Character: A valuable trait developed through adversity.

There was a time when the term character was used to describe the quality of an individual. People of character were individuals who made good choices in spite of difficult situations. They chose to meet the challenges when they were tested by adversity. As a result of their actions and the depth of their character, these individuals were held in high regard, trusted and relied upon.

Character was a trait of very high value.

Today, the word and concept of character is largely absent from the measurement of a person. Emphasis seems increasingly focused, if not completely, on what one has, or appears to have, rather than the caliber of person that one is.

While tangible things can be repeatedly won and lost, character is who you are, and what you believe.

When I think of the word character, I am reminded of the quote by J.C. Watts:

Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught.

We are all a product of our experiences and the way in which we perceived, executed and or dealt with them. Some of these were real challenges that tested our mettle. Other times we made a decision based on malice or poor intent. It is what we learn from these, and how we conduct ourselves going forward that counts and builds character.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

As a market participant you will be faced with a variety of difficult choices on an ongoing basis. Some of these options will be to decide between the lesser of two evils. In other instances you might be pressured to make a poor choice in order to receive some potential benefit at another juncture. Other times, as an act of desperation you may decide to do the wrong thing, believing that you have no other option.

It is in the fire of these decisions that good character can be forged, or the soul of a person scorched beyond repair.

In an increasingly amoral world where one is examining the cost of a transgression in monetary terms, we sometimes forget that there is a personal cost. A decision based on whether something is expressly legal or illegal or on how much of a given amount we will retain when a transgression is identified, is also choice that comes with an intangible personal price.

Mark Steyn adeptly pointed out that: something is illegal because it is wrong rather than wrong because it is illegal.

Often, making the right judgement in a difficult situation is both hard and typically unprofitable, at least in the short term; but the personal cost is one that you can live with.

A poor decision is often like an infection, that once acquired, can be fed until it consumes its host. The danger of poor decisions, those made lacking in strength of character, is that by crossing the line too often in pursuit of the ephemeral, you will lose yourself in the process.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

As a kid, I recall a sermon about a man and his father on the morning before Sunday service.

The man described the meticulous ritual that his father undertook prior to the service, with special emphasis on the shining his shoes. He said that once his dad had completed the mantle of the shoe, he turned them over and cleaned and polished the bottoms.

He asked his father why he did this, surmising that no one else would see the bottom of the shoe, and no one would know or perhaps even care whether he had polished them or not.

“I will know…” was his father’s reply.

Character is who we are inside and the decisions that we make in good and bad situations. It is our own personal accountability for our actions. A recognition of the underlying spirit of right and wrong. Nothing rots a person so quickly as a series of poor decisions that one justifies by telling themselves: no one else will know.

The reality is that you will know.

It is in the faithfulness of your actions and your decisions, that your character is forged. As my grandmother repeatedly reminded me, quoting Shakespeare: to thine own self be true.

A person of character is not one that shies from life’s challenges but embraces them knowing full well that the outcome is uncertain, and in some cases might be costly.

A person of character is aware that there is no glory in unbridled ambition, but rather in thoughtful action and measured restraint.

Be a person of character. Be true to yourself regardless of what you do, because you will know.

Steel yourself for those times when your mettle is tested.

Accept the challenges and make the right decisions for the right reasons.

Your life and the lives of those around you, will be better for it.

Mod Note (Andy): #TBT Throwback Thursday - this was originally posted on 11/09/13. To see all of our top content from the past, click here.