Time management training: communicating your worldview.

“Worldview” is a term that Seth Godin uses in his book, “All marketers tell stories,” to refer to a consumer’s rules, values, beliefs and biases. Something is true in the mind of an individual because the person believes it’s true.
That is the basis of a placebo. It works because you really believe it will work. It could also be the reason why some people insist on buying expensive notebooks instead of Dollar Store scratch pads. Or insist on using an electronic device for everything possible – even though it might be easier and more effective in some cases to simply write things down.
That’s why you can’t please everyone. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to change a person’s worldview. The truth can’t do it. Facts can’t do it. They will simply rationalize anything that doesn’t appear to support their worldview.
If you are attempting to help someone get organized or manage their time or buy a car or whatever, you may stand a better chance of succeeding by approaching it on an emotional level rather than a logical one. How many people actually use logic, facts and common sense when purchasing a car?
Seth Godin, a successful author, blogger and marketer, suggests you can influence a person by telling a story – one that fits their worldview. Dr. Joe Dispenza, author and neuroscientist, in his book, “You are the placebo,” explains how emotions can act as a catalyst that enhances the process of healing through believing.
I attribute my success as a novice time management speaker and trainer some 40 years ago to telling stories, laced with self-deprecating humor, about how my disorganization hindered my career, caused friction in my marriage, and eventually sent me to the hospital with bleeding ulcers. Most people could relate to some of my experiences. It fit their worldview. It communicated at an emotional level.
But not everyone. You have to accept the fact that people all have their own worldviews. I made it a point in all my training programs to admit that my suggestions may not work for them. They did work for me. But the only time management system that will work for them is a system that they develop themselves or adapt to their own needs.
Don’t be discouraged if your ideas are rejected or even ridiculed. It is only necessary that what you say or recommend does not conflict with your own worldview – the truth as you know it.
If you try to please everyone, you will please no one.