Writing for Social Integration

An effective writing skill can be a great source of prestige in the society for anyone who possesses it. As stated earlier, few people possess the writing skill to a commendable extent.  And those who do usually enjoy considerable credibility in the society because most people believe the written word (and a writer) more than they do the spoken words (and a public speaker).

Another way to use written communication to enhance your social integration is by cultivating the habit of writing letters or short notes to compliment or encourage people; your family members, friends, colleagues, or even people who do not know you but whom you admire and desire to be friendly with. In the words of Benson (undated:183), ‘we live by encouragement, and die without it –  slowly, sadly and angrily’. Therefore, the man who looks beyond himself to sincerely appreciate others in long or short writings will not just be adding a memorable value to them, but will also earn himself an impressive collection of allies. And the more people you have around you, the easier you are able to perform tasks and achieve your aims in life.     

Writing for Emotional Development

One way writing helps one emotionally is in the area of catharsis which the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1998:176) defines as “the process of releasing strong feelings, e.g. through drama or other artistic activities, as a way of providing relief from anger, suffering, etc.”

When in an emotional state that disturbs your equanimity, picking up a pen to write exactly how you feel is a sure way of tranquilizing the storms in your mind. No matter the gibberish you may write or how incoherent your thought-flow may be, simply pouring out your heart on paper is able to sufficiently calm you down and prevent you from acting out of place.

Another way you can use writing to achieve an emotional end is by documenting your feelings of attraction or affection for another person, usually the opposite sex. Such writings are usually a better and more accurate representation of the depth of one’s feeling than words of mouth can express. The rhythmical quality of such lettered emotions are also poetic.  That is why Wordsworth describes poetry as ‘the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling recollected in tranquility’.

    

WRITING FOR PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Cambridge International Dictionary of English (1996:1692) defines writing as “the activity of creating pieces of writing work, such as stories, poems or articles”.  In the words of Beck et al (2002:31), “writing is a method of passing information from one person to another, or to a group of people”. They however did not limit writing’s function to information alone, as they also cite persuasion and entertainment as veritable resources to which writing can be put to.

Of the four communication skills, writing is the least utilized for obvious reasons. It requires a great expenditure of time and mental efforts to write. It is a process of drafting, editing, and redrafting to usually arrive at an acceptable finished product. The more reason it has been a highly prized communication skill throughout history. Its mastery confers great powers and influence on whoever possesses it (Beck et al, 2002), Hence the popular saying that “the pen is mightier than the sword”.

The beauty of writing is not usually in its volumes, but in the style and the effectiveness of the content in achieving the set objective(s) of the writer. Effective writing essentially thrives on clarity, precision, and conciseness. In the words of Adesanoye (1995:115):

Effective writing…is a piece of written communication that conveys its message in the simplest, clearest, most concise and most readable way possible. It is also that piece of writing in which the manner of expression dovetails perfectly with the subject matter; one in which…there is a close fit between what and how.

Simplicity, clarity, readability and conciseness are thus the hallmarks of effective writing.

With this background on writing, we shall now proceed to highlight how it can be used for various forms of personal development.

Writing aids the development of the mental faculty because, more than any communication effort, it involves a lot of thinking. The writer often finds himself writing, cancelling and rewording his expressions in the effort to choose the words that will most suitably convey his heart to his reader(s). In the process of doing this, he regularly consult the dictionary and thesaurus, thereby increasing his bank of vocabulary while at the same time honing his intellect.

Reading for Professional Development

The impact of reading in professional and technical development cannot be overemphasized. Rohn, (2005a) quoting Charlie ‘Tremendous’ Jones, says: “You will be in five years the sum total of the books you read and the people you are around”. This underscores the great influence that reading plays in the ultimate manifestation of the self. And, since a larger percentage of our days are spent at the workplace, the books we read will sure have a great bearing on our performance at work.

Another way reading can accelerate one professionally is by aiding in the passing of different academic and professional exams. To qualify as professionals, students and workers need to read well in order to pass their exams in flying colours; teachers and lecturers need to read widely to teach their courses effectively as well as publish in their fields of specialization for promotion. There is no professional calling that one does not need to read to perform better, produce better products, and deliver better services.

To conclude our discourse on reading for personal development, let us consider Rohn’s (2005c) wise counsel:

Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event.  We do not fail overnight. Failure is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices…

If we have not bothered to read a single book in the past ninety days, this lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediate impact on our lives. And since nothing drastic happened to us after the first ninety days, we repeat this error in judgment for another ninety days, and on and on it goes. Why? Because it doesn’t seem to matter. And herein lies the great danger. Far worse than not reading the books is not even realizing that it matters.

Reading for Emotional Development

The first way to utilize reading for emotional development is in the building of a good self-esteem. The amount of information and depth of knowledge you have will directly influence both how you see yourself as well as how others regard you. A man who does not read will be bereft of knowledge. He will have nothing to say when people who are better informed are talking about a subject of discourse, and will have to settle for what others tell him. This does not help the ego in any way. So by cultivating a reading habit, you will not just be enhancing your intellect, but you will also be giving your self-esteem a boost as well.

