From our guest contributor Frank Sonnenberg.

There was a time when keeping your word held special significance. We took great pride in being of good character. Personal integrity was both expected and valued. That was a time when everyone knew each other’s family, and you wouldn’t do anything that would cast a shadow on your family’s good name. It was a time when integrity was instilled in children at a very early age and was viewed as instrumental in achieving success. The truth is, our world may have changed, but the importance of integrity has not. Your word is your bond. While we may not know everyone in our own town, the world is still smaller than you think. Create some bad news and you’ll learn this for yourself.

Every time you give your word, you’re putting your honor on the line. You’re implying that others can place their trust in you because you value integrity and would never let them down. It goes without saying that if you don’t live up to your word, you may end up tarnishing your credibility, damaging your relationships, and defaming your reputation. Most importantly, you’ll be letting yourself down. You must answer to your conscience every minute of every day. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “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!”

But . . . when you operate with complete integrity, what you say will be taken at face value, your intentions will be assumed honorable, and your handshake will be as good as a contract. Most importantly, you can take great pride in the standards that you’ve set for yourself and sleep well at night knowing that your conscience is clear. As for others . . . just when they think they’re fooling the world, they’ll realize that they’re only fooling themselves. Honor matters! Your word is your bond, after all.

Frank is an award-winning author. He has written six books and over 300 articles. Frank was recently named one of “America’s Top 100 Thought Leaders” and one of America’s Most Influential Small Business Experts. Frank has served on several boards and has consulted to some of the largest and most respected companies in the world. Additionally, FrankSonnenbergOnline was named among the “Best 21st Century Leadership Blogs” and among the “Top 100 Socially-Shared Leadership Blogs.” Frank’s newest book, BOOKSMART: Hundreds of real-world lessons for success and happiness, was released November, 2016 © 2017 Frank Sonnenberg. All rights reserved.

From our guest contributor, Frank Sonnenberg.

Some people measure success by the wealth they’ve accumulated, the power they’ve attained, or the status they’ve achieved. Yet, even though they’ve reached success beyond their wildest dreams, they still have an empty feeling — something is missing from their life.

In order to fill that void and be completely fulfilled in life, their soul may be searching for something more.

Here are a few scenarios that describe this emptiness:

Lonely at the top. I was obsessed with making it to the top. When I arrived, however, I learned that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I now realize that my continual pursuit of advancement seriously compromised my ability to spend quality time with my family and build meaningful relationships with friends.

Enough is never enough. One of the ways I kept score in life was to compare my toys to my neighbors’ toys. It felt good for a while, but each “high” just didn’t last. I now know better. I realized that if I’m not careful, the game of life can become an obsession — there will always be people with more and less than I have.

Sold my soul. I would have given anything to be a success. I lied, cheated, and sold my soul to the devil. I understand now that although I’ve obtained fame and fortune, people don’t like or respect me. Knowing what I’ve done, I find it hard to live with myself, and others seem to agree.

All work and no play. I was always the first person in the office and the last one to leave. While my business life has been a roaring success, my personal life has been a disaster. I realize there’s got to be more to life. Balance matters, and I must be the one to make it happen.

Pleased everyone except myself. I never made a move without first seeking the approval of my friends and family. They’re happy, but I’m miserable. I now appreciate that my opinion matters too, and counting on others to make up my mind for me is just a cop-out. After all, it’s my life and I own it.

Lived in the future rather than the present. I spent much of my life thinking about what I was going to do tomorrow. Now that I’m older, I’ve come face-to-face with the reality that my days won’t go on forever; I wish I had learned to savor every special moment as it happened.

If any of these scenarios sound familiar to you, it may be time for a course correction.

The purpose of life is a perpetual question that has intrigued mankind since the beginning of human existence. Success in life begins with purpose. When you achieve clarity, you’ll gain a new perspective on your life. When you find your purpose, you’ll feel good about who you are, what you stand for, and where you’re heading. When you discover your purpose, an inner peace will replace the need to seek approval from others. And friends and family will begin to sense a new you: someone who is happy, motivated and self-assured — a person with a mission. People will say that there’s something really special about you. And, they’ll be right! As Robert Byrne, author, once said, ‘The purpose of life is a life of purpose.’ It isn’t too late to start.”

