Mar 5, 2017
A hundred years ago, "building character" was the thing to do. It was important to have a good character, a strong character, a great deal of character (rather than no character)...
Since that time, the idea of building character, of actively developing things like resilience, moral courage, strength and self-reliance seems to have fallen by the wayside. But are these aspects of ourselves any less important nowadays?
What does it mean, in contemporary times, to "Build Character"?
In this episode Clay and Sarah discuss:
* what we mean by 'character'
* how things like resilience, internal motivation, moral courage, free-thinking, self-reliance and compassion relate to our character
* whether adversity builds character, strengthens character or reveals character
* Clay's experience at West Point and the military's approach to character building
* the cultural and historical background of 'character building' and how changes in the 20th C shifted our focus from 'character' to 'personality'
* Sarah's reflections on the role of parents in building character in children
* How word choice (failure v. setback) & making small mental shifts can help us build aspects of our character (like perserverence)