Service

The best way to get over feeling sorry for yourself is to serve others.

http://www.choosetodoright.com/

Obligations

When you fulfill your obligations to others you ultimately fulfill an obligation to yourself.


http://www.choosetodoright.com/

Judging right and wrong

The easiest way to judge between right and wrong is to assess the potential consequences of our choices and behavior. We should also examine whether our values, standards, and beliefs are causing the consequences we want in our lives.

http://www.choosetodoright.com/

A Clean Conscience

Our conscience is like a mirror in which our soul reflects upon itself and weighs what it sees against the highest standard of reality we perceive. And, much like any mirror, this reflection will become more realistic and clearer when we clean it. When we eliminate the blemishes caused by our past atrocities (along with their excuses and justifications) we enable ourselves to recognize reality and see things more clearly. Not only do we increase our ability to realistically judge between wrong and right, but we also augment our human capacity to be emotionally guided by this judgment.

http://www.choosetodoright.com/

Our Conscience

I believe that as human beings we are innately moral creatures. Most of us have the internal ability to judge between right and wrong, good and bad. And, we have the capacity to be emotionally guided by this judgment. We have a conscience. However, listening to our conscience requires effort and sacrifice. It requires choosing to pay attention.

Reaching Goals

We should always focus on the little steps that are necessary to achieve our goals and struggle to build a successful life like we would a house - one brick at a time.

http://www.choosetodoright.com/

Using today to create our future

Our life is transitory. Eventually, the day will come when it is no longer full of possibilities and potential, but only memories. Thus, we must learn to view the present, the here and now, as the time to make the most of our opportunities, strive towards our potential, and build a meaningful life. Today is the day that we create our memories and shape the legacy we will eventually leave behind. The legacy which, for good or bad, will be our eternal mark on posterity and will determine how we will be remembered, and how we will spend the rest of eternity.

http://www.choosetodoright.com/

Responsible Relationships

In order to be handled responsibly, every relationship, no matter how intimate or casual it may be, requires the ability to see things from another’s point of view.

http://www.choosetodoright.com/

The mode of communications for our emotions is non-verbal

When learning to have empathy for others, it is important to realize that while the mode of communications for the rational mind is verbal, the mode of communications for our emotions is non-verbal.

http://www.choosetodoright.com/

The key to making good decisions

When we judge others, we should pretend that we are the ones who are being judged. Only then will we be able to judge fairly. When we buy we should imagine that we are the seller, and when we sell we should perceive ourselves as the buyer. Then we can buy and sell with integrity. When we are offended, we should imagine that we are the offender and when we hurt someone, we should envision ourselves as the ones being hurt. Only then can we show true mercy and sincere sorrow.


http://www.choosetodoright.com/

Personal Success

We simply cannot say YES to happiness and success unless we first say NO to all the things which could cause us to be unhappy and unsuccessful.


http://www.choosetodoright.com/

Anger

Anger and its core emotions (such as hate, resentment, frustration, irritability, annoyance, etc.) are dangerous because they are powerful enough to momentarily override rational thought and eliminate the deterrents to behaving irresponsibly.  

Emotional Intelligence

The practice of keeping a detailed journal can help us to gain the habitual self-awareness and emotional insight which is necessary to develop emotional intelligence.

Emotional Intelligence

The awareness of our own emotions is the cornerstone of emotional intelligence. Before we can ever learn to control our emotions, use them to morally guide our lives, or properly recognize these emotions in others (develop empathy), we must first learn to consistently pay attention to the realities of our inner self and accept our emotions as being a part of who we are.

http://www.choosetodoright.com/

Integrity

To be successful we must develop a consistent personal integrity which is based on our responsible purpose and guided by an uncompromising morality. We must start making the right choices in all situations, not simply to avoid punishment, but because we recognize that this type of behavior is the most beneficial for ourselves and those around us. And, because we truly believe that it is the right thing to do. In the end, if we can get to the point where our moral abilities have become habitual, then we will become more productive and successful in life. Instead of continuously struggling to simply deter irresponsible and criminal thoughts and behavior, we will be able to concentrate more on our spiritual, physical and mental growth.

