The times they are a-changin’.
This post seems to be older than 8 years—a long time on the internet. It might be outdated.
0A lot of the lessons that were learned by others, I felt that I had already learned in the past couple years. But I did take some notes of little reminders of these lessons. I’ll share them here – mostly because I want to write them down.
My main takeaways were these: authenticity. stories. integrity. my word.
Authenticity. We were invited to look at how we are being inauthentic in our life. Why are you holding back? What are your justifications/reasons? And what would life be like if you operated outside of these justifications/reasons? Can you be unreasonable? Can you be authentic? I think I am.
Your story. Those justifications/reasons were referred to as “your story.” We make up stories all the time about ourselves: “I can’t quit my job because…” And about other people: “he’s not calling me back because…” It’s interesting to just observe the stories you tell yourself on a given day. Mike and I call each other out now with “that’s a story.” It’s kinda fun.
Integrity. Is the foundation. As your life expands, so should your integrity. Often, it’s the other way around; we excuse ourselves for a small lapse in integrity, and as life goes on, we excuse a little more, and a little more. I’ve found that integrity is a fantastic guide for my own decisions and actions, and it’s a great lens through which to view others and determine with whom I want to spend my time.
Your word. When you give someone your word, when you say you’re going to do something, they organize their life around it. And when you don’t followthrough, you are training others as to how to regard you. Have a new relationship with your word. Be impeccable with your word.