendency to use them over and over again—probably making them a habit. On the other hand, there are adaptive behaviors that are psychologically healthy alternatives that will often give better results to their users than their maladaptive equivalents.

Take, for example, the person that orders something and is delivered the wrong thing. Experience teaches us that most disagreements stem from misunderstandings. In this case, there was probably some barrier to communication or other flaw that caused the misunderstanding. The maladaptive way of dealing with this situation is probably to yell, scream, and otherwise berate the order-taker; the adaptive way of handling is in understanding that there was probably a misunderstanding and mutually searching for a way to remedy it.

Which kind of person would you rather day with?

Skipping directly from expecting your order to angry takes little energy and can couple the feelings which you’re presenting to those that witness your anger. The emotion that is going to be coupled with this dilemma is probably not going to be the one you want to have them take away about you. However, taking a deep breath and exerting a bit of energy into the situation will not only increase the quality for that interaction, but could also have spillover effects such that the order taker may be less likely to make such a mistake in the future.

Your power, therefore, is represented by your knowledge, skills, and abilities in relation to your environment. Recently decide that you like skim milk over two percent? It is likely inside your scope of influence, inside your power, to stop purchasing two percent milk for the lesser fat variety. Are you unhappy with a municipal ordinance that your town or city just passed? It could very well be within your power to get elected to your local governing body, increase your scope of influence by various means, and change the law.

I can’t emphasize it enough: Find ways to assimilate new knowledge, new data, into the context of your life and it will be more effective for you.

Think Macguyver: The guy that can take a set of seemingly mundane parts from a variety of sources that, in and of themselves, wouldn’t be able to accomplish a task outside of their primary area of expertise and make them into extraordinary devices: Take, for instance, when he disarms a bomb with hockey tickets or starts the truck in a recent commercial with a pocketful of things that he purchased at a local store, including a tube sock, a rubber band, and a tool to baste a turkey with.

Finding the place where you can make things relevant to you not only increases your ability to absorb new information, it also increases awareness. The ancillary effects of this could be countless.