The wrong road?

“No matter how far down the wrong road you are, turn back.” – Turkish Proverb

Is there an area of your life where you are going down the wrong road? 

Going farther won’t help.  

Turn back today.

A Scout is…

Trustworthy

Loyal 

Helpful

Friendly

Courteous

Kind

Obedient

Cheerful

Thrifty

Brave

Clean

Reverent

This is the Scout Law.  I learned this there.  And now that I think of it, I don’t recall any discussion of being “loyal” or “trustworthy” or “brave” in school.  And since people don’t learn these things in school, where do they learn them?  (Certainly not on television.)  Something is missing and this is where parents, churches, civic organizations, and elders must fill in. 

How do you model and actively teach character?

Thinking problems = Problems

When you don’t think right, you make the wrong decisions, say the wrong things to the wrong people and do things that cause undesirable results.  When you don’t think right you cause problems for yourself.  When you have these problems, you can blame it on someone else if you like, but if you are honest and take responsibility, you can trace it back to your own thinking problems.

This is why we need to work on ourselves a lot – so we can think straight.  Learn, exercise, sleep, meditate, follow a compass of character, and zoom out and think about what you are doing and why and how fairly often.

Think better, live better.

Excel at Arithmetic

Most times it is not complex algorithms or equations we need to know to get ahead – it’s basic math. 

To succeed at personal finance you can’t follow the crowd and popular wisdom.  You need to know when “that don’t add up!”

Credit card debt.  Mortgage interest.  Taxes.  Investments.  Income.  Expenses.  

Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Excel at arithmetic. 

Practice enough

Practice enough so you can get it right, then practice enough that you can’t make a mistake.

Mastery requires lots and lots of practice.

Don’t compete with the wrong people

If you try to look good by making your teammates look bad, you have it wrong. If your goal is to compete and win over your teammates, you can never influence them, and they will not want to cooperate with you. 

The competition is the other team, not yours.   

Who is on your team at home, at work, and at play?

Controlling Yourself

Is a good life possible without self-discipline?  

We all have impulses and desires.  But if we follow them as they arise, we will not wind up in a good place.  Think of people you know who live marred or unhappy lives.  I bet lack of self-control is at the root of most cases.

“He who overcomes others is strong, but he who overcomes himself is mightier still.” – Lao Tzu

Do you enjoy freedom and happiness by exercising self-control?

"Character is Destiny"

“Character is Destiny” – Heroclitis

Lots of people are smarter than you. But if they don’t have the character to back it up, they can’t succeed like you can.  

Which would you rather be – super talented but have inconsistent or dubious character, or be of average talent and high character?

Generate Energy

A power plant doesn’t have energy, it generates it.  

Enthusiasm, motion, focus – it comes from inside you, not outside.

Are you generating enough energy?

Neck-top computer

You have a laptop.  You have a smartphone. 

But don’t forget – you are the human-in-charge.  All of that other stuff is to serve you and help you be the best version of you that you can.