“Grow into your ideals so that life will not rob you of them.” – Albert Schweitzer

Virtue – The daily habit, the practice of one’s values and ideals. – Wiki

I love this definition of the idea of cultivating and practicing ideals. Making virtue a daily habit is important. Consider the daily habit of brushing your teeth. When you don’t brush your teeth, your breath stinks. I believe that when you don’t practice your virtues or ideals daily, your life stinks.

I can hear some saying, “Wow Yvonne, you went there. That’s harsh!”

I understand the sentiment. I used to feel the same way. I thought I could live however I wanted and did not realize that my habits mattered. I thought some people got a secret memo that made them virtuous, excellent, righteous. I didn’t understand why some people seemed to find following their moral compasses easy, living rich, fulfilled meaningful lives. I, on the other hand, stumbled about, with my foot in my mouth, life in disarray and going wherever the wind blew.

Aristotle describes virtue is excellence at being human, a skill that helps a person survive, thrive, form meaningful relationships, and find happiness. Learning virtue is usually difficult at first, but becomes easier with practice over time until it becomes a habit.

I am a big fan of James Clear’s work on habits. And I am learning that your life is a series of habits. Since I had gotten into the habit of living unconsciously, my life was not working.
A few years ago, I woke up and realized I could no longer recognize myself. I looked at my life and realized I was completely off-course from where I wanted to be. I realized that I was unconsciously waiting for someone else’s permission, to lose the baby weight, to get my career going, or to build the right circle of friends.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

My life was not aligned with my core values. I decided to live my ideals. Like Schweitzer, “I decided I would make may life my argument.”

Now, I am not an expert on Ideals. Old habits die hard. I write about ideals because I want to learn more, to gain a deeper understanding of the ideals that are important to me and to embody them in a life fully aligned with my ideals.

As I mentioned earlier, this project is inspired by Albert Schweitzer’s quote. “Grow into your ideals so that life will not rob you of them.”

Here is the thing about cultivation.

Imagine a garden in which you are growing, cultivating ideals, virtues, values.

When you plant a seed, it has to experience several stages of growth.
1. Darkness: When you plant a seed, you cover it with dirt. Imagine what the seed is going through. It is in complete darkness. Covered with dirt. Same goes for you. Maybe you have decided to cultivate a habit of some ideal. You look around you, it is dark. You have no idea what is going on. You can’t see what is around you. Confusion, chaos. Uncertainty. Darkness.

2. Decay and Death: The seed has to decay and “die” first. With decay comes the stench. And the seed is covered with dirt, decaying soil, fertilizer, worms. You and are frustrated because the situation you find yourself in stinks. It is messed up. Dysfunctional.And just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, you actually fail at the habit. You are regressing instead of getting better. You are losing yourself, friendships, job, things are worsening.

3. Process: Then things are starting to change and although you don’t see any improvements you know that something is happening.

4. Transformation: More change is occuring. You are starting to cultivate the habit.

5. Stretching beyond comfort zone: Like the plant breaking through the soil above ground, you are starting to see progress. And reaching for the light. Gaining insights, getting deeper with the habit.

6. Fruitful: The bible says by their fruit, you shall know them. You are starting to reap the rewards of cultivating an ideal. you are showing up. You are living courageously. you are living a life aligned with your ideals and beginning to see the results. This yields to desire to cultivate new habits, new ideals. Desire to share with others.

7, Cyclical: You pick another habit and begin the process again.

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. ~ Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Practising the Habit of Practicing Ideals:
1. What ideals are important to you. Can you pick your 5 core ideals?
2. Which one would you like to practice first?
3. What stage of the growth process do you find most challenging?
4. What mechanisms do you need in place to make it easy to practice that ideal.
5. What support do you have for this practice?
6. What is the smallest step you can take towards living your ideals?
7. What plan do you have for when you do stumble or fail?

Cultivating your ideals takes time and practice. You will fail again and again. You will also make progress. The key is showing up, again and again, moment by moment. Show up courageously. Fight the resistance. Let go of perfectionism. Just show up. And the bloom will come eventually. See you next time!

Yvonne Whitelaw writes for Yvonnewhitelaw.com where she blogs about her quest to grow into her ideals in her “Live Your Ideals Project”. By sharing her lessons along the way (every Monday and Thursday), she hopes to serve and inspire a tribe of wholehearted warriors like you, to “live your ideals, live your calling and change the world.”