Integrity & Authenticity Amidst Peer Pressure

Hi everybody!

After going through the Inner Developmental Goals path, I found a lot of qualities that were very important, but authenticity and integrity were a pairing that stood out to me. I think these two traits are very aspirational but sometimes hard for us to live up to. While I doubt most of us are fake or inauthentic out of malice, it’s often hard to be honest with ourselves or others just because of the immense outward pressure put on us to act, look, or be a certain way. I know this very well myself; there have been multiple times that I’ve almost succumbed or actually given in to peer pressure to do something I knew wasn’t right. After that, I always felt very uncomfortable and wrong with what I did, and I think it was because it just didn’t line up with my inner compass and core values.

Integrity and authenticity can look different for everyone based on their personal core values, which is why these traits are so important for staying true to yourself, feeling good about your actions, and becoming a more developed and grounded person overall. In my opinion, to maintain integrity and authenticity you can’t let other people define or compromise your core values because in the end, all you need to be your honest and moral self is just that, yourself.

So, now I have two questions for you all related to this topic of integrity and authenticity:

1. Can you remember a time that you felt proud of yourself for displaying integrity and/or authenticity? Were you always compelled to conduct yourself with these values, or did you have to fight a sense of outward pressure to act differently?

2. What is a unique core value you have that plays into how you show integrity and authenticity?

   
   

Alright everyone, thank you so much for reading and participating!