Integrity is the quality that locks in your values and causes you to live consistently with them. Integrity is a value, like persistence, courage, and industriousness. Even more than that, it is the value that guarantees all the other values. You are a good person to the degree to which you live your life consistently with the highest values that you espouse.
Integrity is the foundation of character, and character development is one of the most important activities you can engage in. Working on your character means disciplining yourself to accomplish more and more of those things that a completely honest person would do, under all circumstances.
To be impeccably trustworthy with others, you should first be impeccably honest with yourself. You should be faithful to yourself. You should be true to the very finest that is inside you, to the very greatest that you know. Only a person who is living consistently with his highest principles and virtues is really living a life of integrity, and when you commit to living this kind of life, you will discover yourself constantly raising your own values, constantly refining your definition of integrity and honesty.
You can judge how high your level of integrity is by simply looking at the things you do in your day-to-day life. You can look at your reactions and responses to the inevitable ups and downs of life. You can observe the behaviors you typically engage in, and you will then know the person you are.
The outer manifestation of superior integrity is high-quality work. A person who is perfectly truthful with himself will be someone who does, or strives to accomplish, excellent work on every occasion. The perfectly trustworthy person recognizes, on occasion unconsciously, that everything he does is a statement about who he really is as a person.
Once you start a little earlier, labor a little harder, stay a little later, and concentrate on each point, you are practicing integrity in your job. And whether you know it or not, your real level of integrity is obvious and obvious to all and sundry around you.
Perhaps the most valuable rule you will perpetually learn is that your life only becomes better after you become better.
All of life is lived from the inside out. At the very central part of your personality lie your principles about yourself and life in general. Your principles determine the kind of person you really are, what you believe has defined your character and your personality. It is what you stand for, and what you won"t stand for, that tells you and the world the kind of person you have develop into.
Ask yourself this question: What are your five most crucial values in life? Your answer will expose an enormous amount about you. What would you pay for, sacrifice for, suffer for, and even die for? What would you stand up for or refuse to lie down for? What are the principles that you call most dear? Think these questions through carefully and, as soon as you get a chance, write down your answers. Here's a different way of asking that question: What men and women, living or dead, do you mainly admire? Once you pick three or four men or women, the next question is, why do you admire them? What principles, qualities, or virtues do they exhibit that you respect and look up to? Can you articulate those qualities? What is a quality possessed by human beings in general that you most respect? This is the opening place for determining your values. The answers to these questions form the foundation of your character and your personality.
After you have determined your five foremost values, you must now organize them in order of magnitude. What is your first, most crucial value? What is your subsequent value? What is your third value? And so on. Ranking your principles is one of the very greatest and fastest ways to identify your character.
Remember, a higher-order value will always take precedence over a lower-order value. Whenever you are forced to choose between acting on one value or another, you always choose the value that is the highest on your own personal hierarchy.
Who you are, in your heart, is evidenced by what you do on a day-to-day basis, especially when you are pushed into a position where you have to make a choice between two values or alternatives. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Guard your integrity as a sacred thing." In study after study the quality of integrity, or a person"s adherence to values, ranks as the number one quality sought in every field. When it comes to determining with whom they will do business, customers rank the honesty of a salesperson as the most important single quality. Even if they feel that a salespersons product, quality, and price is superior, customers will not buy from that salesperson if they feel that he or she is lacking in honesty and character.
Likewise, integrity is the number one quality of leadership. Integrity in leadership is expressed in terms of constancy and consistency. It is manifested in an absolute devotion to keeping one"s word. The glue that holds all relationships together "including the relationship between the leader and the led" is trust, and trust is based on integrity.
Integrity is so important that functioning in our society would be impossible without it. We could not make even a simple purchase without a high level of confidence that the price was honest and that the change was correct. The most successful individuals and companies in America are those with reputations of high integrity among everyone they deal with. This level of integrity builds the confidence that others have in them and enables them to do more business than their competitors, whose ethics may be a little shaky. Earl Nightingale once wrote, "If honesty did not exist, it would have to be invented, as it is the surest way of getting rich." A study at Harvard University concluded that the most valuable asset that a company has is how it is known to its customers: Its reputation.
