Have you defined the character you see in yourself and others? Or…are you looking more at “the character” on the other side of the relationship? It can get confusing when tier pressure is driven by peer pressure.
Character is defined by the trials and tribulations of your journey more than your destination. Ambition inspires us to seek greater strength… it is the suffering along the path that becomes part of the price of admission.
Having met the late John Wooden including sharing the podium with him, he stated: “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is what others think you are.”
The knowledge in your head may empower you, but if you do not have the character in your heart you are doomed to fail. Life reflects your character which mirrors your thoughts. My late, great friend Zig Ziglar, CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame called it “stinking thinking.”
Character determines your destiny in life. Yes, it starts with the right attitude which shapes your words, actions, and habits. All mold who and what you are. Do you compromise yourself by selling yourself short?
Sometimes the greatest sale we make is convincing ourselves that we are not worthy of success that comes with our results. In the end, your actions define your direction in life… and that is governed by the character in your heart.
When we lower our standards for the sake of haste or convenience, we assail our basic character, cheating God out of his greatest asset – your potential. Character is more about the heart than the head.
Someone once observed that character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you. When we all sat back and watched Stetson Bennett’s masterful performance in repeating as a National Champion at the University of Georgia, we watched in awe as a kid who was a walk-on turn his “nothing” talent into one of the greatest achievements ever on the college gridiron.
Character is doing the right thing in the dark when no one else is around. What attracts us most to the Stetson Bennett’s of the world is their tenacity of purpose.
Beauty may attract you to another, but character defines true splendor. I submit that Stetson Bennett’s character was superior to his talent… and that is what truly endears us to him.
My oldest granddaughter Ashley is a straight-A student and literally at the top of her game, setting a new school weightlifting record at St. Cloud High School in Central Florida. Her greatest strength is her humility.
I had tears in my eyes as she recently stood with some of her teammates to play the National Anthem on the violins prior to her weightlifting competition. Her unpretentiousness is not about false modesty or shyness… it is who she truly is.
The resistance that Ashley feels physically in the gym is the fight in life that defines her inner character. It helps when your dad is the weightlifting coach and her mentor, but make no mistake, she has the lift the weights… right after she lifts her violin.
Michael Aun, CSP ®, CPAE ® Hall of Fame Speaker is the author and producer of “The $ecret to $uccess in $elling is a $et of $kills”
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