This is an excerpt from Follow Your Conscience by Frank Sonnenberg, © 2017 Frank Sonnenberg. All rights reserved.

Frank is an award-winning author. He has written six books and over 300 articles. Frank was recently named one of “America’s Top 100 Thought Leaders” and one of America’s Most Influential Small Business Experts. Frank has served on several boards and has consulted to some of the largest and most respected companies in the world. Additionally, FrankSonnenbergOnline was named among the “Best 21st Century Leadership Blogs” and among the “Top 100 Socially-Shared Leadership Blogs.” Frank’s newest book, BOOKSMART: Hundreds of real-world lessons for success and happiness, was released November, 2016 © 2017 Frank Sonnenberg. All rights reserved.

Click here for more information on character education.

From our guest contributor Michael Josephson.

Ben just came to town as a new rabbi. Unfortunately, his first official duty was to conduct a funeral service for Albert, a man who died in his eighties with no relatives. Since Ben didn’t know the deceased personally, he paused from his sermon to ask if anyone in the congregation would say something good about Albert. There was no response. Ben asked again: “Many of you knew Albert for years, surely someone can say something nice.” After an uncomfortable pause, a voice from the back of the room said, “Well, his brother was worse.”

If you died tomorrow, what would people say about you? Would it make you proud of the way you lived and the choices you made? Thinking about the legacy we leave can help us keep our priorities straight. Few people would be satisfied with an epitaph like: “She always got what she wanted.” Or “He never missed a deadline.”

There’s an old saying, “If you want to know how to live your life, think about what you’d like people to say about you after you die . . . and live backwards.” The idea is that we earn our eulogy by our everyday choices.

In his book, When Everything You Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough, Harold Kushner writes: “Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will be at least a little bit different for our having passed through it.”

Michael Josephson is an influential and internationally renowned champion of character education for youth and ethical conduct in business, government, policing, journalism, sports, healthcare and law. He is credited by many as the person most responsible for reviving and professionalizing the character education in school and youth-serving organizations. In 1992, under the auspices of the Josephson Institute he created CHARACTER COUNTS!, the world’s most widely implemented character development initiative based on a common language of shared values – the Six Pillars of Character) and Pursuing Victory With Honor (1996), a companion program promoting ethics in sports.

Click here for more information on character education.

If so, you’re not alone. We all feel stressed out at one time or another. It’s a natural reaction to what goes on in our lives, especially during this busy holiday season. Recent research on the subject of stress and happiness indicates that we can handle stress better, live longer, be more successful, suffer less burnout, be smarter and be more productive by just training our brains to choose happiness. In his book ‘Before Happiness’, Shawn Achor writes about some steps we can take to help train our brains to choose happiness. In addition to regular exercise and meditation he suggests the following:

• ‘Three Gratitudes’: each day for 21 days, write down three things that your grateful for
• Journaling: each day write about one positive experience from the past 24 hours
• ‘Random Acts of Kindness’: each day write one positive email, text or social media post praising or thanking someone in your social support network
• What positive experience, from the past 24 hours, could you write about to start training your brain to choose happiness?

Click here for more information on character education.

When we see people succeed, we may assume that things like natural talent or test scores were the big factors in their success. While these factors can play into their success, there’s more to it than that. Author Angela Duckworth discusses the power of grit and the influence it can have on one’s success. After dedicating her time and research to figuring out what makes people successful, Duckworth has discovered the power that passion and perseverance can have in achieving your goals. Click on the video below to see Duckworth’s research on grit and how it impacts success.

After taking some time to learn about Duckworth’s research, try and relate her findings to your own goals. Are there areas in your life where her research could help you achieve your goals and be successful?

For more information on success and what it really means, click here.

Click here for more information on character education.

From our guest contributor, Frank Sonnenberg.

People like talking about trust. So, why doesn’t trust receive the priority that it rightly deserves? In some cases, people are short-term thinkers. They’ll do anything to get what they want and aren’t willing to make the long-term commitment. Others conclude that it’s hard to measure the impact that our words and actions have on trust –– so why pay the price? Let’s look at what happens in the absence of trust.