By the same token, your greatest personal asset is the way that you are known to your customers. It is your personal reputation for keeping your word and fulfilling your commitments. Your integrity precedes you and affects all of your interactions with other people. There are several things you can do to move you more rapidly toward becoming the kind of person that you know you are capable of becoming. The first, as I mentioned, is to decide upon your five most important values in life. Organize them in order of priority. Then, write a brief paragraph defining what each of those values means to you. A value combined with a definition becomes an organizing principle, a statement that you can use to help you make better decisions. It is a measure and standard which enables you to know how closely you are adhering to your innermost beliefs and convictions.
Napoleon Hill, in his book The Master Key to Riches, tells about how he created an imaginary board of personal advisors made up of great figures of history. He chose people like Napoleon, Lincoln, Jesus, and Alexander the Great. Whenever he had to make a decision, he would relax deeply and then imagine that the members of his advisory council were sitting at a large table in front of him. He would then ask them what he should do to deal effectively with a particular situation. In time, they would begin to give him answers, observations, and insights that helped him to see more clearly and act more effectively.
You can do the same thing. Select someone that you very much admire for his qualities of courage, tenacity, honesty, or wisdom. Ask yourself "What would Jesus do in my situation?" or "What would Lincoln do if he were here at this time?" You will find yourself with guidance that enables you to be the very best person that you can possibly be.
But we also know that you don"t always start off feeling the way you want to. However, because of the Law of Reversibility, if you act as if you had a particular feeling, the action will generate the feeling consistent with it. You can, in effect, act your way into feeling. You can "fake it until you make it."
The more you walk, talk, and behave consistently with your highest values, the more you will like yourself and the better you will feel about yourself. Your self-image will improve, and your level of self-acceptance will go up. You will feel stronger, bolder, and more capable of facing any challenge.
You can become a superior human being by consciously acting exactly as the kind of person that you would most like to become. If you behave like an individual of integrity, courage, resolution, persistence, and character, you will soon create within yourself the mental structure and habits of such a person. Your actions will become your reality. You will create a personality that is consistent with your highest aspirations.
There are three primary areas of your life where acting with integrity is crucial. These are the three areas of greatest temptation for forsaking your integrity as well as the areas of greatest opportunity for building your integrity. When you listen to your inner voice and do what you know to be the right thing in each of these areas, you will have a sense of peace and satisfaction that will lead you on to success and high achievement.
The first area of integrity has to do with your commitments to others, especially in your business, your work, and your sales activities. Always keep your word. Be a man or a woman of honor. If you say that you will do something, do it. If you make a promise, keep it. If you make a commitment, fulfill it. Be known as the kind of person that can be trusted absolutely, no matter what the circumstances.
This doesn"t mean that you have to go and hit somebody over the head with a stick. It simply means that you honestly confront another person and tell him that you are not happy. Tell him that you would like to reorganize this relationship so that you feel more content and satisfied. If the other person is not willing to make adjustments so that you can be happy, it should be clear to you that you don"t want to be in this relationship much longer anyway. The second area of integrity has to do with your attitude and behavior toward money. Casualness toward money brings casualties in your financial life. You must be fastidious about your treatment of money, especially other people"s money. You must guard your credit rating the same way you would guard your honor. You must pay your bills punctually, or even early. You must keep your promises with regard to your financial commitments.
The 3rd area of integrity has to do with your relationships with your family and your friends, the people close to you. Being true to yourself means living in truth with each person in your life. It means refusing to say or do something that you don"t believe is right. Living in truth with other people means that you refuse to stay in any situation where you are unhappy with the behavior of another person. You refuse to tolerate it. You refuse to compromise. Psychologists have determined that most stress and negativity come from attempting to live in a way that is not congruent with your highest values. It is when your life is out of alignment, when you are doing and saying one thing on the outside but really feeling and believing something different on the inside, that you feel most unhappy. When you decide to become an individual of character and integrity, your first action will be to neutralize or remove all difficult relationships from your life
It's easy to make promises and hard to keep them, but if you do, every single act of integrity will make your character a little stronger. And as you improve the quality and strength of your character, every other part of your life will improve as well. Your integrity is manifested in your willingness to adhere to the values you hold most dear.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
3 Powerful Ways To Live Your Life The Way You Want
So here is a question I would like to ask you: Do you think it is possible for you to live your life on your own terms? Can you make your goals in any area of your
life come true? In fact, dare I ask if you even have any goals that you want to
happen within the next 12 months?
