Curious about Character: What Is It? How Do You Define It for Yourself?

Definition: Strength of mind; resolution; independence; individuality; as, he has a great deal of character. Moral quality; the principles and motives that control the life; as, a man of character; his character saves him from suspicion. The estimate, individual or general, put upon a person or thing; reputation; as, a man's character for truth and veracity; to give one a bad character.

“I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character!” - Theodore Roosevelt, American President

“Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught.” - J. C. Watts, American politician

How important is someone’s character to you? I know that of all of the descriptive terms used about me – both to my face and/or behind my back – my dream is to have others describe me as a “person of character.” I definitely agree with both of the above definitions, and yet I do care “what others think of what I do.”

When searching for quotations, I found that “reputation” was also mentioned often.

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” - John Wooden, American coach

“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” - Abraham Lincoln, American President

As I was growing up and out, my father – who was my incredible and influential mentor – stressed the importance of the record (or reputation) that we built up and carried with us. It consisted of the grades we achieved in school, the people we hung around with, the work we did for others, the jobs we held, how we treated others, and, of course, our character in all matters.

Here are a few more of the dozens and dozens of “character” quotations I found from the experts:

• “A man has no more character than he can command in a time of crisis.” - Ralph W. Sockman, American leader
• “Character is power.” - Booker T. Washington, American educator
• “People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet
• “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” - Martin Luther King, Jr., American leader
• “A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.” - Mark Twain, American author
• “Character, in great and little things, means carrying through what you feel able to do.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet

And a few more for you to consider and chew upon:

• “Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion.” – Aristotle, Greek philosopher
• “When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.” - Billy Graham, American clergyman
• “In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet
• “I think character is permanent, and issues are transient.” - James Stockdale, American soldier

I do feel that if we are not considered to be “people of character” it may take some work and effort to change that perception, but it is possible to work on our character habits and our thinking. We can change ourselves!

Curious about Implementation: When You Have and/or Are Given a New Idea, How Quickly Do You Move on It?

Definition of Implement: To accomplish; to fulfill. To fulfill or perform, as a contract or an engagement. To fulfill; perform; carry out: to put into effect according to or by means of a definite plan or procedure.

“Usually, if you have a new idea, you very rarely break through to anything like recognizable development or implementation of that idea the first time around - it takes two or three goes for the research community to return to the topic.” - Martin Fleischmann, English scientist

Yesterday, I attended a seminar that was filled with a plethora of great ideas and successful techniques. The presenters has used all of them and their success in our business proves that they know what they are talking about.

We all were taking notes like crazy, but as I drove home I started to wonder how many of us would implement those great suggestions. Spending the time I do on the Internet, I am handed wonderful ways to market, to grow my distribution list, to sell, to create affirmations … and then there are the newer technology tools like blogging, podcasting, creating audio and video clips and just keeping up with what is new and works.

I submit to you that we have to make implementation our friend, but not our downfall. If we never get around to implementing, we will stay exactly where we are. A great guru, T. Harv Eker, says, “If we are not growing, we are dying.” An yet, if we try to implement every new idea, we will experience the “bright shiny object syndrome” and become so scattered and unfocused, we will die in a different way.

Let’s examine some to the quotations from the experts:

• “It is not always what we know or analyzed before we make a decision that makes it a great decision. It is what we do after we make the decision to implement and execute it that makes it a good decision.” - William Pollard, American businessman
• “But with lots of good ideas, implementation is the key, and so we need to keep our eye on the ball as we go forward and make sure that people honor their pledges in terms of financial commitments, and that we actually use this money so that it makes a real difference.” - Mitchell Reiss, American attorney and consultant
• “You've got to be actively involved in the process yourself and you've got to listen carefully to what the coach is saying, take that on board yourself and implement what the coach is saying.” - Lynn Davies, British athlete
• “At Wal-Mart, if you couldn't explain an idea or a concept in simple terms on one page of paper Sam Walton considered the new idea too complicated to implement.” - Michael Bergdahl, American author
• “Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone's task is unique as his specific opportunity to implement it.” - Viktor E. Frankl, Austrian psychologist

And, then there are a couple of quotations that I am planning to take to heart and act upon:

“The more specific and measurable your goal, the more quickly you will be able to identify, locate, create, and implement the use of the necessary resources for its achievement.” - Charles J. Givens, American businessman

“I personally developed the Academy training program. All our training is based on solid educational principles. We present the material in four training formats: lecture, demonstration, drill, and implementation.” - Jim Evans, American athlete

Pick one or two ideas or techniques that you feel will move your life or business up the ladder of success. Then, implement, implement, implement. Let me know how it works for you!

Curious about the Phenomenon: Do We Really Experience It? What Triggers the Experience?

Definition: That which strikes one as strange, unusual, or unaccountable; an extraordinary or very remarkable person, thing, or occurrence; as, a musical phenomenon.

“The simplest and most psychologically satisfying explanation of any observed phenomenon is that it happened that way because someone wanted it to happen that way.” - Thomas Sowell, American economist

I have been reading and listening to Dan Kennedy for years, so when I read about his “The Phenomenon™ DVD Adventure,” I ordered it. As advertised, “the DVD transports you through a portal most people do not even know exists … into a different world … with different ‘rules’ than you’ve been conditioned to believe … where ‘regular people’ achieve extraordinary goals at amazing SPEED.” To hear an interview about it click HERE

Kennedy talks about triggering many periods of experiencing the “Phenomenon™”. This is a time period where one accomplishes in 12 months as much as he or she has accomplished in the last 12 years. Many gurus will tell us how success takes time. And yet, the premise of the “Phenomenon™” is the use of SPEED. I know that it has changed my thinking and attitude (and I have only watched it once so far). I am planning to have it change my outcomes!