http://www.choosetodoright.com/

Our Conscience

Our conscience is like a mirror in which our soul reflects upon itself and weighs what it sees against the highest standard of reality we perceive. And, much like any mirror, this reflection will become more realistic and clearer when we clean it. When we eliminate the blemishes caused by our past atrocities (along with their excuses and justifications) we enable ourselves to recognize reality and see ourselves more clearly. Not only do we increase our ability to realistically judge between wrong and right, but we also augment our human capacity to be emotionally guided by this judgment.

http://www.choosetodoright.com/

Right and Wrong

I believe that as human beings we are innately moral creatures. Most of us have the internal ability to judge between right and wrong, good and bad. And, we have the capacity to be emotionally guided by this judgment. We have a conscience. However, listening to our conscience requires effort and sacrifice. It requires choosing to pay attention.

http://www.choosetodoright.com/

True Success

It is important to understand that success is not an achievement, but a way of life. True success comes from within. It is the result of who we are, not what we do.  Success is actually the fruit of our abilities to imagine what we want in life, properly direct our efforts in a purposeful way towards what we want, and then sacrifice what we want now for what we want in the future.

Our own success must be measured by effort. If we hit the jackpot in the lottery, marry a rich person, or make that one big score in crime, we are not successful - we are lucky! That is why these things don’t provide the inner sense of satisfaction, self-worth, happiness and accomplishment that true success does. If we achieve or accomplish things through underhanded or deceitful means, then our success cannot be called true success, because our achievements are based on lies.

Even if we graduate from high school, earn a promotion at work, or accomplish something spectacular and then allow ourselves to become complacent or regress in our lives, I don’t believe that we can truly be called successful. It is not the individual achievements that lead to true success, happiness and satisfaction in this life, instead it is the process by which we continually achieve.

http://www.choosetodoright.com/

The momentum of our choices

It is important to recognize how our thoughts, choices, and actions flow over time to create the circumstances and momentum of our lives. Step by step as we proceed through life, our choices actually compound themselves by bringing about the situations and circumstances which require the next choice. Then, with each successive choice, we create the conditions surrounding further choices. So with each choice, we initiate or sustain a momentum in our lives, a momentum going forward or in reverse. And once we get the momentum going in either direction, it becomes more and more difficult to stop. Thus, one irresponsible choice can cause us to be faced with another, even more difficult choice that we may not have confronted had we simply made the proper choice in the first place.

http://www.choosetodoright.com/

Justifying Our Behavior

When analyzing our thinking and behavior, it is very important to pay attention to our intentions and motives. The reasons for our thoughts and behavior can be more important than the consequences of the behavior. We shouldn’t ever allow ourselves to judge our thinking based on the outcome of our behavior. By doing this, we may simply be concealing latent errors in our thinking and perception through justifications.


For example, if we decide to lie and call in sick to work because we would rather do something else more exciting, and then during our day off we discover that we have many productive things to do, we cannot excuse or justify our decision to call in sick to work simply because the day ended up being productive. In order to truly recognize and overcome our errors in thinking, we must analyze, question, and correct the thoughts that gave rise to our decision to call in sick. In this case, the decision was full of errors in thinking and perception, such as:



• failure to fulfill obligations to our employer

• failure to exert effort in responsible initiatives

• unwillingness to overcome boredom and routine

• seeking excitement

• inability to delay gratification until the weekend



Additionally, the decision was dangerous because it could have led to idle time and complacency, two things that have the potential to result in irresponsible behavior and crime.

Irresponsible thoughts and behaviors can often result in desirable consequences and, if we are lucky, few negative consequences. However, this doesn’t mean that these thoughts and behaviors are proper, realistic or responsible. When we think and behave irresponsibly, we are not consciously causing the consequences we want in life. We are shooting blindly and hoping we hit the target, and eventually we are going to miss - big time.

On the other hand, responsible thoughts and their resultant behaviors can easily bring unintended or unforeseen consequences. But this, too, doesn’t change the fact that the thought itself was responsibly directed towards our purpose. And even though we may miss our target from time to time, when our thoughts are properly focused, we are more likely to cause the consequences we want in our life.

 
http://www.choosetodoright.com/