Those people who have thought about their goals want a luxury country or
beachfront home, a performance car, to be a successful business owner, to
contribute more to the local community, and others.
More than likely you have a few goals in certain areas of your life. Right? Your
goal could be to improve on the quality of your relationships, go for that
promotion, lose weight, get healthy, volunteer your time to a charity
organisation, spend more time with your family.
The important thing to now consider is how can you get closer to making your goals
a reality, where you can live your life the way you want to as opposed to just
dreaming about them every once in a while.
Let us assume you know what you want in your life, you even went as far as to
write them down and place them on post-it notes all over your home, placed on the
wall in front of your computer, on your fridge on your make-up mirror.
But it is extremely important for you to realise that it is most unlikely for you
to achieve your goals.
Why?
It is because you possess a huge block that is standing in your way. A block, in
fact blocks, that are in total conflict with your goals.
Those blocks are called your limiting beliefs. They precede any goal. If your
beliefs are in conflict with what it is that you want, your limiting beliefs will
always, always win.
If you want more money and you have limiting beliefs about money, as in, "I will
never be rich", then no matter what you do consciously you will never be rich.
So if limiting beliefs stand in your way to live your life the way you want, what
can you do to get by this?
Here are 3 powerful ways you can use immediately to start that journey to success:
1. Automatic Negative Thoughts. Your first step is to identify the limiting beliefs, your automatic negative thoughts that are standing in the way of achieving your goals. This must be done before you start the journey towards your goals. Not after.
2. Motivational Quotes. This is a very powerful way to identify those negative thoughts, your core limiting beliefs, and at the same time it can also push you to increase your level of enthusiasm and motivation. Get yourself a handful of motivational quotes or posters from Google search. When you read them notice how you react? If you cringe, or say, "Yeah right!" that is a limiting belief that you will need to tackle.
3. Be Committed. Every goal that you set for yourself be committed to achieve it. Identify and change the automatic negative thoughts and remain focused and committed to do whatever it takes until you have that goal. Do whatever it takes, no matter what. Take daily action.
Warning: If you ignore identifying and challenging your limiting beliefs you will remain stuck where you are now.
life come true? In fact, dare I ask if you even have any goals that you want to
happen within the next 12 months?
Those people who have thought about their goals want a luxury country or
beachfront home, a performance car, to be a successful business owner, to
contribute more to the local community, and others.
More than likely you have a few goals in certain areas of your life. Right? Your
goal could be to improve on the quality of your relationships, go for that
promotion, lose weight, get healthy, volunteer your time to a charity
organisation, spend more time with your family.
The important thing to now consider is how can you get closer to making your goals
a reality, where you can live your life the way you want to as opposed to just
dreaming about them every once in a while.
Let us assume you know what you want in your life, you even went as far as to
write them down and place them on post-it notes all over your home, placed on the
wall in front of your computer, on your fridge on your make-up mirror.
But it is extremely important for you to realise that it is most unlikely for you
to achieve your goals.
Why?
It is because you possess a huge block that is standing in your way. A block, in
fact blocks, that are in total conflict with your goals.
Those blocks are called your limiting beliefs. They precede any goal. If your
beliefs are in conflict with what it is that you want, your limiting beliefs will
always, always win.
If you want more money and you have limiting beliefs about money, as in, "I will
never be rich", then no matter what you do consciously you will never be rich.
So if limiting beliefs stand in your way to live your life the way you want, what
can you do to get by this?
Here are 3 powerful ways you can use immediately to start that journey to success:
1. Automatic Negative Thoughts. Your first step is to identify the limiting beliefs, your automatic negative thoughts that are standing in the way of achieving your goals. This must be done before you start the journey towards your goals. Not after.
