You never drift your way into excellence in anything in your life.
A boat drifts into the reef. A car drifts into the snow bank. A balloon drifts to nowhere. Drifting is a recipe for disaster. If you are drifting, you are about to crash. There are few things in our lives that you can control. Your character is one of those controllable things. Are you drifting?
We have done the surveys. Every group we work with for the last decade, whether it be with law enforcement, the fire services, or in the business world all agree – they want Leaders of Character in their lives. But Leaders of Character do not accidentally build their character. Character is not a result of the luck of the draw nor is character inherited. Character comes from intentionality. You have to DO what you want to BE.
Every day and in every circumstance, you have an opportunity to choose something that will positively impact your character or negatively impact your character. That is why centuries ago, the Stoic philosophers told us our character is built upon our habits. And our habits begin with the intentional choices we make every day.
Courage: Do you choose to confront the bad attitude of a co-worker or not?
Humility: Do you listen to feedback from others without getting defensive?
Integrity: Do you tell the cop how fast you were really going?
Selflessness: Do you get off the couch and do the dishes after your spouse cooked dinner?
Duty: Do you pick up the ice cube that fell on the floor?
Positivity: Do you find a way to encourage others when you are all stuck in a bad circumstance?
All of these choices take intentionality. Just like getting in shape, you have to be intentional about your workouts. You need to take the opportunity to exercise when it presents itself. Otherwise, the muscle doesn’t get stronger and it slowly atrophes.
The more you exercise the Habits of Character on a daily basis, the stronger they get. When you actively choose to exercise Courage, to exercise Integrity or to exercise Positivity, you are building a muscle that will be there when the big tests in life come your way.
The question is, will you be intentional with your choices or will you continue to drift?
You never drift your way into excellence in anything in your life. The great news is that no matter how long you have been drifting you can pick up the paddle and start taking control of what direction you are heading. Are you heading towards becoming the person you would want to follow? Are you paddling towards being the leader, the parent or the spouse others want to follow?
Now you know the formula. It comes down to your habits and your habits are formed from your daily intentional choices. With each choice, it becomes easier to make that choice again and again until you are no longer thinking about those choices – because they have become your habits. And you have become a Leader of Character.
Question:
- What intentional choices will you make today to start building those muscles?
- Take our character assessment at www.MYCHARACTERTEST.com and identify where you need to focus.
FINALLY!
Becoming a Leader of Character Audiobook is available on Audible. If you are an Audible user, then order it here:
You can also order on Spotify and Apple!
Audiobook sales have taken over for ebook sales. When we first published Becoming a Leader of Character in 2017, people were predicting ebooks were going to kill traditional hard copy print books.
That didn’t happen. In fact, print books’ percentage of sales are very similar to what they were in 2017 when we first published. What has changed is that audiobooks have eaten away at ebook sales.
Therefore, if you have been waiting on the audiobook version of Becoming a Leader of Character it is now here! You can get it on Spotify, Audible or any other major platform for audiobooks.
While you drive or workout, marinate your brains in theSix Habits of Character – Courage, Humility, Integrity, Selflessness, Duty, and Positivity.
Order now on your favorite platform:
Character Counts!
Dave
