This series of articles will delve deeper into our Manifesto, not only why we picked these words to represent the Perfect Gentleman but how you can bring these things into your life. These articles are adapted from our forthcoming book, Becoming The Perfect Gentleman.
We shall start with the cornerstone of everything we do with regards to the Perfect Gentleman, the value of Respect. This word makes up the first word in our mission statement. We believe this holds everything else we do together, from which all the other values stem.
Re-spect (definition edited)
– esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability.
– Proper acceptance or courtesy
– To show regard or consideration for
– To hold in esteem or honour
If we all had Respect for one and other and the world at large, this world would be a truly special place.
The Three Levels of Respect
What are we defined is that all our values for our manifesto are based on 3 levels. There are three levels of Respect and these coincide with the other 12 values, that slot in each level.
The levels are Internal or the ‘Me’ level, the second is the External or the Others Level and thirdly is the Greater Good or the World level.
Me/Internal
The first level of Respect is the respect shown to oneself. What do we mean by respecting oneself? Are you respecting your body, your mind and your spirit?
Do you respect your body to eat well and healthy? Are you taking exercise to maintain it in good condition? Are you making sure you get enough sleep and taking care of the body that you have? We have forgotten to show respect for our own bodies and take care of them ourselves. We should look after this one body we have, respect it.
We are in a knowledge world, information is at our fingertips and everywhere. We can read, watch and learn much easier than at any other time in history. Our minds need to be stimulated; we are not saying everyone should pursue formal education. What we are affirming is that to respect the mind is to engage it and use it. Learn new things, have discussions with friends and even strangers about things that matter.
The one thing that most people neglect to respect is their spiritual being. Whether you are religious, spiritual or a pure atheist, our internal spirit needs to be respected. We need to take time with ourselves and do things that make us internally happy. That could be as simple as reading a great fiction book, talking a long walk through the woods, going on holiday, going to church, spending time in prayer, meditation or thought.
This level is the one that you can affect the most, this level of respect is also the one that affects all the others the most.
External/Others
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
Dale Carnegie
The external level of respect starts with those closest to us: Our partners, our family, our friends. Then extends beyond that to our colleagues, our business associates and even down to people we encounter in our everyday lives.
By showing respect to those closest to us we show them that we care and we are interested in them and their lives. This extends to everyone we encounter, by showing respect we will earn it.
Our loved ones, family and friends, we know should deserve our respect. The question is do we show it, do we take time to listen to them, to spend time with them and respect their thoughts and feelings amongst other things.
Greater Good/ World
‘A butterfly can flap its wings in one part of the world and cause a hurricane in another part of the world.’
Edward Lorenz
The world is now a very small place and increasingly becoming ever more interconnected, this is not just true of technology but also how we interact with the world around us. One cannot deny that we are affecting the planet and not always for the better. We can make lists upon lists of things that we have had an affect on the world at large that are causing problems, changes and destruction. We are not saying that we are not doing fabulous things but we have to think about the consequences for each action that we do in a greater context.
We have to Respect the planet that we live in and the interactions with the world at large. As with everything start small, such as to throw your rubbish in a bin not the street, remember to recycle, think about that business decision and the impact it will have on others.
Next Week we move onto – Self-Confidence
You can find the full Manifesto here http://codeofthegentleman.com/the-perfect-gentlemans-manifesto/
