Character Development: What and Why and How

Being a character isn’t the same as having character. What is character development and why would you care?

What is character?

Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.
– Thomas Paine

Our character is who we are at the core of our being. It is what our most authentic self is made of and reflects how we relate to our self in the the world and with others. Character development is not a once and done thing, but a lifelong series of choices. Its about making the right choices as you come to crossroads in life. And one thing I have noticed is that the choices get harder as you go.

Here is an example: If you found something of $10 value, would you turn it in to the person that could get it back to the rightful owner? What if it was worth $100? How about one thousand dollars? 10,000 dollars? A hundred thousand?

Why care about character development?

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King is saying that what really matters is the content of one’s character. Character is the only thing that is ours alone and no one can take from us- it is the core of each of us. If you are a person of faith, you know this is the part of you that God will judge. When it really matters, we judge people on their character. A society is built on the collective character of its citizens

How do I develop character?

“An unexamined life is not worth living”
– Plato

Being a person of character requires attention to your SELF and monitoring that your character development is going in the right direction. A simple way to work on character is to focus on one character area for a couple of weeks. Pay close attention to how you are doing in that area. For example, are you being honest or are you not telling the truth by leaving things out (called lying by omission), or telling half truths, or white lies. Are there ways that you can tell the actual truth in a kind and compassionate way?

How is your politeness doing? Not just to your friends, but to the waiter at the restaurant who forgot your drink, or the mailcarrier who mis-delivered mail, or (and I admit, this my downfall), the driver doing 7 miles below the speed limit?

You might also review the image above on a daily or weekly basis and journal where you might have done better and in what area. You can right click on the image > save image as > save to your computer. No beating yourself up allowed. It’s a life-long process