2. Motivational Quotes. This is a very powerful way to identify those negative thoughts, your core limiting beliefs, and at the same time it can also push you to increase your level of enthusiasm and motivation. Get yourself a handful of motivational quotes or posters from Google search. When you read them notice how you react? If you cringe, or say, "Yeah right!" that is a limiting belief that you will need to tackle.
3. Be Committed. Every goal that you set for yourself be committed to achieve it. Identify and change the automatic negative thoughts and remain focused and committed to do whatever it takes until you have that goal. Do whatever it takes, no matter what. Take daily action.
Warning: If you ignore identifying and challenging your limiting beliefs you will remain stuck where you are now.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Deliberately Choose How You Want To Live Your Life
This article asks the question, "Is your life worth living?" This simple question, when asked often, creates more abundance in your life. Here are practical tools to remind yourself that you are in control of creating a wonderful quality of life regardless of your circumstances.
Many people live reactionary lives where they find themselves always putting out fires and never living the life of their dreams. Is that you? Make the choice to deliberately start living life on your terms by choosing to be proactive about your life choices.
How proactive are you when it comes to how you choose to live your life?
Stephen Covey, in his Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, says the first habit is be proactive. I read that book in 1989 and that principle still resonates with me. Many people live lives of default. They wake up in the morning and life just happens to them. They do not make choices. Instead they spend a lot of time trying to get out of things that happen to them. They invest their time and energy reacting instead of being proactive.
Each of us has to choose to change our mindset to be more proactive instead of reactive. It takes awareness and a desire to really improve the way your life is, in order to make these changes effectively.
These days, we seem to have lost our capacity to revel in “choice.” We are overwhelmed with choices and we end up not making any choice at all. Or, if we make a choice, we have escalated expectations and if the choice does not feed our expectations, then we feel we are responsible for making the wrong choice. And then, we shy away from making choices. So we do not make the wrong choice.
Psychologist, Barry Schwartz spoke on the Power of Choice at The Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference. He said when he was growing up, you bought one type of jeans and you wore them and washed them several times and then they fit perfectly. These days, you have the choice of slim fit, wide legs, low riders, regular riders and when you buy one and take it home, if it does not fit, it becomes your fault, because you made the wrong choice. Well, the truth is, the clearer we are about what we actually want, the clearer we are about the choices that we make.
When you proactively and deliberately make choices, you are signifying to everyone around you and to the Universe at large that your life is worth living.
This may sound like a bizarre question but do you live your life as if it is worth living?
Being proactive and being clear about your choices will help you live your life fully and exceptionally.
Being clear on who you are will help you be clear about your choices. In my law practice and in my coaching practice, I have discovered that most people are just not aware of the value of their lives.
This is part of what is going on when you hit midlife and your parents die, or your body betrays you and you realize you have spent most of your life trying to attain an elusive goal and you have not spent enough time just enjoying the small things. You realize that you have not spent enough time just being happy and just having a plain old good time.
The point is this, no one is going to come into your life and tell you how valuable and wonderful you are. That is a job for you. You have to do that for yourself. You have to remind yourself every single day that you have a phenomenal life worth living. This is critical if you actually want to reinvent your life.
This is where affirmations come in. You may not feel as if you have a phenomenal life but you do. With all the scientific breakthroughs, the fact is no one can create life. Life itself is a mysterious. So use affirmations to direct your thoughts and focus on where you want to go.
Here is how you use affirmations. You want it to be close to what you want. Take the time to discover the hidden desires behind what you want. So for example, if you want a new car, what is the want behind that? You probably want the reliability and dependability of a new car. You are looking forward to the clean car smell and you may even have in mind a high end car that would signify your level of success.
The perfect affirmation for this would be: I enjoy a reliable and dependable new car. Affirm this to yourself all the time. In addition, envision what you want and experience the emotions of what you want now.
Use these tools to help you to help you deliberately choose how you want to live and reinvent your life.
