It's all about character

Watch your thoughts, they become your words.

Watch your words, they become your actions.

Watch your actions, they become your habits.

Watch your habits, they become your character.

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny


A poster with these words was in my room for many years and now resides at my old workspace in the action and attention lab at the University of Toronto. I really appreciate the larger message of the poster- not only is character important, but your character is a compilation of a series of little events. Lots of self-help books that tell you this type of thing. Over the past year, I was tricked into reading a lot of them: The Subtle Art of not Diving a Fuck, Living Eyes Wide Open, Spark, Deep Work and many others.  I didn't like any of them- although they were entertaining and I definitely see why people like the stories in them. What these books fail to mention, or only mention superficially, is that an incremental approach to self-management is the best approach to changing or maintaining your best behaviours. Constantly monitoring and ensuring that you win the small battles with your thoughts and words is tough, but in the end these little victories will add up over time.  I like this idea, and I think that's why I like the poster.