So I’ve been writing alot about personal development and self-help topics lately. I just wanted to stop and take the time to talk about something else that’s very important to me and should be to everyone else to. Thats your own personal integrity and inner self values.
The people I run across that stick in my mind and stay my friend for the longest are the ones who have the most integrity. This class of people can get things done. They easily earn others respect and trust. I’m not talking about the ones who say that they do. I mean the ones who really do. Integrity really goes down to your core. If you don’t have your core in the right place all the personal development in the world won’t help you.
What Constitutes Good Integrity?
In case your wondering if you have good integrity then you need to stop and ask yourself a few questions.
- Do you do you best even when other people aren’t around?
- Are you an honest person? Would you steal or lie even if you knew that you wouldn’t get caught?
- Do you do things just to hurt other people?
- Do you hold your values and what you stand for in the highest regards when it comes to your thinking and actions.
If you answered no to any of these questions then you might have some issues that you need to work on. It’s no big deal if you don’t have the best integrity, but you need to stop and say “do I want to better myself?” and start making choices that lead you down the right path.
There can be a lot of confusion about values and integrity so you need to clarify it for yourself. My questions that I asked you to ask yourself were just general questions based on my internal values. Yours may be slightly different or even more detailed questions about yours. Ask honest questions about what you believe in and how you are as a person even when nobody is looking. That’s the true reflection of your integrity. Some people think that just because nobody is looking and they can get away with something that it goes unnoticed. I can promise you that if you think this way and have been getting away with things that are not who you should be, THEN STOP. Stop before you get caught or things catch up to you. If this scenario is you and you know that what you do isn’t who you should be, you may have an internal conflict.
Internal conflicts can come out as many different kinds of negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, depression, anger, and guilt. Any time you bottle up a negative emotion you are storing it in the back of your mind for later. Just because you don’t think about it 24/7 doesn’t mean that it isn’t still there haunting your every move. When you know you should be doing or acting a certain way because you feel that is how you are supposed to and you do or act something different, that builds up those inner conflicts and the tension will only grow. After it grows to a certain point you may experience some really negative side effects from a simple anger problem to a complete personality change. Have you ever heard of someone growing cold?
The good news is that gaining your inner alignment isn’t that hard at all really. All you need to do is figure out exactly who you are and what you stand for and start acting like that person. Figure out your values and things that you hold important no matter what. Set high personal standards that you know you can achieve. Even if it feels fake at first and you seem uncomfortable just be yourself Push yourself to do things that may be more challenging when you feel like giving up or taking the easy way out. Integrity is easy to understand, but difficult to master. With enough hard work and patience tho you can reflect your true inner values on anything you do and everyone you meet. Good Luck!