The Role of Developing Your Conscience In Voting, In Living, In Selling

With a heated, ugly election upon us I’ve been doing some study and reflection on the state of our nation and thought I’d spend some time on this topic pertaining to the importance of forming your conscience. 

In life, sales, and in voting we must follow our conscience.

Your Conscience is More Than Instinct

However, our conscience is not “instinct” like a bear knowing it’s time to hibernate or birds knowing it’s time to return north after winter passes.

Conscience is “a judgement of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to preform, is in the process of preforming, or has already been completed.”

Your Conscience Is Based on Morality

Notice how the word “moral” is used to define what conscience is.

Your conscience is not something that should just sit there, static, stuck at the 5th grade level.

It should be formed. Built. Strengthened.

There is half a year—6 months—188 days for you to spend time forming your conscience as you ponder the best candidate to:

• lead this (great?) nation and even the world for the next four years.

• appoint one or two even five Supreme Court Justices. (Yes, as many as 5 SCOTUS seats could open up over 8 years, which is how many years the next president will likely serve.)

• fight terror.

• lead an economic recovery.

• smooth, calm, and improve race relations.

• secure or open our borders.

• strengthen or scale back our military.

• embolden or weaken Iran’s nuclear status in the world.

• embolden or weaken North Korea’s impact on the world.

• improve or allow our national infrastructure to deteriorate.

Success—and Failures—Leaves Clues

As you form your conscience look back at the last 4, 8, 16, and 24 years going back to Clinton and even 28 years going back to Bush 41, 36 years back to Reagan or even 40 years going back to when Carter took office and look at the body of work not only our Presidents produced but our Senators and Representatives and really ask yourself if your “side” has gotten things right and if they have gotten things done and if so, why, and if not, why not?

Some bad news: it’ll take more than a 6-second Vine video or 144-character Tweet to find the truth.

But the truth will set you free.

Over the coming days and weeks I’ll have more on this topic of forming your conscience because it matters.

And note I’m not saying who is the best candidate or even that there is a best candidate. I’m just asking you to do your own research.

We owe it to the world to do so.

Now go sell something.