Building Good Character- Day 09- Confidence — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:06Hello and welcome to day nine of
2. 0:09Lifebook's 30-day challenge. I'm so
3. 0:11happy to have you here with me today.
4. 0:13The next stop on our Lifebook journey is
5. 0:15the subject of character.
6. 0:18Who are you? What are you all about as a
7. 0:21person?
8. 0:22And what kind of a person do you really
9. 0:23want to become?
10. 0:25Your character is the sum total of your
11. 0:28personality traits.
12. 0:30It's your identity as shaped by your
13. 0:33moral values, and it's expressed in the
14. 0:36principles you live by.
15. 0:38Who you are inside determines how you
16. 0:41live outside.
17. 0:44A good character gives you a great
18. 0:45decision-making framework, sort of like
19. 0:48an inner compass.
20. 0:49It allows you to stay on track
21. 0:51regardless of pressures or temptations.
22. 0:54Now, a good character isn't something
23. 0:56we're born with. None of us get that for
24. 0:58free. A good character has to be built
25. 1:00over time.
26. 1:02For example, in order to sustain our
27. 1:05lives on this planet, we've got to find
28. 1:07food, we've got to find shelter, we've
29. 1:09got to invent medicine, figure out
30. 1:10sanitation. We've got to produce the
31. 1:13material values that we need to sustain
32. 1:16our lives.
33. 1:17So, when it comes to our physical
34. 1:18survival, we've got to shape the world
35. 1:21in the image of our values.
36. 1:24And in exactly the same way, when it
37. 1:26comes to our psychological survival,
38. 1:29we've got to shape ourselves into the
39. 1:31image of our values. We've got to
40. 1:33produce the values of character that
41. 1:35sustain our lives and that make our
42. 1:38lives worth living.
43. 1:40Now, the key here is produce. We've got
44. 1:42to produce the value of character. We've
45. 1:44got to create. We've got to build.
46. 1:47Courage just doesn't fall out of a tree
47. 1:49somewhere and land on our head and into
48. 1:50our life. Determination doesn't just
49. 1:53happen by osmosis. We've got to work on
50. 1:55this stuff, and we've got to work hard
51. 1:57on this stuff.
52. 1:58So, when we think about the things that
53. 2:00make up a good character, we usually
54. 2:02think about all the things we want in
55. 2:04our lives to be a good person like
56. 2:06honesty, integrity, reliability,
57. 2:09determination,
58. 2:11courage, compassion.
59. 2:14And character traits like these really
60. 2:16do sustain your life and make your life
61. 2:20worth living. So, let's dive into some
62. 2:22core Lifebook philosophy right now with
63. 2:25a clip from the classic Lifebook program
64. 2:28and take a look at what having a good
65. 2:30character actually means.
66. 2:57What does good character look like?
67. 3:00I'll give you an example of someone I
68. 3:01think had a great character, Ben
69. 3:03Franklin. He was one of the first truly
70. 3:06great Americans. A diplomat, statesman,
71. 3:09inventor, entrepreneur. He was America's
72. 3:12first self-made millionaire.
73. 3:14Around 1730, when he was in his late
74. 3:1720s, he listed 13 virtues that he
75. 3:21thought were really important for a good
76. 3:23character. He put these virtues on a
77. 3:25separate page in a little book that he
78. 3:27kept with him almost all of his life.
79. 3:30And he kept track of his performance in
80. 3:32every area every day.
81. 3:35Sometimes he'd select one of these
82. 3:36virtues and focus on it for an entire
83. 3:38week. He wanted to turn these virtues
84. 3:41into habits.
85. 3:42I think this was the first Lifebook ever
86. 3:44in the world.
87. 3:47Here were some of the virtues that were
88. 3:48on his list.
89. 3:50Temperance. Don't eat to dullness, don't
90. 3:53drink to excess.
91. 3:55Silence. Don't talk unless it benefits
92. 3:59yourself or others, and avoid small
93. 4:01talk.
94. 4:03Order. Let all your things have their
95. 4:05place, and let every part of your
96. 4:07business have its time.
97. 4:10Resolution.
98. 4:12Do what you should do, and always do
99. 4:14what you say you're going to do.
100. 4:16Frugality.
101. 4:18Don't spend foolishly and waste nothing.
102. 4:22Tranquility.
103. 4:23Don't worry about unimportant things,
104. 4:26and don't get upset over things you
105. 4:28can't control.
106. 4:30That's good stuff.
107. 4:32Develop habits in those areas, and
108. 4:34you'll create a great life for yourself.
109. 4:37You'll live longer, you'll be happier.
110. 4:39Those are fantastic character traits.
111. 4:48When you meet a person of good
112. 4:49character, you know it. You just have a
113. 4:52sense that you can trust them, that you
114. 4:53can rely on them. They're not going to
115. 4:55lie, they're not going to cheat, they're
116. 4:57not going to steal, they're going to
117. 4:59operate with honesty and with integrity.
118. 5:02Those are the kind of people you want to
119. 5:04know. Those are the kind of friends you
120. 5:05want to have. Those are the kind of
121. 5:07people you want to work with and hang
122. 5:09out with.
123. 5:10And that's the kind of a person you want
124. 5:12to be. Now, tomorrow, we're going to go
125. 5:14a little bit deeper into this
126. 5:16fascinating category of our lives, and
127. 5:18we're going to do a powerful exercise
128. 5:20that's really going to help you move the
129. 5:22needle in your character. Until then,
130. 5:25have a great day, and I'll see you
131. 5:26tomorrow.