Business Finds

Character Is a Cause

My favorite technique for understanding the long-term consequences of my status quo is to journal. I use journaling software for that. I write out where I am now, and I imagine that I’m looking at myself through the eyes of an objective observer. Then I try to make some predictions about where I’ll be in 20 years if I stay on this path. I write down those predictions in a stream of consciousness manner; then I read them back and organize them into a more logical structure.

Most of the time, I see some things that I like and some things I don’t like. Then I backtrack to the causes of each major consequence in my present reality.

Usually the causes have a lot to do with my character. The greatest predictors of where I’ll end up are my self-discipline, focus, self-education, and willingness to work hard. The more disciplined I am right now, the better my future looks.

External factors don’t seem to matter as much. Only the weak-minded project responsibility for their outcomes onto external factors like a chance meeting, a lucky business opportunity, etc. If you’re strong-willed and disciplined, you create your own opportunities. A missed chance doesn’t matter that much. There will always be more.

You’ll probably find as I do, however, that there are some aspects of your character you aren’t happy with. They create long-term consequences that can be difficult to look at. But you need to understand those consequences in order to correct the related character weaknesses today.

In the long run, laziness hurts. So does a lack of focus. So does a denial of responsibility for your life. Character weaknesses like these lead to crappy outcomes down the road.

The status quo you’re experiencing right now is a result of your character interacting with the world. If you want to experience a better status quo, then you’ll need to change the way your character interacts, which means you need to improve your character.

This will take time, but the first step is identifying how you want your character to change.

Do you want to be more disciplined? More ambitious? More generous? More organized? More intelligent with respect to how you live?

How would you like your character to continue to evolve?

Form an image of the character you’d really like to be, a character that has a positive present reality and positive long-term predictions for 20 years down the road. What kind of person is that?

Ultimately it’s not your job situation or your relationships or your income level that determine your destiny. It’s your character. We could take a totally different character and plop her into your life as-is, and immediately she’d begin doing things differently. She wouldn’t tolerate the same things you’d tolerate. She might look at your relationship and exit it immediately. She might quit your job right away if it sucked. She might start packing if your living situation is below her standards. As you improve your character, you’ll stop tolerating those aspects of your status quo that are beneath you, and change will happen quickly.

In other words, if your status quo isn’t working for you, the true cause is a character defect. Some aspect of your character is weak and under-developed, and that’s why you’re stuck in the situation you’re in. Some part of you has been lazy, naive, unfocused, irresponsible, stupid, etc. Your current status quo is a natural consequence of your character interacting with the world.

If you want a better status quo and better long-term results, then begin to act as your ideal character would. What would a more disciplined, focused, intelligent character do in your situation? Start behaving like that character, and you’ll become increasingly like that character within. You’ll also begin shifting to a better status quo.

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The Status Quo by Business Finds