Actions Reflecting Our Values

It’s difficult as a leader or just someone who likes to mix in a lot within social circles to be ones self. Never the less, our actions do to tell a story to people who see us in action or hear us. My idea of what a good person is (picture above) and what another’s is can be completely different. I would recommend doing an exercise I did that created the above word tree answering this simple question for yourself:

What does it mean to be a good person?

List those qualities anyway you want. I choose to do crossword of sorts where I tried to use the words and build off of them. My one word definitions of what makes a good person included, but weren’t limited to, where:

• Compassionate
• Sharer
• Fearless
• Level
• Seeker
• Listener
• Friendly
• Open
• Nurturing

And so on, and so on. All actions and behaviors that if I saw them would make me think on first impressions that this person was a good person if I saw them in action around me.

Those are my ideas of what it means to be a good person and in probably some way, influenced by my personal values. This is really why my idea of what a good person is, might be completely different then yours as they relate to your personal values differently. So, this begs the question, how do we ever come to terms and find common ground as a society or culture on what a good person is if we could be so different in our idea of what it is?

I don’t have that answer yet. But, I want to explore it. I try to practice and act within my culture’s (work culture, family culture, social, etc.) ideas of what worthy virtues they see as important. I look for and open myself up to what others embody as virtuous or morally right. Then I let that guide my actions or interactions with those beliefs. How do I do that and practice it? We’ll get into that on another day. For now, I’ll end with this:

Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not. – Oprah Winfrey

Hope this made you think and explore you’re own ideas for a minute. That you paused long enough for it to sink in. Love to read or hear from you on what it meant to do that below in the comments field.

Thanks for viewing and I hope the start of your weekend has been one that you’ve been able to enjoy for you.

✌🏻 Shawn