Wisdom and Virtue

Sometimes we know what to do, but we don’t do it. We may justify not doing it with any number of excuses or reasons we tell ourselves.  

Wisdom is knowing what to do. Virtue is doing it.

Do you need to exercise more virtue?

How to be better in the eyes of others.

“There are four ways, and only four ways in which we have contact with the world. We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts; What we do now, how we look, what we say, and how we say it.” – Dale Carnegie

Ok, so if we want the world to assess us differently (better), then we can change what we do, how we look, what we say or how we say it.

Simple enough – right?

Arguing for your weaknesses

Sometimes we have a weakness and we go around explaining to everyone why we have it and justifying it. Of course, this only makes the weakness harder to get rid of, correct, or at least strengthen a few degrees.

Change your language. “I am getting better at_______.” “I haven’t mastered that quite yet, but I can try now.”

Don’t argue for your weaknesses, argue against them.

Biography and Destiny

Many people think biography equals destiny.  But that’s only if you stop making important decisions.  

Decisions give you the power to change direction – and destination.

Are there decisions you need to make?

Resourcefulness

When people fail they claim they didn’t have the time/money/technology/contacts/knowledge.

But it’s not resources that we’re missing.  It’s resourcefulness.  If we wanted it bad enough, made it a priority, and had the courage and self-discipline, we’d find a way to get or tap into the resources.

Right?

Your inherent limits

We all have talents. But if we rely on our natural skills, instincts and what we’ve learned from our own personal experience, we get to our limits pretty quickly. In today’s world, we will need much more than that to do well.

We must learn from outside of us; from others. We must tap into what others know/have learned/and want to share. Being successful today requires ever-changing and expanding specialized knowledge. To compete, we must create an adult habit of learning the right things from the right places to achieve what we say we want.

How do you learn each and every day?

Nourish your mind

If we put lots of junk food into our bodies, we know what happens.  

What about our minds?  Do we give them junk to think about, process and live on?

Doesn’t it stand to reason that we should put good things into our minds?

Is your mind filled with metaphorical candy and chips?

What's your plan?

What is your plan for today? – the daily plan that’s part of a larger plan to get something big done…

How are you going to stay on that plan when the many agents of the world clamor for your easily distracted monkey brain to pay attention to them instead?

Build your defenses. Be purposeful. Have a plan, and stick with it.

Hold on to each other

Life can be tough, scary and lonely. We all make mistakes, have some misfortune, and lose connections.

Hold onto each other. It’s important.

Die trying

No one gets out alive, so what’s the alternative? Die not trying?

Keep going. If you’re still breathing, it’s not too late.  

This is your chance.