Reclaim Your Life

One of my favorite parts about my new chapter is that I’m encouraged to regularly (and daily) work on personal development: read books, listen to audio programs, attend conferences & webinars, etc. I’ve always enjoyed lifelong learning but it was really difficult to find the energy (physical or emotional) to actually do that until recently.

I was reading a chapter in a Leadership book recently that focused on Character.

When I was younger, I used to think Character was all about what people thought about you given the history of your previous actions. I realize that’s a bit off now as a grownup but we all start with some 1st definition until our experiences & awareness can include more.

As I read the more mature description of Character, it made me realize how much I really keep my eyes open to witness & observe the character of other people. You probably do, too, without knowing it.

It’s one thing to talk about having integrity or character – it’s another thing to say the thing and have your actions consistently reflect the thing. In some ways, it’s almost worse for someone to describe themselves in a certain way yet take actions that negate that than it is for them to say nothing at all.

We notice when things don’t line up. We notice when someone is not CHOOSING the actions that truly reflect their character.  We notice when they are just saying words to try to please or impress others without backing them up.

Have you given thought to how you’re choosing your actions recently to reflect your character? Have you been focusing more on saying “the thing” rather than actually doing “the thing”? How can you bring better alignment to your character?

 

by Sean O’Meara