Benefits of Positive Character
You will benefit by having good or positive character. Good personal character will improve your ability to achieve goals and complete difficult tasks. If you have positive social character, you will be trusted and even admired by other people. By following the rules of your culture or religion, you will fit in and be accepted in the group.
Questions you may have include:
How is good personal character beneficial?
What are the advantages of good social character?
How is good cultural character beneficial?
This lesson will answer those questions.
Personal benefits
Your attitudes toward your tasks, the goals you want to achieve, and the challenges and obstacles you may encounter are determining factors in whether or not you will be successful.
When in his 20s, cartoonist Walt Disney naively signed over the rights to his first cartoon creation, a comical rabbit. But he had a strong personal character and did not get discouraged by this setback, as well as several others, including financial difficulties.
He was determined to achieve his dream. After creating Mickey Mouse and several cartoons, he continued to diligently work at building his cartoon movie business.
Disney's hard work and positive character paid off with his great success.
Having a positive attitude toward doing difficult work is a good personal character trait and will move you toward achieving your goal. Likewise, being courageous and determined will help you succeed. If you are organized, you can plan out successful completion of your projects and goals.
People who have such negative personal character traits as being disorganized, procrastinating and being careless typically will not be very successful in what they attempt.
Social benefits
Your attitudes and how you act toward other people often determines their desire to deal with you, both in business and in personal relationships.
If you show that you are an honest person with a great amount of integrity, others will trust you. People like to associate with those they feel are reliable and responsible. They appreciate it if you are fair-minded and understanding.
Mary called up the handyman David, who had done some other projects around the house, to fix a seriously clogged drain in her sink.
David told her that although he would be glad to take on the job, she probably would be better off contacting a professional drain cleaning company. They would charge a little more than he would, and their work would be guaranteed, while his wouldn't.
Mary appreciated David's honesty and integrity. She would certainly use David again, as well as recommend him to her friends.
Although David lost out on this single job, he probably gained much more in future business.
Consumers want to buy from an honest salesman, employers want to hire reliable workers and people like friends they can count on and trust.
Obviously, a person with a reputation for being dishonest, uncaring or unreliable will not receive the same considerations in an interaction as someone with a good character. If you had a choice between buying from someone you knew was honest and someone who had a questionable reputation, you would probably pick the honest person, unless there was some other major factor influencing you.
Note that there are some people who seem to have good social character, but they are cleverly deceptive. People often tell about romantic relationships that turned sour once they found out the truth about the other person's character.
Cultural benefits
Your attitudes toward the rules of your government, culture or religion will determine how others in a group view you. Often, breaking the rules can result in punishment or banishment. If you follow the laws of your government or community, you will usually benefit be considered a law-abiding citizen. Breaking the laws can result in a fine or even jail time.
Even a neighborhood has loose rules to follow, and following them will benefit everyone in the neighborhood.
Brian was angry because when Fred's teenage son parked his car in front of Brian's house, the old car had leaked oil and left a puddle on the pavement. He mentioned this to Fred, who then apologized and said he will have a talk with his boy. He also said he would clean up the oil stain.
Brian calmed down and said, "I know how it is with these kids. I had an old clunker that leaked a lot of oil too. I just wanted to let you know about it."
Fred said, "No problem." They shook hands, and there was cooperation in the neighborhood.
If you follow the rules of your culture or family group, you will benefit by feeling that you belong and are accepted. Breaking the rules and rebelling against the culture will bring about disapproval and in some cases banishment from the group.
Following the rules of your religion will bring you favor with your God and those in your religious community. Certainly, a "sinner" is looked down upon by others in the religion.
Summary
You will benefit by having good character. Your good personal character will help you achieve difficult goals and tasks. Positive social character allows you to be trusted and admired by others. Following the rules of your culture or religion results in being able to fit in and be accepted in the group.
by Ron Kurtus