Many people live reactionary lives where they find themselves always putting out fires and never living the life of their dreams. Is that you? Make the choice to deliberately start living life on your terms by choosing to be proactive about your life choices.
How proactive are you when it comes to how you choose to live your life?
Stephen Covey, in his Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, says the first habit is be proactive. I read that book in 1989 and that principle still resonates with me. Many people live lives of default. They wake up in the morning and life just happens to them. They do not make choices. Instead they spend a lot of time trying to get out of things that happen to them. They invest their time and energy reacting instead of being proactive.
Each of us has to choose to change our mindset to be more proactive instead of reactive. It takes awareness and a desire to really improve the way your life is, in order to make these changes effectively.
These days, we seem to have lost our capacity to revel in “choice.” We are overwhelmed with choices and we end up not making any choice at all. Or, if we make a choice, we have escalated expectations and if the choice does not feed our expectations, then we feel we are responsible for making the wrong choice. And then, we shy away from making choices. So we do not make the wrong choice.
Psychologist, Barry Schwartz spoke on the Power of Choice at The Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference. He said when he was growing up, you bought one type of jeans and you wore them and washed them several times and then they fit perfectly. These days, you have the choice of slim fit, wide legs, low riders, regular riders and when you buy one and take it home, if it does not fit, it becomes your fault, because you made the wrong choice. Well, the truth is, the clearer we are about what we actually want, the clearer we are about the choices that we make.
When you proactively and deliberately make choices, you are signifying to everyone around you and to the Universe at large that your life is worth living.
This may sound like a bizarre question but do you live your life as if it is worth living?
Being proactive and being clear about your choices will help you live your life fully and exceptionally.
Being clear on who you are will help you be clear about your choices. In my law practice and in my coaching practice, I have discovered that most people are just not aware of the value of their lives.
This is part of what is going on when you hit midlife and your parents die, or your body betrays you and you realize you have spent most of your life trying to attain an elusive goal and you have not spent enough time just enjoying the small things. You realize that you have not spent enough time just being happy and just having a plain old good time.
The point is this, no one is going to come into your life and tell you how valuable and wonderful you are. That is a job for you. You have to do that for yourself. You have to remind yourself every single day that you have a phenomenal life worth living. This is critical if you actually want to reinvent your life.
This is where affirmations come in. You may not feel as if you have a phenomenal life but you do. With all the scientific breakthroughs, the fact is no one can create life. Life itself is a mysterious. So use affirmations to direct your thoughts and focus on where you want to go.
Here is how you use affirmations. You want it to be close to what you want. Take the time to discover the hidden desires behind what you want. So for example, if you want a new car, what is the want behind that? You probably want the reliability and dependability of a new car. You are looking forward to the clean car smell and you may even have in mind a high end car that would signify your level of success.
The perfect affirmation for this would be: I enjoy a reliable and dependable new car. Affirm this to yourself all the time. In addition, envision what you want and experience the emotions of what you want now.
Use these tools to help you to help you deliberately choose how you want to live and reinvent your life.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Your Success Isn't What You Think It Is
Daily Success Motivation and Self-Improvement
Your Success isn't what you think it is. Your success is what you think you are and your motivation for pursuing success is intimately tied to your thoughts about yourself and your place in the world.
Defining Success For Yourself
Your were created for achievement and success. While our motivations for pursuing success can stem from greed to fear of lack to a sense of right and entitlement, our success is intimately tied to what we think about ourselves. You should first understand that success isn't defined just by material gain. I believe the purest definition of success is being happy what your life, your accomplishments and your relationships.
We all define success in many different ways but ultimately we are successful when our life choices, the things we accomplish through our life choices and the relationships we build, all allow us to express our life passions and purpose.
Whether we head a company or do volunteer work, when we are expressing ourselves through our sense of purpose and passion and we are happy we the results we are getting...then we are truly experiencing success and our motivation for success all the more clear through our love of the work we do.
Defining Motivation for Success
When we engage success with any effort other than a love and a passion in the pursuit of happiness our lives become drudgery and our efforts become mechanical. Life becomes dry, routine and seems forced. It seems a lot of people define success by how much money they make and possess. And it also seems that many people dream of doing something different. You know, pursuing that life they really want to live, the business they really want to start or that career they really want to go after but they don't think the can make the change or make enough money to be happy.
