STORY:
Character Counts!

Character Counts! - Hopeful advice for a new millennium

By Gary Ryan Blair
Special to Everything2000

From the moment you open your eyes each morning until they close again for sleep each night, everything in between complements or compromises your character.

Character is made up of those principles and values that give your life direction, meaning, and depth. They constitute your inner sense of right and wrong. Wrong is simply doing wrong not just getting caught.

Do the right thing! What works is not necessarily what is right even when you can get away with less even when the wrong thing seems like no big deal even when no one is watching.

Practicing good ethics is a solo act, and the proverbial buck stops with you. Knowing what is right is no guarantee that you will do what is right. But it's far easier to do right than it is to undo wrong.

Sweat the small stuff. Character is revealed in the smallest actions. You commit character assassination every time you choose to violate what you know is right. Some indiscretions shout others whisper, but high standards leave no room for little indiscretions.

You don't build sweat equity in your character by talking. Behaving according to the spirit and intent of your personal code of conduct-even when you are the only one who knows what's really going on-is the key to character. Good intentions are fine, but doing right is what really matters. With enough practice, doing wrong will become unthinkable.

Your integrity, honor, and reputation often precede you and linger after you move on. The greatest gift you can give yourself is the practice of integrity; the greatest gift you can give to others is a model character. Character inspires and is inspiring-Strive to inspire!

Having character is much more important than being a character; substance carries much more weight than style!

Character has a purpose. When you practice integrity, you honor your promises. Do your promises come with an unconditional lifetime warranty? Exercise integrity for the same reason you take a bath-without it you stink!

When it comes to practicing good ethics, saying no to vice is not good enough. A quality life is never achieved by focusing on the elimination of what is wrong. True success requires you to focus your mental, emotional, and spiritual energies on pursuing that which is right and good. The extent to which your personal character evolves depends, in large measure, on the extent to which you pursue the positive. Trying to become virtuous merely by excluding vice is as unrealistic as trying to cultivate roses simply by eliminating weeds.

Behaving according to your beliefs, values, and good intentions-walking the talk-is one of the biggest challenges you will face. Practicing good ethics and character is the moral equivalent of war. It is a lot easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.

We live in an age that increasingly sacrifices personal responsibilities at the altar of personal freedoms. When we fail individually and collectively to take seriously the importance of personal responsibility, we begin to self-destruct. When it comes to personal character and integrity, everything counts!

Credit Line: Gary Ryan Blair, "The GoalsGuy", is the author of the best selling book What Are Your Goals? He writes and speaks extensively on the subject of goal-setting. His "EverythingCounts" series will appear on Everything2000.com each Monday through January 2000.For more information visit www.GoalsGuy.com or call 1-877-GoalsGuy.

DATE: 11/15/99

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