Six Tasks Character Development

[KevinG]

I want to kick off this forum with the first post about character. I am an Olympic Taekwondo instructor and we have five tenets that we live by, train by, and teach our students. They are:

1. Courtesy
2. Integrity
3. Perseverance
4. Self Control
5. Indomitable Spirit

In 2005 I attended the martial arts super show in Las Vegas. I got to sit in on a seminar given by a great instructor, Tom Callos. Tom has a program that he uses with all his students, adults and kids a like, called "The Six Tasks Character Development Program."

Each student must do six tasks per day strictly to benefit others. Whether it is holding the door for someone, donating time, etc. I think this is one of the greatest programs to teach kids, and it is great for adults too. For all of you out there with children, perhaps you can consider integrating something like this into their life and then lead by example. You will be surprised at how good you feel at the end of the day!

[Trina]

What a great program! I wish more people did stuff like that on a daily basis. Definitely something I am going to get my nieces and nephew doing!

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by KevinG

Each student must do six tasks per day strictly to benefit others. Whether it is holding the door for someone, donating time, etc. I think this is one of the greatest programs to teach kids, and it is great for adults too. For all of you out there with children, perhaps you can consider integrating something like this into their life and then lead by example. You will be surprised at how good you feel at the end of the day!

What are some of the tasks you most commonly perform Kevin?

[KevinG]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

What are some of the tasks you most commonly perform Kevin?

I do any of number of things daily. I try to do many of the things while I teach such as letting kids stay after class so they can get some extra help from me, meeting them on the weekends for no charge if they are having trouble learning something or they need extra help on something.

As far as in general public I just watch for situations where I might be able to do something nice for someone. I always hold the door for people, when I go through toll booths on the highway a lot of times I will pay for the person behind me; sometimes I do this if I'm getting fast food as well, or buying movie tickets. I'll stop to help people that are having car trouble, etc.

But most importantly, I accomplish thousands of tasks through others who I teach the program to. That is the magical thing about it.

[Dave Kaminski]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

What are some of the tasks you most commonly perform Kevin?

Dan! Let's not put this all on Kevin.

What six things do everyone do to benefit others daily? Post six things you did today, and six things you plan to do in the future!'

Today I:
Complemented a bunch of people (genuine complements, not just flattery.)
Held the door for a bunch of people
Helped someone pick out cigars at my client's office
Provided free service for a client (although it was in my best interest as well, to keep my name in high standing)
Gave my uncle a massage without his asking. (he thoroughly enjoyed it)
Shared a video of my baby cousin to a couple people in a bad mood (the smile of a child has a contagious effect!)

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by KevinG

As far as in general public I just watch for situations where I might be able to do something nice for someone. I always hold the door for people, when I go through toll booths on the highway a lot of times I will pay for the person behind me; sometimes I do this if I'm getting fast food as well, or buying movie tickets. I'll stop to help people that are having car trouble, etc.

Right on, thanks Kevin.

Originally Posted by Dave Kaminski

Dan! Let's not put this all on Kevin.
What six things do everyone do to benefit others daily? Post six things you did today, and six things you plan to do in the future!'

I try to leave situations a little better off than I find them, I guess I don't really think about it much beyond that. Let me try to remember today though...

- I helped about 40 people fix their computers over the phone today at my job. But that's just daily stats.
- I switched shifts with someone who needed Saturday off.. but he and I always trade so that's just more of a mutual convenience than anything.

I can't think of much else..

I wasn't trying to "put something all on someone" BTW... I thought Kevin might actually have a daily routine he followed that I could incorporate..

Generally, the people who need help the most don't seem to want help much... for example, the best thing I could do for my roomate would probably be to smash up his home PC so he stopped playing WOW 6 hours a day - but *shrugs* that's not really my place right? I could probably uninstall his network card drivers though, he's not very technical... hmm....

[Adam]

Six things, eh? Here's today's.

• Stayed after I was finished teaching to help a couple of students who were struggling, despite having to grade quite a few tests.
• Taught another teacher how to get information off of the network, rather than doing it myself (which would have been faster and easier).
• I almost always hold the door for people, but I'm listing it now because I'm having trouble coming up with more things.
• Counseled one of my students who was over-stressed (thankfully, not stressed about my class ).
• Did the laundry for my wife.
• Cleaned before my wife woke up, which is a new habit for me.

Here's what I want to make habits out of (or are already habits):

• Help students first.
• Teach people how to be independent.
• Continue to keep the apartment clean for my wife without her asking me to.
• Be the best moderator that I can be.
• Honestly compliment others as often as possible (Easy, but very effective).
• Be creative with ways that I can improve people's lives.

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by Adam

• Be creative with ways that I can improve people's lives.

So you're sayin' to smash stuff.... Good to know we're on the same page.. =)

I wonder how making fun of WOW is going to go over with an ex-game developer.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

You're sayin' to smash stuff.... Good to know we're on the same page! =)

I wonder how making fun of WOW is going to go over with an ex-game developer.

If you are wondering how Steve would feel, well, considering that all of his games were non-violent, I don't think his opinion of WOW is very high to begin with...

As far as a creative method to stop your roommate from playing WOW, editing his hosts file to redirect all of the WOW server's DNS entries to 127.0.0.1 is extremely effective, even though it is very devious. Asking him how much he accomplished at the end of each day, though, would probably be a lot less traumatizing.

[Gautam]

Have you ever done a random act of kindness? Or have you ever been on the recieving end of a random act of kindness? Share with us...

My Story
Normally, I refrain from sharing whatever small acts of kindness with others. These are those moments in my life where I feel good in my heart and I keep them to myself. But generally speaking, my random acts of kindness are very simple and minute and I do it whenever I can.

Last year, I went to this restaurant to get some dinner and then after ordering the food somehow I really didn't feel like eating it. So I got that food packed and stepped outside in the cold. I saw an old lady sitting on the corner of the street asking for change. In true robin hood fashion, I put up the hood of my jacket, walked upto her and gave her the pack of hot food and dissappeared before she could recover from the sudden surprize.

Now I know it wasn't a major contribution but I felt good inside and I know that old lady had a good meal that cold night.

Tell us your story...

[Michael Chui]

Though I live in Seattle, there's an ice cream place on what we call The Ave. Earlier this year, in the afternoon, I went there to grab a bit of something to carry back down to the classroom while I worked on a school project.

When I got there, I ordered, got my ice cream, and forked over a $20, fresh from the ATM. But the cash register was broken. The guy seemed to be new on the job. So he fiddled with it--I didn't mind standing around and waiting; I was hardly in a hurry. But ultimately, he gave up and told me to just go. With my 20.

I assumed it would come out of his pocket. I didn't have change myself. So I left, carried on. It was nice of him.

But my story doesn't end there. I passed by again that night and noticed the place was busy. Which meant the register had been fixed. So I went, had dinner, came back and handed him the 20 again. I had to remind him what it was for.

I still wonder what he thinks of the experience. For me, it was about not feeling (irrationally) guilty, and not letting someone take a hit for me when it was well within my means to prevent that. I don't know if that counts as random or kind, but it's the story that popped into my head when I read the prompt.

[Gautam]

Originally Posted by Michael Chui

I don't know if that counts as random or kind, but it's the story that popped into my head when I read the prompt.

Well first it was kind on his part to take a hit for you. And then it was kind on your part to return the money. Sometimes us humans can be so beautiful to each other!