Another way reading can be deployed for emotional development is in the formulation of personal polices and philosophies of life. The more you know, the better you become and the more you are able to put under check you erratic feelings and desires and coordinate them to make the most of yourself.

Reading for Mental Development

To say that reading is the most important element in cultivating the mind and intellect is not an exaggeration. The depth of learning that you possess is directly related to the amount of reading you have done. But most people would rather do something else than take a book and read. Carson (1992:193) a brain surgeon, cites reasons that people usually give to excuse their unwillingness to read as:

1.      Too much learning overtaxes the brain

2.      Certain kinds of knowledge are irrelevant.

He then goes ahead to refute these excuses thus:

We cannot overload the human brain. This divinely created human brain has fourteen billion cells. If used to the maximum, this human computer inside our heads could contain all the knowledge of humanity from the beginning of the world to the present and still have room left over.

Second, not only can we not overload our brain – we also know that our brain retains everything. I often use a saying that, “the brain acquires everything that we encounter”. The difficulty does not come with the input of information, but in getting it out.

Sometimes we “file” information randomly, or tie significant bits of information to information of little importance, and it confuses us.

All knowledge is important – a fact that some people do not want to hear.  One of the wonderful things about learning is that knowledge not only translates from one area to another, but also is an avenue that leads to understanding and insight (1992:193-194).

Education is the most obvious way by which your mental capacity can be expressed and measured.  And there is no education without reading; the two are mutually exclusive, they go hand in hand. Carson (1999:202) also offers an insight on this concept. He says:

Ultimately, the quality of your education is up to you.  It is a choice only you can make. You decide how much you are going to empower yourself through learning and knowledge. How far you go is determined, largely, by how much you are willing to go.

Any(one)…who so desires can achieve a high quality education, whoever or wherever he or she may be  - as long as (he or she)… can read, because once you can read, you can achieve the world’s greatest education.

Therefore, to utilize the reading skill, as well as other communication skills, for personal development of any kind is a function of the choice of an individual.

READING FOR PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Reading is perhaps the most influential of the communication skills in the development of the individual. Reading, like listening, is a receptive communication skill. It is done by consciously inputting information into one’s consciousness through the eyes and the brain. The more of it you do, the better, improved, enhanced, and versatile you will become.

There is no way we can talk about reading in isolation of books. Books are the main objects in a reading exercise, and a very important one too. Explaining the role of the book in attaining development of any kind, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, cited by Adesanoye (1995:2), says:

In as much as education is the backbone of… development, and the book is the principal element in the educational process, the book deserves a place of honour in our…(personal) priorities. The book is a passport to the world, an indispensable vehicle of science, a storehouse and conveyor of culture and information, and a vital ingredient for development. The importance of books in the development of man and in the fulfilment of his potential can never, therefore, be overstressed.

It is a popular saying that “readers are leaders”. Therefore, anyone who desires to build a life of prominence must cultivate the habit of reading. Someone, somewhere has documented in a book all you need to succeed in life or solve a particular problem. The onus, therefore, lies on you to seek the relevant publications that address your issues, read and apply their principles. To underscore this position, Rohn (2005b) says:

All of the books that we will ever need to make us as rich, as healthy, as happy, as powerful, as sophisticated and as successful as we want to be have already been written.

People from all walks of life, people with some of the most incredible life experiences, people that have gone from pennies to fortune and from failure to success have taken the time to write down their experience so that we can be inspired by it [sic], and instructed by it [sic], and so that we can amend our philosophy by it [sic]. Their contributions enable us to reset our sail based upon their experiences. They have handed us the gift of their insights so that we can arrange our plans, if need be, in order to avoid their errors. We can rearrange our lives based on their wise advice.

However, it is unfortunate that most people do not read except they are compelled to, usually for academic reasons. The reading culture, especially in this part of the world, is at the lowest ebb. People place more importance on other activities rather than reading. It is in this part of the world that we have many literate illiterates. These are people who can amply be described by the aphorism that says “he who does not read has no advantage over him who cannot read”. Illiteracy consists not only in the inability to read and write alone, rather, a person who can read and write but who do not put these skills to use is as illiterate as the one who cannot.

Commenting on the phenomenon of bad reading culture, Rohn (2005b) says:

The issue is not that books are too expensive! If a person concludes that the price of the book is too great, wait until he must pay the price for not buying it.  Wait until he receives the bill for continued and prolonged ignorance.

There is very little difference between someone who cannot read and someone who will not read.  The result of either is ignorance.  Those who are serious seekers of personal development must remove the self-imposed limitations they have placed on their reading skills and their reading habit.

Proffering a solution to reverse the trend of deficient reading culture among people across the world, Carson (1991:203) a world renowned neurosurgeon and author says:

The biggest reason most people have trouble reading is that they do not do enough of it- and they do not do it fast enough…

What is true of many things in life is definitely true of reading: the more you do it, the easier it gets. And the easier it gets, the more efficiently you can extract relevant data from the printed page – not just breadth of information but also depth.

With this background on the essence of reading, let us now go on to see how we can utilize this skill for different forms of personal development.