When my daughter is an adult, I’d love for her to look back onto our time together and say two things: one, she felt my love in her heart everyday of her life. And, two, I was a man of integrity.Integrity is something much easier to talk about than to live out. We all know those people whom talk big about how we should live but walk a different way. In fact, I’m often the hypocrite who talks or writes about something and then abandons ideals. As a self-improvement enthusiast, it is easy to talk a big game.
I desperately want to avoid the big-game-talker-syndrome. Therefore, I have taken a few steps to achieve my goal for my family.
My first step is to gain wisdom from my faith. I try to read a chapter out of the book of Proverbs every day. There are loads of wisdom-nuggets even for non-believers. It was a great place to learn when this book was written thousands of years ago, but the lessons are still relevant. We learn from history, and what better place to start the day?
Next, I have read biographies about people I respect like Daniel, presidents or military leaders. It is great to read how real people faced some tough issues in their lives and then overcame them. I even like when I read about how they have made wrong decisions and the lessons learned from the repercussions.
Another thing I like to do to continue the flood of character building blocks to my mind is read books about self improvement. Currently, I am reading a man of integrity devotional book.
The last step is to be held accountable. I am blessed with people in my life who do not lack the gift of candor. My military leadership will let me know exactly what they think about my decisions. My wife will also share exactly what is on her mind. These great folks will let me know when I do good or bad.
If I’m willing to learn, I’ve great tools to forge my character. Do you?