If someone achieves a good outcome through manipulative or unethical means, is the outcome still good?
If that same person makes a great decision based on sound information and principles, but it leads to a bad result, was the effort still “good” in a moral sense?
Integrity simply means keeping promises you make—both to yourself and others.
It’s almost like a muscle, something that must be stretched and strained so that it can grow bigger and stronger over time.
The best way to develop integrity is to start making tiny promises to yourself, then follow through with them.
Every time you schedule or write down a task…
…you’re giving yourself the potential to build your integrity muscle.
Then, when you follow through on those tiny commitments, your sense of integrity gets stronger.
Soon you’ll be able to make bigger and bigger promises to yourself and others.
But most importantly, you’ll have trained yourself to follow through.
That’s how you become a person of integrity: one tiny promise at a time.
What’s one small thing can you promise yourself today?
You might be the smartest person in the room, but that probably doesn’t matter.
Being the most trusted person in a room, the one everyone believes they can rely on – being that kind of person will benefit you much more.
Being the smartest person in the room really doesn’t matter if no one likes or trusts you; if the relationship is bad, no one will listen to all the wonderful ideas and vast stores of knowledge inside you.
Work on your integrity and your relationships first, then work on increasing your knowledge.
Become the most socially/emotionally intelligent person in the room.
Nathan's Blog 