We have three more articles (including today’s) this year in this series using the word THRIVING as an acrostic to discuss what leads to a thriving life. If you missed the previous articles, you can find them in the series on my “Resources” page at Resources – Thriving Life Mentoring and Coaching.
TODAY, I’d like to talk what the second letter “I” represents in this acrostic: INTEGRITY
Integrity can be defined as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles that you refuse to change” (Cambridge dictionary online). INTEGRITY | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
If you’ve been paying attention, you may be wondering…why talk about integrity if I already talked about honesty?
I thought that was a good question too!
Here’s the answer….
Honesty essentially has to do with telling the truth and being sincere.
whereas
Integrity is a broader idea speaking to having “strong moral principles” and actually doing the right thing regardless of whether someone is watching or not.
Another way I’ve heard it put is that a person of integrity is someone whose inside (beliefs) matches their outside (behaviors). Here are some additional helpful quotes:
“You are in integrity when the life you are living on the outside matches who you are on the inside.” – Alan Cohen
“Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.” – C. S. Lewis
In other words, we can be honest and sincere and yet not necessarily have integrity if we’re not adhering to a clear set of convictions/beliefs about right and wrong. This doesn’t mean we are doing this perfectly, but it does mean we are striving to follow these convictions.
In my experience, when our actions don’t match our beliefs, we are in a sense lying to ourselves and living out a fragmented life.
Whereas when we have integrity, we are being honest with ourselves matching up our beliefs and behaviors and living out an integrated life.
So…how are you with your integrity?
Do you have a clear set of convictions / beliefs / personal core values that you have and strive to adhere to?
Summary:
Integrity is not only about being honest and sincere but is also about having clear moral principles and convictions that you consistently seek to follow.
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE:
Is who you are on the inside (beliefs) matching who you are on the outside (your actions/behaviors)?
If not, why not? What change needs to happen here?
If you think you ARE living in integrity, do you have a clear sense of what your moral principles and convictions are, and could you communicate them if someone asked you?
Let’s go THRIVE, shall we?
Sean
