Step one: Get a journal, and write down all of the traits you admire in people around you. For example, you may really admire your mom's thoughtfulness, or your dad's patience, or your friends' generosity. Make a complete list.

Step two: Prioritize that list as to what qualities you would like to be known for. Do you want others to recognize you as a thoughtful person? Then make that a priority.

Step three: Start working on those one day at a time, spending one week on each characteristic, and adding another characteristic to it the following week. Because there are so many qualities, traits, and attributes we all could improve on, or gain in our lives, you will constantly be working to be a better person, and in the end, be a far better person for it.

Let's look at an example: Generosity.

Day one: Today you are going to do some research on what it means to be a generous person. You will likely learn that to serve others, and to be generous with your time, money, and talents, you have to have those things. So, consider ways that you can be more self-reliant, so that you have the means to be generous with others.

Day two: Practice an act of generosity today. It can be something simple like letting someone with small children check out in front of you at the grocery store. Or it can be something more complex, like giving of your time to a person in need, whether that is by volunteering at a shelter, watching a young mom's kids so she can take a break, or giving to someone else in need.

Day three: Remember that generosity is not about giving away things you do not want, or do not need, but giving when it is not the most convenient. You do not have to be loaded, or have a lot of stuff to be generous. Giving away clothes that are out of style, do not fit you, or are stained and ruined is not generous. Giving away leftovers that would have ended up in the trash is not generous. Instead of giving what you do not want, consider making a meal, or doing some shopping specifically for someone today.

Day four: Today review what you have learned and done in the previous 3 days, and set a goal for yourself that has to do with generosity.

Day five: Think about the people in your life that you would consider generous. What ways do they show generosity? Try that for yourself.

Day six: Take an accounting of your quest to be more generous. Are you doing a good job? Are there areas that you could improve on? It is often easy to be generous to those you love, but not so much to strangers, or those you do not feel are deserving. Today, determine your weak areas with generosity.

Day seven: Today you are going to do something to help you strengthen one of the weak areas of your generosity. Maybe this means doing something generous for a stranger, or maybe it means being more generous in your thoughts.

If you do this for each characteristic, you will develop them in yourself and become a better person.