I have good news for you! Your provision is tied intimately to your passions! You don't have to worry about money when what you do is what you love. Provision or money, will easily flow to you and there is always an audience or client base for just about anything you can think of doing when you consider making money from what you love to do. What I'm saying is that the amount of money you make is not the highest definition or shouldn't be the highest definition of success but you can and should make as much as money your passions and interests can potentially bring to you.
Your Wealth Is Who You Think YOU Are
There are many people who are rich and miserable and there are many people who are rich and full of joy. The same goes for working-class individuals and the poor. Your state of happiness starts with your state of mind and your success is not rooted in what you think it is, it is rooted in who you think you are.
You must think about who you really are and where your place is in the world to find satisfaction in your motivation to define and pursue your personal success. To pursue success soley for the material gain alone is not a compelling enough argument to sustain your efforts to succeed when the going gets tough. You will need a higher purpose that is connected to the joy of being happy with yourself and what you are convinced you can contribute to the improvement of the lives of others and world in which you live.
Think about your personal value and unique talents. There is no other you in the whole world and history of the human race. There will never be another like you again. As you pursue your success, start with thinking about who you really are and how your gifts, talents, passions and interests can be used to improve the lives of others. My favorite book says that "A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men".
What are your gifts (talents, passions, interests)? Think about your gifts, then use them and your success will become reality.
Your Success isn't what you think it is. Your success is what you think you are and your motivation for pursuing success is intimately tied to your thoughts about yourself and your place in the world.
Defining Success For Yourself
Your were created for achievement and success. While our motivations for pursuing success can stem from greed to fear of lack to a sense of right and entitlement, our success is intimately tied to what we think about ourselves. You should first understand that success isn't defined just by material gain. I believe the purest definition of success is being happy what your life, your accomplishments and your relationships.
We all define success in many different ways but ultimately we are successful when our life choices, the things we accomplish through our life choices and the relationships we build, all allow us to express our life passions and purpose.
Whether we head a company or do volunteer work, when we are expressing ourselves through our sense of purpose and passion and we are happy we the results we are getting...then we are truly experiencing success and our motivation for success all the more clear through our love of the work we do.
Defining Motivation for Success
When we engage success with any effort other than a love and a passion in the pursuit of happiness our lives become drudgery and our efforts become mechanical. Life becomes dry, routine and seems forced. It seems a lot of people define success by how much money they make and possess. And it also seems that many people dream of doing something different. You know, pursuing that life they really want to live, the business they really want to start or that career they really want to go after but they don't think the can make the change or make enough money to be happy.
I have good news for you! Your provision is tied intimately to your passions! You don't have to worry about money when what you do is what you love. Provision or money, will easily flow to you and there is always an audience or client base for just about anything you can think of doing when you consider making money from what you love to do. What I'm saying is that the amount of money you make is not the highest definition or shouldn't be the highest definition of success but you can and should make as much as money your passions and interests can potentially bring to you.
Your Wealth Is Who You Think YOU Are
There are many people who are rich and miserable and there are many people who are rich and full of joy. The same goes for working-class individuals and the poor. Your state of happiness starts with your state of mind and your success is not rooted in what you think it is, it is rooted in who you think you are.
You must think about who you really are and where your place is in the world to find satisfaction in your motivation to define and pursue your personal success. To pursue success soley for the material gain alone is not a compelling enough argument to sustain your efforts to succeed when the going gets tough. You will need a higher purpose that is connected to the joy of being happy with yourself and what you are convinced you can contribute to the improvement of the lives of others and world in which you live.
Think about your personal value and unique talents. There is no other you in the whole world and history of the human race. There will never be another like you again. As you pursue your success, start with thinking about who you really are and how your gifts, talents, passions and interests can be used to improve the lives of others. My favorite book says that "A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men".
What are your gifts (talents, passions, interests)? Think about your gifts, then use them and your success will become reality.
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