Focus on Character

Your character is who you really are as a person while your reputation is merely what others think of you. Influential people feel good about how they present themselves to others, knowing they present the real person. 

Sometimes simple advice is the most important advice. I can remember being told in my youth that if I always told the truth I’d never have to worry about remembering what I said. At the time I did not realize it, but I was being taught about integrity and character. 

Legacy achievers wouldn’t have it any other way. Projecting an image that is inconsistent with who you really are is very dangerous. Many politicians have become painfully aware of this. When politicians win an election on false pretenses, they run the risk of being found out. Not only is the potential embarrassment great for these people, but the lack of credibility that stems from such a practice can be devastating. When a man’s character is under attack, he loses his influence. 

Think of yourself as having a makeup similar to planet Earth. When you take a close look at yourself, you see a core, a mantle, and a surface--very much the same as our planet. 

Your core is what you really believe as a person or who you really are. Your mantle is your past experiences in life (something we cannot change.) And your surface is how you appear to others. 

It is easy to assume that a person is the real deal because she looks good on the outside. But if you dig a littler deeper, below the surface, you may find someone with core beliefs that don’t match her surface. This swings both ways. Some people believe righteous things but are too weak to live in accordance with their belief. They become like Pontius Pilate, ruling against their better judgment because their actual beliefs are unpopular. On the other hand, some people act righteous despite their ugly core. They do this only to manipulate others, as Robert Greene suggests.

We cannot change the past. Our mantle, or life experiences, may be filled with events that are not consistent with our current beliefs. It is more important that our core matches our surface than that our surface matches our mantle.

Because we all make mistakes, our integrity and character should not be measured only by what we have done in the past. More important, we should be measured by how well our current actions match our current core values and beliefs.

If you tried to measure integrity and character by past experiences alone you would have no hope of becoming a better person yourself. The catch here is that when you have behaved in a way that is inconsistent with your current core beliefs, it may take time for others to trust that you are truly different now. That is why legacy achievers pay close attention to make sure that how they act truly reflects who they are. 

Dave Durand, Perpetual Motivation (Crossroad, 2006) 

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Dave Durand is the co-founder and CEO of the international media company Best Version Media. He is also an author, professional speaker and radio personality. If you thought this post was valuable then please "like" it and share with others! You can find more from Dave on his Facebook profile right here.