TOPIC

Building Character



Your “character,” how you consistently respond to challenges and windfalls in life, is built through experience, self-reflection, and intentionality. The process of building character can be compared to building a house: you raise the walls brick by brick, each event in your life becoming the solid foundation upon which the next brick is laid. And even though many people might be tired of hearing that difficult problems or situations they encounter will “build their character,” it’s true that more often than not, our experiences with adversity in our lives are what challenge us to grow and adapt in ways we never would have achieved otherwise. It is through a combination of learning from our trials and failures as well as seeking out and seizing new opportunities that we come to build character, using everything that we have learned over the course of our lives to keep moving ourselves forward.

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How Can Schools Teach Character?

The Character Lab was created to study strategies and practices that build character, to create educational tools from scientific insights, to create new ways to measure character and to change the conversation about character development in K-12 education.

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The Road to Character

With the wisdom, humor, curiosity, and sharp insights that have brought millions of readers to his New York Times column and his previous bestsellers, David Brooks has consistently illuminated our daily lives in surprising and original ways.

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What Builds Character?

If you want to build a sustainable personal brand, focus on your personal character early and often.

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FindCenterI have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

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The Moral Bucket List (The Road to Character by David Brooks)

“I wrote this book not sure I could follow the road to character, but I wanted at least to know what the road looks like and how other people have trodden it.

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The Power of Character Strengths: Appreciate and Ignite Your Positive Personality

Carry this book in your back pocket. Let it become your faithful friend that nudges you, at every point in your journey, to unlock your potential.

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On Teaching and Developing Character

A systematic approach to cultivating positive traits.

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FindCenterCourage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality.

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The Force of Character: And the Lasting Life

In his powerful bestseller The Soul's Code, James Hillman brilliantly illuminated the central importance of character to our spiritual and emotional lives.

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Ways to Build Character in Children

The qualities of character develop through an interplay of family, school, and community influences and the child’s individual temperament, experiences, and choices. Parents have many opportunities and tools to build their children’s character.

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Self-Development