Integrity

I came across this really interesting article today. It was written by Lauren Zander, entitled The Secret to Facing This Scary World. She talks about how there is one simple, single element that will enable people to overcome their fears and be effective in accomplishing their goals. According to her, "This comes from one place only - having personal integrity, which is complete trust in yourself to do what you say you will do. It seems counter-intuitive that a fear of things external could be solved by trust in yourself, but it really is true." She goes on to talk about how people often think integrity is based on their interactions with others, but it really is grounded in your relationship with yourself, and how consistent you are with doing the things you know you should. "People who learn to keep a promise to themselves - no matter what it is - have the power to change anything in their life, because they know they can trust themselves to do it." She has some good advice on how to develop personal integrity, and then closes with something that I found profound, "If you don't ever experience fear, you need to ask if you are really going after things that matter to you."

I'm terrible about giving myself excuses about why I haven't done the things I know I need to do. Usually I don't even bother with creative excuses, just that I was tired, or not in the mood, or not feeling well. I've never really thought of it as lying to myself, but, like Lauren said, "Your soul always knows the truth." And my soul knows that if I really wanted or needed to do it, I would have. I am capable of doing a lot more than I actually do. Maybe it's time to capitalize on that.