A500.2.3.RB - Tell Your Story

A500.2.3.RB - Tell Your Story

28 October 2015

Richard Martinez

MSLD500

            Standards are used every day in many aspects of our lives. We use standards to help guide us to reach a level of quality in ourselves and the things we do every day. Having high standards helps us to be the best that we can be. Critical-Thinking and Non-Critical-Thinking uses the same standards we have set for ourselves in our daily lives.

            I learned from an early age to have a set of standards in my life, some of which were passed down from my father who served 24 years in the U.S. Army. When I turned 17 I joined the Army and began building on the standards that my father taught me. After 28 years in the U.S. Army I have developed a well-defined set of standards that I live by on a daily basis. In the Army we attend several leadership courses at various stages in our career based on our rank. In these courses we are taught leadership and to have high standards in everything we do. Our lives depended on us having a high set of standards to conduct ourselves by and to live by. We apply these standards to our Critical thinking as well. There are 6 standards that I have applied to my life to make me a better person who is always trying to improve. These standards are being honest, reliable, well-organized, accurate, having integrity, and courage. I have tried to use these standards in my thought process as I grew thru my leadership roles in the Army. Along with the standards I applied a set of core values that I was taught while in the Army that has served me very well in everything that I do. These core values are Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honesty, Integrity, and Personal Courage. A simple way to remember the core values is to take the first letter of each word to spell LDRSHIP.

            With time I have developed to use my standards and core values to allow me to be a very reliable person in everything that I do. I apply them to my work, school, thought process or critical and non-critical thinking and my personal life with my friends and family. I have applied and practiced my standards to evolve and adapt to new technologies and ways of thinking. The more I practice and apply the standards my critical and non-critical thinking will continue to improve and be a bigger part of my future.