The Cost of Distrust

In the relationships between people and groups, a lack of trust:

• Creates a distraction. Distrust causes people to lose sight of what’s important and become sidetracked by trivial matters.
• Damages relationships. Distrust promotes disharmony and uncertainty. It causes people to scrutinize what others say and second-guess their intent.
• Destroys communication. Distrust fosters dishonesty and lack of transparency. People spend more effort reading between the lines than listening to what’s being said.
• Damages teamwork. Distrust creates dissension. It pits people against one another. You can expect finger pointing, the blame game, and witch-hunts to thrive where there is distrust.
• Reduces competitiveness. When there’s distrust, people spend more time answering to the “paperwork police” than doing their job. This increases costs, but rarely adds value to the product or the customer experience.
• Encourages game playing. Distrust encourages people to spend more time trying to beat the system rather than trying to do something meaningful.
• Destroys individual initiative. Distrust encourages people to look busy rather than to actually be productive.
• Creates a toxic environment. Distrust creates an atmosphere that can be cut with a knife. In these environments, people opt for the political solution rather than for doing what’s right.
• Hurts loyalty and morale. Distrust is anxiety provoking and debilitating. Good people would rather leave an organization for greener pastures than spend their days covering their behind.

There is a tendency to believe that if something cannot be seen or heard, it does not exist. It brings to mind the question: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Trust, as with other soft issues, is like the tree that falls in a forest. If we don’t believe that trust makes a sound, maybe it’s time to get our hearing checked.

Frank is an award-winning author. He has written five books and over 300 articles. Frank was recently named one of “America’s Top 100 Thought Leaders” and nominated as one of “America’s Most Influential Small Business Experts.” Frank has served on several boards and has consulted to some of the largest and most respected companies in the world. Additionally, FrankSonnenbergOnline was named among the “Best 21st Century Leadership Blogs” and among the “Top 100 Socially-Shared Leadership Blogs.” Frank’s new book, Follow Your Conscience, was released November 2014. © 2016 Frank Sonnenberg. All rights reserved.

Click here for more information on character education.

Think of a “lollipop moment” in your life in which someone impacted the course of your life. Have you told that person how they impacted you? If not, write them, call them, or text them to let them know how they changed your life for the better. Watch the following Ted Talk on Everyday Leadership.

For more information on how to be a good leader, click here.

Click here to learn more about character education.

Via youtube.com/channel/UChxIKe_BnVdqu9NvXAz5oqw

Click here to learn more about character education.

The employees of a large company all received an email one morning.  It read,  “The person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to attend a memorial this afternoon in the conference room.”  The employees were immediately sad for the loss of one of their colleagues.  As the day continued, they grew curious to know who had hindered their growth.

As employees arrived for the memorial, they noticed a large coffin at the end of the room.  Tension in the room grew as more and more employees arrived to see who was to blame for their professional problems.  One by one the employees approached the coffin and were left speechless when they looked inside.

The only things inside the coffin were a mirror and a note that read, “There is only one person capable of setting limits to your growth. It is you.”

We can either assume that our intelligence, character and abilities are largely unable to change or we can believe that our brains and abilities are just the starting point for our own growth.

Here’s more about having a growth mindset, from Carol Dweck.

Click here to learn more about character education.

The Six Pillars of Character are usually pretty simple to explain.  They are ethical values that are easy for everyone to understand and appreciate.

If you think for a few minutes, you could identify several ways that using that the Pillars can help you be the best person you can be.  Your best self.

What about how the Pillars can help you do a good job?  Your best work.

Doing our best work requires dependability, perseverance, determination, and diligence.  And passion, resourcefulness, confidence, and critical thinking.  The list could go on and on!

Caring may mean more than we used to think.  Showing caring through appreciation, kindness and compassion will help us be our best self.  Showing caring through passion, adaptability and collaboration can help us do our best work.

What about trustworthiness?  Striving to be our best self includes trustworthiness traits like honesty and integrity.  We can show trustworthiness through dependability, diligence, and craftsmanship in our efforts to do our best work.

Now that we’ve expanded our views of the Pillars, how can you use them to do your best work?