I
was having a conversation the other day with someone who asked me
what my greatest strength was. I thought to myself, “What a great
question”. Why? Because it really made me slow down and go a little
deeper as I sorted through the best qualities that I honestly like
about me.
After
several seconds, which probably felt a lot longer for both of us, I
came up with the first answer that came to mind. “I think my
greatest strength is that I strive to live a principal centered life.
Over 20 years ago, I read one of the most profound books titled, “The
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Steven Covey. Of the
seven habits that Covey discovered, one crucial quality that
separates happy, well adjusted and successful people from chronically
unhappy people is what they place at the center of their life. Highly
effective people place the core values of honesty and integrity at
the center of every decision they make while unsuccessful people
don’t. Unsuccessful people put something else at the center, like
themselves, their career, their spouse, their family or something
else which leaves them feeling chronically frustrated, imbalanced and
empty. When I’m confronted with a difficult decision, whenever I
consult my conscious to make a principal centered choice, I always
walk away with a feeling of peace knowing that I’ve made the best
decision I could with the information I had. I no longer cave in to
the desire to torture myself by second guessing past decisions
because I did the best I could with the knowledge I had at the time”.
I’m
sure that was probably more information than they really wanted to
know, but one thing was certain…I FELT GREAT! Why? Because I was
focusing on all my positive qualities and that has always felt good
to me. I know I’m a sucker for praise, but who isn’t? If someone
came up to you right now and they gave you an honest and sincere
compliment without
wanting anything from
you, how would you feel? Chances are, YOU WOULD FEEL GREAT TOO!
No
matter how busy you are or think you are, make the time to consider
all your best character traits today. Resist the urge to put it off
until later because you’ll probably forget about it. Do it right
now! Better yet, put pen to paper and write down every single quality
that you really like about yourself. Take as much time as you like,
because you are worth it! Next, narrow it down to your single
greatest character trait. Now describe how that character trait has
helped you navigate through life. Finally, hold on to that thought
all day and I challenge you to feel bad. Chances are, your day will
unfold with unexpected pleasant surprises. Why? Because that’s what
happens WHEN YOU’RE FEELING GREAT, MORE GREAT THINGS HAPPEN!
I
was sharing this conversation with my wife Diana the other day when I
realized that there was another character trait that’s even more
important to my overall success and happiness. I’m not sure why it
took several days for the true answer to come to me, but I’m just
grateful that it did. I now realize that my single greatest character
strength is the desire to constantly improve myself from the inside
out. Every day, I focus on changing something I don’t like about
myself by turning it into something that I will like. I’ve had the
best success when I’ve taken on just one just one character trait
at a time. Whenever I try to change everything I don’t like about
myself all at the same time, I tend to feel so overwhelmed and
frustrated, I just want to quit, which only makes me dislike myself
even more. After all, nobody loves a quitter because a quitter is
nobody!
After
consulting your conscious about all your great qualities, I encourage
you to adopt the quality of constantly improving yourself from the
inside out. The only constant in life is change. Everything in this
universe is evolving, whether we like it or not, including ourselves.
With every breath we take, millions of new cells are born, replacing
cells that die. So, embrace the changes within by visualizing your
negative character traits like dying cells which are being replaced
by positive and healthy new ones. Be sure to celebrate the great
adventure of every new experience. Why? BECAUSE, LIFE IS SHORT AND
YOU DESERVE TO FEEL GREAT ABOUT YOURSELF EVERY DAY!
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