#Personal integrity how to#

Assuming you want to build your personal integrity, how about reflecting from time to time on what you believe? Come to understand yourself and your world-view a little better, by degrees.

First off, ask yourself whether integrity has any place in your life.

#Personal integrity how to#

~ Samuel Johnson How to Build Your Integrity вЂњThere can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity.вЂќ Just вЂњhavingвЂќ integrity to me seems to confer few if any benefits, save perhaps as a fillip to the ego.ДЇrom a group perspective, integrity contributes to the ties of goodwill, trust and mutual concern which help bind a team, group or community closer together. I attribute this to a reduction or elimination of cognitive dissonance. What are the Benefits of Integrity?ДЇrom an individualвЂ™s perspective, acting with integrity can confer a certain calm self-satisfaction. cheating or sociopathy signify a lack of integrity, if we suppose that the cheaterвЂ™s or sociopathвЂ™s thoughts and actions remain congruent with their personal values. Nor do I choose to mix-up integrity with honesty, excepting honesty-with-oneself. Here, вЂњthe Right ThingвЂќ is a personal relativism. I suggest even evil men can have integrity, should they but behave congruently with their beliefs. Some conflate integrity with virtue, honesty or вЂњgoodnessвЂќ of some kind. вЂњLoss of integrity comes from those thousand tiny surrenders of self-respect to self-interest.вЂќ I think I like Robert BraultвЂ™s (reverse) definition best:

Did the Scorpion have integrity? I believe so. вЂњReal integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobodyвЂ™s going to know whether you did it or not.вЂќД¬onsider the story of the Scorpion and the Frog. Put another way, integrity is doing what you believe to be right, irrespective of the costs, downside, hardships involved. Integrity is the characteristic of behaving and thinking congruently with oneвЂ™s personal values and beliefs. Why might folks chose to invest time and effort in integrity?Д«efore we look at that question, letвЂ™s attempt a definition: What is Integrity? Aside: If anyone has a more informed opinion on this point, please do let me know.Д«ut letвЂ™s assume for the moment that, through diligent application and study, one can improve oneвЂ™s integrity, should one so choose. Is Integrity teachable, anyway? IвЂ™m hardly qualified to judge. And I can distinctly remember no integrity classes at school. God knows, we can hardly look to people in the public eye for role models these days. Maybe itвЂ™s just a lack of exposure, of role models, of education. Maybe itвЂ™s not a predisposition though, nor an aspect of character. Something someone either has, or does not have. I have until now put вЂњintegrityвЂќ down to a certain predisposition. But I do note its absence or lack, in some quarters. Most of the folks I know have personal integrity coming out of their ears. It may strike you as odd that some folks might need a BeginnersвЂ™ Guide to Personal Integrity. I am grateful to for the suggestion which kicked off this post. I invite you to really reflect on who you are and who you want to be, and then I hope you will go be that person you just thought of.A BeginnerвЂ™s Guide to Personal Integrity A BeginnerвЂ™s Guide to Personal Integrity ItвЂ™s also about self-awareness and self-respect-which are so crucial to our well being, especially at the age where some of us are trying to figure out what we want to do for the rest of our lives.

This kind of personal integrity involves more than just how you will choose to react to peer pressure. Easier said than done? Try it once and then see how you feel the next day, accomplishing everything you need to do while your friends lay around the house all day hung-over. For example, peer pressure is a really powerful motivator, and I challenge you to say вЂњnoвЂќ when you face it if succumbing to it would comprise your personal integrity. That being said, nobody should ever feel the need to violate their own personal integrity to impress others. There will be times in life when there are certain people you want-maybe even need-to impress. DonвЂ™t get me wrong, selflessness is a very great trait to have, but on some occasions everyone has to look out for number one. IвЂ™m talking about the kind of integrity that requires you to be honest and respectful of yourself. I hold the torch to personal integrity-but not the kind of personal integrity that concerns interactions with others, as that is always necessary.