The Credit Professional Fall 2015 | Page 15

continued from page 14 Normal is the average or common type. As we have already seen, the common type is a world lacking integrity. Normality is not a goal—it is the problem! People of integrity are exceptional. They are individuals who have consistency in their lives. You know what you’re going to get when you deal with them. You can trust that what they say to you will be consistent with what they say about you when you’re not present. This is why we value them so highly. We know where we stand with them. The question is: How do we become people of integrity? It is all about consistency. It is about being the same person in every situation. This requires deciding who we are going be. It begins with making better choices on the wheel of consistency. change your habits. You have to consciously choose to initiate a behavior repetitively until it becomes a natural expression. longer than others and some take an entire lifetime to develop. However, the opportunities you have today are a direct result of the choices you made, the habits you hold, the character you’ve developed and the value people place on you. If you want to change the opportunities you get, you have to start by changing the choices you make. Better habits lead to better character. Most people have an erroneous view of character. We get to choose who we are They view character as being going to be. We do so through trustworthy, responsible, the choices we make. We honest, etc. Those are habits. usually want to focus on the If you are honest, it is because major life choices to define our you have the habit of telling the life. Really, it is the endless row truth. You get to choose your What is the great reward from of daily choices that define us. habits but you do not get to all this work to become a That is where consistency is choose your character. person of integrity? MORE established (or lost). PROBLEMS—and that is a Character is how your habits good thing. Better choices lead to better are socially perceived by other habits. We are creatures of people. Better character is I’m one of the cruelest parents habit. Just about everything achieved when we hold habits you will ever meet. I do we do is based on conditioned long enough that people around whatever it takes to get my habits in our life. From working us begin to define us by them. kids out of bed in the morning. out, to eating, to reading, to I beat pots and pans. I blast how we get dressed in the Better character makes us more opera music through the house. morning, literally everything is valuable as individuals and My favorite is to take a mason dictated by habitual actions. opens the door to greater jar, fill it with glass marbles opportunities. You get to choose and put it in the deep freeze. You get to choose your habits. the opportunities you will face. It takes effort and dedication to Some opportunities take much continued on page 16 October 2015 15 The Credit Professional