Integrity. It’s a word that we hear often when we refer to quality people but what does it really mean? Integrity is “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.” Integrity is one of the easiest character traits to have, but it is one of the hardest to maintain. There are ways to develop more integrity in your life. The best way to increase your level of integrity is to follow these suggestions.
The best way to increase your level of integrity is to follow these suggestions:
- Live with Greater Integrity
- Live with honesty and keep promises; be truthful and honest towards others and yourself.
- Show compassion, sympathy, and empathy towards others; try to understand how others may be impacted by your actions. See where they are coming from and help others.
- Create a personal mission statement for your life; empower yourself to be awesome!
- Write out your goals, commit to personal development and growth, and list your goals every day so that you can consistently be moving in the right direction.
- Remain dedicated to your values; values can change throughout different stages of your life, make sure whatever they are you don’t give them up. Let your values improve those around you!
- Stand for Something
- Find what is most important to you; community, your faith, your values.
- Support causes that you believe in; for example: donate, volunteer, or create an organization for your cause if one doesn’t exist.
- Make your values count; don’t sacrifice your values for a quick gain, live with purpose and dedication.
- Find a Moral Purpose in Life
- Search for a greater meaning of life; spirituality or religion is a great place to start to tap into a greater you, YOU are in charge of creating meaning in YOUR life.
- Connect with people that bring more joy and life to you; Our conversations with people have a huge impact on who we are and how we see life.
- Live with greater mindfulness; focus on your senses and what you are taking notice of, meditation can help with this as well.
Enacting these three steps in your life will help create more integrity within your life and help develop your character, helping to take you to the next level. It’s not hard to develop integrity, but maintaining it can be difficult if you are not ready to change your life and habits for the better. Those around you will appreciate you putting in the effort to having integrity, as it is a trait within society that seems to be rapidly fading. Get out there and make a difference by being kind, honest, and trustworthy!