Character First

1. Character First Thoroughness

2. Character Character is the inward motivation to do what is right in every situation even when no one is looking.

3. Thoroughness Knowing what factors will diminish the effectiveness of my work or words, if neglected.

4. Thoroughness Ensures the quality, effectiveness, and completion of a task.

5. Thoroughness Carefully executes details which adds integrity to your work. Integrity adds durability, and durability adds value.

6. Thoroughness Finds practical solutions to real problems.

7. Thoroughness Completes work by taking care of the details, which cause projects to linger. This relieves the mind of both its clutter and its anxiety.

8. Thoroughness From its greatest and most obvious aspects down to the tiniest details, thoroughness allows nothing to fall through the cracks.

9. Thoroughness What is “good enough”? What would happen if 99.9% (one mistake in a thousand) were good enough for one week in America? • 165 planes would arrive at the wrong destination. • 1,537 words would be misspelled in a daily newspaper • 3,960 checks would be deducted from the wrong accounts. • 82 babies would be given to the wrong parents.

10. Five Keys to Thoroughness Plan your work: Develop a plan for what you want to achieve. Understand exactly what is expected and make a list. Pay attention to details: Details spell the difference between success and failure. Remember, if a project is worth doing, it is worth doing right. Make a list so you don’t forget: Even young people can forget important details.

11. Five Keys to Thoroughness Finish what you start: By finishing what you start, you can maintain a sense of momentum and keep your projects from getting stuck in a rut of unfinished business. Clean up along the way: Cleaning us your mess is one of the details you must not forget. Thoroughness covers not only the details of a project, but also the details of cleaning up.

12. Thoroughness “Whatever you do, do it to the purpose; do it thoroughly, not superficially. Go to the bottom of things. Any thing half done, or half known, is in my mind, neither done nor known at all. Nay, worse, for it often misleads.” Lord Chesterfield(1694 - 1773)

13. Thoroughness “Do not be desirous of having things done quickly. Do not look at small advantages. Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly. Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished.” ConfuciusChinese philosopher & reformer (551 BC - 479 BC)

14. I Will: • Plan my work. • Pay attention to details. • Make a list so I don’t forget. • Finish what I start. • Clean up along the way.

15. Thoroughness Ask yourself: • What are some long term benefits of practicing thoroughness? • What are some common distractions that keep you from paying attention to details? • What is one task you find difficult to complete? How can you be thorough?

16. Thoroughness Example in Nature

17. The Alligator The American alligator is a freshwater reptile normally inhabiting swamps, marshes, streams, and lakes.

18. The Alligator • The alligator has a broad snout, as opposed to the crocodile, which has a long, tapered snout. • The average length of an alligator is 6-12 feet.

19. The Alligator • Alligators are known for their carefully planned attacks as they sneak through the water. • They are recognized for their enormous strength and size, weighing over 400 pounds. • Their sharp teeth, scaly bodies, and penetrating eyes strike fear into people of all ages.

20. The Alligator What few people realize, however, is the gentle care that mother alligators give while raising their young.

21. The Alligator • From building a nest, to providing fish, frogs and other food, mother alligators follow a thorough plan to make sure nothing goes undone. • When it comes to alligators, it’s a life of details.

22. The Alligator • Mother alligators lay their eggs in nests, but not just any kind of nest. • A mother alligator must find ground that is not so low that the eggs could be washed out by heavy rains. • Yet a nest too high could be too far away for the mother to find food, and she would have to leave her nest unprotected for long periods of time. • Not too high, not too low. For alligators, it’s a life of details.

23. The Alligator • After the mother alligator carefully builds her nest, she lays her eggs – about 50 in all. • Instead of sitting on eggs, mother alligators pile leaves and grass on top of the eggs.

24. The Alligator • As the sun shines, the vegetation decays, which creates heat and warms the eggs. Sometimes the mother alligator adds more vegetation to keep the eggs just the right temperature.

25. The Alligator • Mother alligators also work to maintain the right amount of moisture in the nest. • They also make sure that their nest is not too close or too far, and defends her nest from any intruders.

26. The Alligator • After two months of waiting, an alligator does a strange thing. She tears her nest apart! • The time has come for her eggs to hatch – not too early, but not too late.

27. The Alligator It’s the way of an alligator…….a life full of details.

28. Thoroughness Thoroughness in History

29. Benjamin Banneker Benjamin Banneker made the first striking clock with all of its parts made entirely in America. http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/8/w/I/banneker.jpg

30. Benjamin Banneker • When he was a boy, his family worked to clear land to build a log home. Each step involved a lot of work. Benjamin and his father made a long list of tasks so they wouldn’t forget anything important. http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/8/w/I/banneker.jpg

31. Benjamin Banneker • Benjamin’s grandmother bought him a Bible so he could learn to read. • He learned to read quickly and longed to read more books to find the answers to his questions. http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/8/w/I/banneker.jpg

32. Benjamin Banneker • A school was build near his home, and he quickly read through all the students’ books and then began to read his teacher’s books on mathematics, literature, and history. http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/8/w/I/banneker.jpg

33. Benjamin Banneker • He had to stop school when he was 15, because his father’s health was failing and Benjamin was needed full time on the farm. By the time he was 20, he and his mother were responsible for all the farming. http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/8/w/I/banneker.jpg

34. Benjamin Banneker • As Benjamin traveled to sell or trade their crops, he got to know his neighbors and gained a reputation for honesty and skill in working with numbers. • People trusted him because he paid such close attention to the details of his accounts. http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/8/w/I/banneker.jpg

35. Benjamin Banneker • One day, Benjamin saw his first pocket watch. It belonged to a merchant, who decided to let Benjamin borrow it for a few weeks. • Benjamin took the watch home, took it apart, and made drawings of all the parts so he would not forget how it went back together. http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/8/w/I/banneker.jpg

36. Benjamin Banneker • He studied the inner workings of the watch and drew a plan of each part. • Benjamin decided to make a clock out of wood and took great care to plan his project. http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/8/w/I/banneker.jpg

37. Benjamin Banneker • Benjamin used his precise mathematical calculations to begin whittling the shapes he needed for his clock. http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/8/w/I/banneker.jpg

38. Benjamin Banneker • When spring came, he had to go back to work in the fields, so he worked on his wooden clock after dinner. Late each night, when he was finished, he carefully put all his work away. http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/8/w/I/banneker.jpg

39. Benjamin Banneker • When the parts were all finished, Benjamin put them together. He was deeply disappointed because the parts fit together, but the clock did not keep perfect time. • Benjamin refused to give up and finally completed his clock after nearly two years. • It kept perfect time through his entire life. ttp://www.nsbe-uidaho.org/inventors/images/banneker/clock.jpg

40. Adapted from: Character First! Series IV. Character Training Institute. Oklahoma City, OK: 2001.http://www.characterfirst.com http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/8/s/K/banneker2.gif http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/8/w/I/banneker.jpg