What does integrity have to do with growth?
In the course of speaking to radio interviewers about The Laws of Lifetime Growth, a particular question has repeatedly been asked: "What is the role of integrity in lifetime growth?" I wanted to share some of this discussion here because it gets right to the heart of the role of values in growth. It’s very difficult to keep growing without integrity, and many of us face this issue more often than we realize, even as honest, morally upstanding individuals.
We recently published an article on this subject as it relates to entrepreneurs on The Strategic Coach website. Here are a few key thoughts that apply to anyone, entrepreneur or not:
• To understand what a lack of integrity looks like, it helps to start with a definition of what integrity is. "Integrity" means "wholeness" or "coherence." Things that have integrity gain strength from being consistent and unified in their make-up.
• At the deepest level, maintaining personal integrity involves aligning our thoughts, habits, and unconscious beliefs with our core values. This provides a strong foundation on which a bigger future can securely be built.
• Loss of personal integrity often happens a bit at a time, while we're not paying attention.
• Broken commitments, postponed or abandoned dreams, and uncomfortable trade-offs are all signs that our lives are out of alignment with our own deeply-held values.
• It takes a lot of effort to keep moving ahead when you're not doing what's meaningful or important to you, even if everything looks okay on the surface. You may be the only one who knows that something is wrong and think you have to hold it all together for the sake of others. It takes a lot of energy and personal resources to maintain a facade like this.
• People whose lives lack integrity in this very basic sense are nagged by the deep realization that real growth may only be possible once it all falls apart and they start over again. They fear the disruption to their lives that seems to be the only way out.
• Many very successful, morally upstanding people find themselves in this situation at some point in life.
• Often it happens because we accept a growth path that is provided for us by a company, community, family, tradition, or some other external influence, rather than determining our own path.
• The Laws of Lifetime Growth help people identify where their actions are out of alignment with their values. For instance, you may believe in principle that your future should always be bigger than your past, but not always act as if this were true. We all do this at times. However, by being more aware in the moment, we can change our behavior as it happens. Over time, these many small course corrections add up to big change in our habits, the results we create, and how we view life.
• The choice of how you apply the laws goes straight to the core of your values. Your bigger future is different from anyone else's, as are the way you will choose to contribute, what you will choose to learn about, and the questions you'll choose to ask. You get the idea.
• If you find yourself in a situation where you're starting again in some area of life, paying attention to the laws and to your core values as you grow can help you maintain integrity through the process so you can stay on the same growth path for a lifetime.
