The ten little things to do each day

THERE is always the danger that ethical and moral guidelines related to the various domains of personal life can be worded as if they belong to the clouds; they may even be presented as “moral sentiments” to be known and occasionally felt, yet somewhat removed from the daily grind individuals are pressed upon, as they go through their daily ordinary duties.

This would be a serious mistake. It is a plague that has to be avoided at all cost. From the continuing governance and transformation perspective, the idea of ethical and moral guidelines being “up there” must be removed from any enterprise’s operating paradigms.

Transforming individuals into good governance assets demands daily immersion in the personal day-today duties of individuals. It is in this daily sphere, with its ordinary routine, where acts and decisions have to be made; where habits are formed; and where the good governance character is embedded.

This means in actual practice a few good deeds done every day, such as the “Ten Little Things” that Filipinos can do each day for their country. This is the mind-set that Alex Lacson has been propagating and spreading; and it is the practical mind-set that eventually builds up a good governance character.

In propagating this mind-set, three good practices are put forward for consideration and possible adoption:

• Each day for individuals to get to know themselves better. This may require spending a couple of minutes at the end of each day in order to review how well we have lived “the ten little things” we are supposed to do. How in actual fact have we performed in each of the domains of our personal life?

• For individuals to get a much better hold of themselves each day. Here, we can be pro-active by resolving to do a specific good deed sometime during the day, and to focus our attention and effort on actually getting it done. This is “self-mastery.”

• For individuals to give of themselves a bit more each day. This is “self-giving” in actual practice: in what concrete ways do I drown my ego and self-interest and then swim towards helping a specific individual or a small group, even if this means having to swim against the current.

These practices do not guarantee success every day. But observed over time, they pre-dispose us towards small actions and decisions, in line with good personal governance, that would enable us to form good habits and eventually forge a good governance character.

We may need continuing help and guidance so our efforts do not flag, and we stay on a good governance pathway. We may already know where to obtain such help and guidance; but the basic underlying domain, where we have final recourse to our common God-Father, can provide us the shelter, inspiration, and continuing impetus to keep going towards becoming a good governance asset for the enterprise and the community.