The Dialog

Enron's core values were respect, integrity, communication and excellence. In 2001 the company went bankrupt, brought down by fraud. Core values don't matter when they're written. They matter when they're lived.

Everyone has core values. They're your criteria for making decisions, and most of us never look at them. My co-host Nick Surface and I started on the money conversation from the last two episodes and ended up on what's underneath it: the difference between a value and a virtue.

What's the difference between a value and a virtue?
A core value is the criteria you use to make decisions. A virtue is something that's always right, always good and always true. Comfort, money, winning and power aren't always good. Honor, humility, excellence and generosity are.

Is comfort a bad thing?
No. But when comfort becomes a core value, the dominoes fall a long way: pain started being promoted as the fifth vital sign, pain management became an industry, and the opioid crisis followed. It's not as simple as that sounds, and that's the point. Small criteria have downstream effects you can't see.

Discipline or regret?
Jim Rohn said there are two great pains in life: the pain of discipline and the pain of regret. Discipline weighs ounces. Regret weighs tons. You carry discipline now and regret later.

How do you know what's always right?
Jesus said you'll know them by their fruit (Matthew 7:16). The Stoics landed on four virtues: wisdom, courage, temperance and justice, which became the church's cardinal virtues.

How do you build core values?
Admit that feelings are most people's default criteria. Define each value. Then get around people with the fruit you want and take their values. Mine are honor, humility, excellence and generosity. Nick's are faith, dream, grow, connect and serve. My first book, The Way to Live, walks through a similar process.

Scriptures
Matthew 6:21 · Matthew 7:16-20 · Matthew 7:24-27 · John 14:6

People and ideas
Plato: the form of the good, and learning by imitation
The Stoics: wisdom, courage, temperance, justice
Augustine and Thomas Aquinas: the cardinal virtues
Edward Lorenz: the butterfly effect
Jim Rohn: discipline or regret

Chapters
0:00 Cold open and show intro
0:52 What are you actually certain about?
3:07 Was Jesus rich?
4:46 Core values vs. virtues
5:16 Comfort as a core value
7:31 How pain became the fifth vital sign
10:08 From pain management to the opioid crisis
15:07 Nick's first 100-miler
18:50 The butterfly effect
21:29 Find the decision that started the chaos
22:20 Discipline or regret
25:26 "I wish I'd found it in my 40s"
28:51 A virtue is always right, good and true
30:24 Honor, humility, excellence, generosity
32:12 You'll know them by their fruit
35:22 Plato and the house on the rock
36:40 It's never a bad idea to forgive
39:35 The four Stoic virtues
41:34 Enron: written vs. lived
43:28 How to start building core values
44:19 Most decisions are made on feelings
48:34 What is excellence?
51:04 Nick's core values
55:10 Borrow someone else's values
57:54 When borrowed values become your own

Previous: 1.9 / How much money does God want you to have?
Next: 1.11 / Should Christians believe in Santa? The real St. Nicholas

New episodes most weeks.
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Go to my website / https://jkc.is

What is The Dialog?

Ancient philosophers used the dialog to find answers to life’s greatest questions. The Dialog is a search for truth in modern life through the lens of ancient philosophy, history, and theology. This podcast will challenge your assumptions, change your thinking and show you how to master modern living.