Warren Buffet once said: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” This is also one of the greatest investors of all time and a man who carries a very supreme reputation around the world.

In the world that we live in today it seems like the definition of dignity and having some sort of character has been long gone. Being someone that people look up to as both an inspiration and as a mentor is not something that too many people currently care about. Our world today has been basically turned into a free for all where wants and needs come in front of doing the morally correct thing, and keeping your character and reputation in place.

Recently we saw a legend, Lance Armstrong, admit to Oprah that he did indeed take performance enhancing drugs even before he knew he had cancer. Sure the man has done great things for cancer, raised a lot of money and put the sport of cycling on the map, but at the same time his character and reputation has been mangled. He will never be remembered for all the good that he has done, but rather the mistakes he made.

Your reputation is something that you carry with yourself for the rest of your life. That is what you are remembered for after your days are gone, and that is the way people will always think of you- what type of character you were and how you decided to live your life. This of course comes down to your decisions in life, which builds up your reputation, yet at the same time can ruin it with just one poor decision.

Sure we are all human and we all make mistakes but we all do as well posses the concept of perception, and in our eyes we know right from wrong at the moment it is presented to us. The problem with our society currently is that we don’t care about consequences anymore. We live for the moment and would rather take the poor decision over the smart decision.

We are so much more concerned with what people will think about us if we don’t do something rather than thinking about what they will think if we do it. Of course peer pressure plays a big role in this as well as many people not being able to think for themselves.

Your dignity and character is what you will always be remembered for and what people will think of you as when they hear your name or see you. Do you really want to be the girl that is considered a slut for her whole life because in college she decided to bang 5 guys in the bathroom. Or do you really want to be the guy that decided to scam people out of money and always be known as a scumbag who should never be associated with.

This is all stemmed from your decisions. As we always say it is important to do what you want and not worry about what others think about you, it comes down to your perception of the decision you are making. If you are making a decision that feels right to your gut then know your reputation can never be affected. But when it feels shaky inside and uncertain of the course needed to be taken, there will be consequences to face afterwards.

The biggest problem our generation faces is that just like athletes we like to take the easy way out and not think for ourselves. Athletes all followed each other and took steroids in the early 90s, because everyone was doing it so it had to be the right thing to do. We have the same issue. Whenever we see many doing the same we decide to follow the critical mass rather than give a small bit of effort into thinking for ourselves.

When we stop thinking for ourselves and making our own decisions that are not influenced by anyone else, that is when our character, reputation, and dignity stay in line with everything we believe in. The one that has no shame in anything and is constantly doing wrong will always have a terrible reputation and be remembered for being a gypsy or a scumbag instead of a respectable businessman.

The worst thing about reputation is that once you lose it you can never really get it back- unless you decide to move to Mars and start over.

There are no reset buttons in life and the decisions that you make now will stick with you forever. Have the courage to think for yourself and do what you feel is right rather than letting others influence you to be something you’re not, which only leads you to live an artificial life.

Your character lives on forever. It is always going to be there like a terrible case of the herpes, giving you a reputation of being dirty. We truly can’t express to you how important your character really is. It is what your life will be remembered for and it is how you will be perceived by others.

It’s about being seen as the best possible you in the eyes of others- not because you care what they think about you, but because it is far greater to be respected and feared than it is to be loved by many.

Make your choices wisely and know that you are suppose to be a functioning adult. Your choices now will have some sort of affect on you later in the future. When Lance took his steroids in 1991 he did not think that in 2013 he would be exposed for them. The skeletons always come out of the closet.

Preston Waters | Elite.