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    Character Building: An Army Values Workbook
    Character Building: An Army Values Workbook
    Character Building: An Army Values Workbook
    Ebook190 pages1 hour

    Character Building: An Army Values Workbook

    By William O'Donohue

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    About this ebook

    We all want to be good people. But what does this actually mean and how do we move toward this goal? This book examines how the military defines “character,” “virtue,” and becoming a better person. It is NOT meant to be read by only the active duty military. Instead it attempts to take the lessons learned from the military so that we all can benefit from their long standing and successful experience in character building. It is written by a former active duty Army Officer and a Professor of Clinical Psychology. The book has been tested and found to have a number of positive effects. It is short, interesting and impactful.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWilliam O'Donohue
    Release dateJun 26, 2012
    ISBN9781301669622
    Character Building: An Army Values Workbook
    Author

    William O'Donohue

    William O'Donohue is the Nicholas Cummings Professor of Organized Behavioral Healthcare at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Philosophy. He has authored over 100 articles and chapters and co-edited more than 15 books.

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      Book preview

      Character Building - William O'Donohue

      Character Building:

      An Army Values Workbook

      Andrew Lloyd, CPT, Ph.D. (ret)

      Fort Sam Houston, Texas

      William T. O’Donohue, Ph.D.

      University of Nevada, Reno

      This book is for you if:

      • You want to learn about something the military teaches about building character.

      • You want to achieve goals that have previously eluded you.

      • You want to understand your personal strengths.

      • You want to overcome your personal weaknesses.

      • Your life isn’t as fulfilling as you wish it were.

      • You want to live a valued life.

      • Your behavior does not match your values and beliefs.

      • You just don’t know what you truly value.

      • You want to be happier.

      • You want deeper, more fulfilling relationships with friends, loved ones, coworkers.

      • You always seem to know the right thing to do, but never seem to be able to do it.

      • You want to take your Army career to the next step.

      • You want to rediscover the passion you once had for Army service.

      These are just a few of the reasons you might want to read this book. We all struggle with something in life (unhappiness, poor relationships, substance abuse, a sense of meaninglessness, etc.). This workbook is designed to address these struggles, and more.

      A Lucky Bat Book

      Character Building: An Army Values Workbook

      Copyright 2012 by Andrew Lloyd, CPT, Ph.D.(ret)

      and

      William T. O’Donohue, PhD.

      All rights reserved

      Cover Artist:

      Sean Locke

      Cover Design:

      Louisa Swann

      Published by Lucky Bat Books

      License Notes

      This e-book is licensed for the enjoyment of the person who bought it. If you're reading it, and you didn't buy it, c'mon, it's really cheap; just go buy your own.

      Acknowledgements

      The authors would like to thank Cindie Geddes for her expertise in transforming this manuscript into an ebook and Ann Wilson for her expert editorial assistance. In addition we dedicate this to our families, Kim, Forest, Jane, Katie and Anna.

      Contents

      Preface

      Chapter 1  Getting Started: Accepting the Challenge of the Valued Life

      Chapter 2  Virtues, Values, and the Good Life:  Getting Started

      Chapter 3  Goal Setting: Creating a roadmap to a better life

      Chapter 4  Making it all happen: Developing positive habits and routines

      Chapter 5  Learning from failure: Learning about yourself

      Chapter 6  Challenging Yourself: Why the Easy Life is Unrewarding

      About the Authors

      Preface

      Return to top

      We wrote this book to help individuals build character by finding values and consistently living according to these.   This is a tough task.  It is especially difficult because we live in a time when the teaching of values is sometimes neglected and at other times very confusing because of mixed messages.  The Army picks out several important key values and as authors we think these represent wise choices; thus we focus on these. We think this book is useful for both active duty military as well as civilians.  Civilians appropriately honor the military but often do not fully understand what it means to be a honorable soldier.  We believe the military values can help civilians in their lives.

      We tested the effectiveness of this book on a group of 43 Army ROTC Cadets and found that they liked the book and found it very useful.  In addition, cadets who read this book reported increases in life satisfaction, openness to change and self-improvement, and perceived social support.  We concluded that this book could be helpful in the task of finding a valued life and living it.  We hope you will experience this too.

