The Stuff That Really Matters Most: Character

Have you ever read To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee? One teacher I've met uses this book to teach character to his students. As you may recall, one of the main characters in the book, the father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer and must defend a black man accused of raping a white girl. Everyone in town, including his children, constantly ask him why he would do this. And his answer is the simple, "Because its the right thing to do." When his son finally understands this, that his father has a code of conduct that he lives by, no matter what the situation, the son runs down the street shouting, "Atticus Finch is a gentleman, and so am I."

That code of conduct is what I look for in character, a personal code of behavior that you follow under any set of circumstances.

Lawrence Kohlberg describes Six Levels of Moral Development:

Level I: I Don’t Want to Get in Trouble

Level II: I Want a Reward

Level III: I Want to Please Somebody

Level IV: I Follow the Rules

Level V: I Am Considerate of Others

Level VI: I Have a Personal Code of Behavior and I Follow It (Atticus Finch Behavior)

Where are you on these six levels? Have you developed a  personal code of behavior? We all have something. Is it one that you really want? Do you follow it always?

Something to think about. Somewhere to go.

The Stuff That Really Matters Most: Relationships

We can all quote the proverb, "It’s not what you know, it’s who you know and who knows you."

Stephen R Covey in his Seven Habits book teaches how to develop these relationships with Habit 5, "Seek to understand, then to be understood.

In To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee uses the character Atticus Finch to share a great truth about relationships, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view ... until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it."

Dale Carnegie in How to Win Friends and Influence People describes some simple yet tools to help build relationships. Give honest and sincere appreciation. Become genuinely interested in other people. Be a good listener. Remember and use their name.

These simple ideas produce powerful results. Its all about personal relationships, at home, at work and in your community.

The Stuff That Really Matters Most: Time

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." - Carl Sandburg

We all have the same 525,600 minutes each year. But you choose what you do with those minutes. Do you chose to spend them staring at a screen while someone else decides what you see and can easily dish you up a plate full of garbage? Or do you choose to use your time profitably? For something awesome? Making a change in the world?

Simply ask yourself, "What is the best use of my time, right now?" Then act accordingly.

As Gandolf said in Lord of the Rings, "What you have to do is decide what you are going to do with the time you have been given."