Authenticity and integrity

Integrity and authenticity is one skill that sticks out to me the most.  I have spent most of my adult life trying to be a woman of integrity and authenticity.  I do this by trying to live by my core values.  In order to live according to my values, I have to know what they are.  When I was a kid, I was not honest in any sense if the word.  And I didn’t know what it meant to be authentic or to have integrity.  I did everything I could to avoid getting into trouble- even if that meant lying to cover my tracks.  As an adult, I have spent most of my time, trying to be honest and authentic and they became two of my biggest core values.   Today authenticity and integrity are easy for me, but I really had to work at it.

In the growth path, it says, “Being authentic with ourselves allows us to understand our deepest desires, fears, and motivations. It enables self-acceptance, which is a crucial foundation for personal growth and well-being.”  I never saw authenticity as a foundation for personal growth.  And I never realized that by being authentic, I was creating a strong foundation for personal growth!

In my opinion, while it states that authenticity creates a strong foundation, many of the other skills within the 5 domains can also create a strong foundation.  What skills is your foundation made of and how do they apply to your life?

Some of you are probably wondering how my life changed as I began to be more authentic and how I got there.  There are a few things that were crucial as I grew and changed and developed integrity and authenticity as one of my core values. Here is what I did: 

• First, I had to have the willingness and the desire to change.  
• Second, I needed a strong support system to hold me accountable when I made mistakes.  (It is inevitable that we will make mistakes along the way).  
• Third, I found resources to teach me how to talk to myself differently.  Instead of dreading the day, I woke up and reminded myself to be grateful I was alive and well.  Each morning I set an intention for the day.  All of my intentions started with “Today I am willing to practice.”  For months, my intention every morning was, “Today I am willing to practice being authentic in all of my encounters.”  And at the end of the day I praised myself for the things that I was successful at.  “Today, I acknowledge myself for being honest with my best friend and asking for what I need.”  I did this every single day and eventually my behaviors changed and I became the woman of authenticity and integrity that I had always longed to be.

Authenticity and integrity are part of the values taught in the Inner Development Goals Course, you can learn more about more such values in the course here