      Andrew Lloyd, CPT, Ph.D.(ret)

      William T. O’Donohue, PhD

      Character Building: The Army Way

      Chapter 1

      Getting Started:

      Accepting the Challenge of the Valued Life

      Return to Top

      Introduction

      This is a self-help book like no other that you have seen. The goal of this book is to help you become a better soldier and person. This book is designed to help you understand yourself, the good and the bad. You will take a long, hard, honest look at yourself. When you do this, you will develop character, emphasize and increase your existing strengths, and work to reduce your weaknesses. This book is about the little things, the intangibles. In completing the work laid out before you, you will find your life is more satisfying, more rewarding, and more under your control. This book combines the wisdom of philosophers, the scientific knowledge of psychology, and the practical realities of military duty and life in an easy to understand way. Some self-help books are designed to help you be thinner, more assertive, or to quit smoking. This self-help book is designed to help you understand who you are and to develop character—character necessary for your life in the military.  A better, more fulfilling life depends mainly on self-understanding, self-control, and personal betterment.

      The best self-help books are interactive. Therefore, we have included questions for you to think about and answer.  Because this is an ebook we suggest you dedicate a notebook to your self-improvement and include your answers in that notebook along with any other observations you’d like to keep handy.

      Virtue

      You are probably familiar with stories of uncommon valor, great acts of courage, and honor. Military life sometimes calls upon soldiers to reach deep down for strength and courage that they did not know they possessed. Your first PT session or field training exercise (FTX) during training likely demanded strengths and perseverance that you did not know you possessed. Indeed, you may not have been prepared at all. In the end you succeeded. Do you remember how that success felt? Many soldiers say they feel invincible after their basic Army training. This feeling is not due to Herculean accomplishments or acts of incredible bravery. Rather, this feeling resulted from a deep sense of accomplishment. These soldiers (you too, probably!) felt as though they could do anything. Do you still feel that way? If you do, then great! If you do not, then at least you know that you are capable of achieving goals that seemed insurmountable. You can do so again.

      Army life is not civilian life. The stark realities of war and conflict sometimes place soldiers in situations that call for truly heroic action. Audie Murphy is an example of such a soldier. Audie Murphy was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions during World War II. He is well regarded as an American hero. More than 3,400 Congressional Medals of Honor have been awarded to such heroes, most posthumously. For those interested in the stories of honor and uncommon valor that lead to these awards, we recommend this website: http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/moh1.htm. These stories are sure to inspire any reader. They inspired us. Here is the citation for 2LT Audie Murphy that has been taken from the website above.

      Some might argue that Lt. Murphy possessed something special, a unique quality that allowed him to act as he did when faced with terrible adversity. We agree. He did possess something special. He possessed character and virtue. Some might argue that only certain people can possess such qualities and virtues, and that these qualities are not in our control. We do not agree with this. Character and virtue are within your control. Philosophers, psychologists, military leaders, and religious professionals all agree that character can be developed. In fact, all soldiers are expected to develop their character. Indeed, soldiers are provided with examples of the kind of character that is required to succeed in the military. The Army Values, Warrior Ethos, and Soldier’s Creed paint a picture of what is expected of soldiers. You are expected to act selflessly with honor, integrity and courage. Maybe this is intimidating for you, maybe not. The life of virtue is rewarding and difficult. All the good things in life are challenging.

      As soldiers, we are provided with examples of heroism so that we can understand the challenges we may have to overcome. Examples of heroism and valor inspire us. History is full of examples of acts of courage in dire circumstances. Much of mythology is about heroism and acts of courage. But what about the rest of us? Well over ninety-nine percent of the soldiers who have ever served in the Army never earned a Medal of Honor. Indeed, the vast majority of soldiers never find themselves in a position to respond in a way that would merit this prestigious award. Being a good soldier, living according to the Army Values, the Warrior Ethos, and the Soldier’s Creed does not require that a soldier act in such a way as to be awarded the Medal of Honor. This is not the purpose of these codes, creeds, and doctrines. No one can predict how a person will respond under circumstances like those faced by Audie Murphy. If everyone

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