How do the experts write about phenomena:

• “No phenomenon is a real phenomenon until it is an observed phenomenon.” - John A. Wheeler, American scientist
• “Giving a phenomenon a label does not explain it.” - Taylor Caldwell, American author
• “The will is not free - it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect - but there is something behind the will which is free.” - Swami Vivekananda, Indian clergyman
• “The phenomenon develops calmly, but it is invisible, unstoppable. One feels, one sees it born and grow steadily; and it is not in one's power to either hasten or slow it down.” - Leon Foucault, French inventor
• “Happiness is a real, objective phenomenon, scientifically verifiable. That means people and whole societies can now be measured over time and compared accurately with one another. Causes and cures for unhappiness can be quantified.” - Polly Toynbee, English journalist

Let’s read some quotations with a different twist on phenomena:

• “The whole conviction of my life now rests upon the belief that loneliness, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon, peculiar to myself and to a few other solitary men, is the central and inevitable fact of human existence.” - Tom Wolfe, American journalist
• “As soon as you forbid something, you make it extraordinarily appealing. You also bring shame in as a phenomenon.” - Jock Sturges, American photographer
• “I did not want to be a tree, a flower or a wave. In a dancer's body, we as audience must see ourselves, not the imitated behavior of everyday actions, not the phenomenon of nature, not exotic creatures from another planet, but something of the miracle that is a human being.” - Martha Graham, American dancer
• “Humanity should question itself, once more, about the absurd and always unfair phenomenon of war, on whose stage of death and pain only remain standing the negotiating table that could and should have prevented it.” - Pope John Paul II, Polish Pope
• “Although the dream is a very strange phenomenon and an inexplicable mystery, far more inexplicable is the mystery and aspect our minds confer on certain objects and aspects of life.” - Giorgio de Chirico, Greek artist

Isn’t it interesting how one word – phenomenon – can generate so many diverse thoughts and ideas? As always, I will leave you with three additional quotations to consider. Do let me know what you think. And, if you should watch Kennedy’s DVD, let me know how it affected you.

• “Modern technology has become a total phenomenon for civilization, the defining force of a new social order in which efficiency is no longer an option but a necessity imposed on all human activity.” - Jacques Ellul, French philosopher
• “The best way to investigate the elusive phenomenon called the creative process may well be to target all the misconceptions, to explain what the creative process is not.” - Lukas Foss, German composer
• “There is perhaps no phenomenon which contains so much destructive feeling as moral indignation, which permits envy or to be acted out under the guise of virtue.” - Erich Fromm, American psychologist

Curious about Rhythm: Everyone Has One, What Is Yours?

“Life is like dancing. If we have a big floor, many people will dance. Some will get angry when the rhythm changes. But life is changing all the time.” - Miguel Angel Ruiz, Mexican author

“Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change - this is the rhythm of living. Out of our over-confidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress.” - Bruce Barton, American author

I chose the theme of “Rhythm” for this week’s blog, because I not only experience it physically in my many fitness classes, but this past weekend I attended an interactive intensive conference filled with rhythm.

Each new section included fast, hot and lively music with the majority of the participants jumping, twisting, bouncing and basically moving with gusto. Bodies moved with many different rhythms as the room exploded with excitement and enthusiasm.

I started considering the part and parts rhythm plays in our lives, our activities and every project we are working on. Of course, there is a natural rhythm in the universe. But what about our own rhythm? Our days are dictated to through our rhythm(s) and do work a great deal more smoothly when we adhere to it or them.

Let’s consider some of the quotations I found:

• “An artist must possess Nature. He must identify himself with her rhythm, by efforts that will prepare the mastery which will later enable him to express himself in his own language.” - Henri Matisse, French artist
• “In Buddhism there are words you can say... as you say the words with rhythm the conscious tells the subconscious.” – Tina Turner, American musician
• “For me, shooting, editing, and scoring rely on rhythm.” - Donnie Yen, Chinese actor
• “Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.” – Thomas Merton, French clergyman

And a few more:

• “Writing is a question of finding a certain rhythm. I compare it to the rhythms of jazz. Much of the time life is a sort of rhythmic progression of three characters. If one tells oneself that life is like that, one feels it less arbitrary.” - Francoise Sagan, French playwright
• “Florida has its own rhythm, too. People go to work, they watch their children learn and grow and start families of their own. They play in the sun and pass their lives enjoying the outsized blessings that make our state unique.” - Jeb Bush, American politician
• “Children seem naturally drawn to poetry - it's some combination of the rhyme, rhythm, and the words themselves.” - Jack Prelutsky, American poet
• “The two elements the traveler first captures in the big city are extra human architecture and furious rhythm. Geometry and anguish.” - Federico Garcia Lorca, Spanish poet
• “The essence of football was blocking, tackling, and execution based on timing, rhythm and deception.” - Knute Rockne, American coach

I will leave you with these to round out your upcoming week:

“I felt like I was losing the rhythm of my youth. So many things were happening at the same time. I started moving out of that scene so I could find some peace and experience other things without a bunch of people breathing down my neck.” - Laura Nyro, American musician

“Life is about rhythm. We vibrate, our hearts are pumping blood, we are a rhythm machine, that's what we are.” - Mickey Hart, American musician

I suggest that you examine your own rhythm. Are you working with it or against it? I submit to you that life will flow with ease when you are in harmony and dancing with your unique rhythm.

Have a prosperous and rhythmic week!