Those 3 words have the power to transform the life of anyone who takes them on.
Integrity is a personal quality of fairness that most of us aspire to. Having integrity means doing the right thing in a reliable way.
So, am I just coming up with a different way of saying ‘treat others as you’d wish to be treated?’ Actually, what I’m talking about is more than that.
There’s nothing wrong with interpreting integrity as treating others as you’d want to be treated. Nothing wrong at all, in fact it’s an awesome way to think and act.
It means you respect other people’s opinions, you assume the best of them, you try to see things from their viewpoint. You look to help others and support them. You don’t say anything *about* them that you wouldn’t say *to* them, and if they tell you something in confidence, you keep that confidence.
It can be a pain sometimes too, to keep to those ideals when it would be easier to drift to other behaviors, but the little breaks in integrity here and there add up to blow a hole in the whole thing – you either act with integrity or you don’t.
If you do, if you make the effort, what a better world we’d live in, don’t you think? It’s a simple concept which has people, basically, being nice to one another, and so many of life’s difficulties disappear, the more people that chose that path.
All well and good, and I genuinely believe that integrity is the foundation that we should use to underpin everything.
And integrity to others is great, but having integrity means you are true to yourself and would do nothing that demeans or dishonors you.
The things that describe integrity to others – respecting opinions, assuming the best, making the effort to understand, helping and supporting and keeping confidences…
Do you apply those ideas to yourself? The most important person to look after yourself, is you!
Respecting your own opinions, fully understanding and supporting your real wishes, ambitions, passions and joys, and doing something about it – it doesn’t mean ignoring everyone else, but unless you work on what truly makes you feel alive, you are doing yourself a disservice, and you are not acting with integrity towards yourself.
That may well spill over and manifest itself in behavior towards others which you know full well is not with integrity, and deep down that will bring its own frustration. It can be a vicious circle of suppressed wishes leading to frustration, leading to bad behavior, leading to more frustration.
It doesn’t have to be that way though. Why not go for being honest and true to yourself? It will leave you feeling more free and fulfilled, inspired to do the best for others as well as yourself, which lifts you even more, and yes this will lift others up along with you. It’s a classic win-win!
Is it too much to describe it as ‘everything?’
In the world of self-improvement and personal development, there are many things that could be described as ‘everything,’ but I believe integrity is right up there.
Integrity – it’s doing the right thing, even when nobody is watching.
Eva Gregory helps spiritual entrepreneurs go from chaos to clarity and from clarity to cash flow. She is a Law of Attraction expert, and author of “The Feel Good Guide To Prosperity” and “Life Lessons for Mastering the Law of Attraction”, co-authored with Jack Canfield. Her gift is teaching spiritual entrepreneurs how to integrate Inner Guidance with proven practical business strategies to create successful enlightened businesses from a place of purpose, passion and prosperity. Get your FREE Soul-Centered Conversations That Convert template here and learn how to ramp up your revenue fast with a proven step-by-step template for converting those interested in what you offer to investing in what you offer.
