Today’s blog is adapted from Chapter 2 of my upcoming book Unbeatable! which is scheduled to be released within the next few weeks! It’s about personal integrity.
There is security for those who walk in integrity. They are not worried about reaping the consequences of surreptitious activity because it is not a part of their DNA. This person is wired with cables of honesty, trust, and reliability. They can be taken at their word because their track record shows it.
Psychologist Henry Cloud, in his book Integrity, has offered an excellent description of what integrity looks like. He states, “Who a person is will ultimately determine if their brains, talents, competencies, energy, effort, deal-making abilities, and opportunities will succeed.” The starting point is the inner self. It’s all about character.
Integrity, then, has to do with wholeness, with having a character that is integrated and intact. This is a sign of maturity. Integrity goes beyond being honest or true to your word. To have integrity is to face reality and to respond to it with poise, emotional intelligence, and temperance.
Ancient Hebrew wisdom literature says this: “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.” The promise is that integrity offers sound guidance. It leads you on the right path and causes you to make wholesome decisions. By contrast, the person lacking in integrity, described above as unfaithful, meets a destructive end because they are double-minded. Their duplicity hurts them because they are divided internally and lack integration.
The person of integrity makes right choices, which guard them on their moral journey. It’s a positive cycle of healthy choices that result in having a shield of protection from danger. The person who does not invest in the integrity of their character is typically floored by their own poor choices.
How is your integrity journey going? I hope it’s on your radar and, if not, the year 2020 is an ideal time to begin this noble pursuit. Building your inner character on the pillar of integrity is building on solid ground. Let us journey together.
This Post Has 6 Comments
Working on the inner self is one of the hardest pursuit. Initially, I use to think it’s selfish to communicate to someone I am working on becoming a better me but it’s a decision I myself have made because it is a necessary one. It’s the only way I will become better to society on a whole. Thank you for this healthy reminder and needed focus.
Thank you Michelle. If we don’t prioritize the cultivation of a wholesome character, we reduce our chances of living lives of high impact. Healthy character-building will take effort and commitment, but it is worth the struggle.
My biggest challenge with being consistently honest isn’t willingness on my part but the reaction of others to your honesty. The immaturity of others can make integrity difficult, but its important to do the right thing even when difficult.
Looking forward to the book TM.
You are quite correct Chad. We can only determine our own actions. We have absolutely no control over what others do, so that the call to integrity is based on doing the right thing no matter what others do. I, too, am excited about my pending book release. The journey has been a real privilege.
I have always tried to make right choices and decisions,even if people say girl you are foolish, you don’t have to because I solely believes in integrity I will do what I thinks it’s right. Thank God for my upbringing. I love the quote “integrity has to deal with wholeness ” be an individual, be your self.
Thanks for these thoughts Liz. The beauty of the integrity journey lies in the fact that it does not dependent on other people. It is not about popularity or being liked. It is about the maturity of our inner selves and letting in the inside match the outside.