For The Holidays…The Critical Doer Action Figure (ok, not really)

A critical doer works as hard to develop strength of character as strength of talent 

One of my coworkers recently went on a vacation to the Japanese island of Okinawa.  Instead of a “my friend went to Okinawa and all I got was this stupid t-shirt”…t-shirt…he brought this interesting item back for me.

 

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 This is the Ninja Warrior, a popular child’s toy in Japan and the manufacturers obviously hope English-speaking customers will make it equally as popular (and profitable).  If you’ll notice the upper left hand corner of the box, you’ll see this Ninja Warrior has a theme…leader.  I found this intriguing, but the gift turned very special and personal when I read the inscription on the top of the box (and please forgive the glare in the Ninja’s selfie)

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I was touched by this very eloquent expression of the connection between thinker and doer.  The Ninja Warrior has a vision of what he must be in order to do.  We boil that thought down into a single word…character.

The lesson from our Critical Doer Action Figure…er, I mean the Ninja Warrior Action Figure…is that to accomplish anything meaningful we must develop within ourselves those qualities that inspire others to take a journey with us.  Just like the distance a car can travel depends upon how much gas is in the tank, character fuels doing and it has everything to do with how much an individual or organization can accomplish.

If you aspire to be a critical doer, one who thinks logically and deeply then turns thought into meaningful accomplishment, and you don’t have a sense of your own strength of character, now is the time.  Just like it’s unwise to start a trip without checking the amount of fuel in the car, it’s equally unwise to begin a worthy deed without sufficient inner strength equal to the task.

Read, study, reflect, talk to others and find your own words to define the strength of character necessary for critical doing…always remembering that building character is a lifelong journey, not a destination.  It’s what a critical doer would…do!

 

Updated: December 22, 2014 — 2:23 am