The Completely Honest Person Can Never Be Disappointed

    Arthur Ashe said that “success is a journey not a destination.” I came across this quote today and it got me thinking. Success is not stationary. We do not become successful and then stop and sit back.  Successful people continue to succeed because it is the exponent for growth and satisfaction. We must learn what success means for us as individuals, and how we can achieve it; but the journey does not end there. Once we learn how to be successful, we must maintain the desire, and foster that desire in others

    Our lives are a product of our expectations and actions; consequently, our satisfaction is the result of the effort and value we put in to advancing our opportunities. We cannot subside upon allowing others to create our destinies.  What we think we are capable of doing is our potential; therefore, potential is mental. For fear of inadequacy rather than in malice, critics and peers will deter us from realizing our abilities and the merit they contain. We must learn to avoid this trap, and instead maintain that we are the authors of our own destiny. Most people want to be successful, yet they are afraid of breaking character and therefore limit their potential. 

    We must be honest with ourselves in regards to our abilities, while at the same time striving to expand the realms of our existence. One of the most basic causes of disappointment is the failure of honesty in expectations. Stephen Covey offers “The inside-out approach says that private victories precede public victories, that making and keeping promises to ourselves precedes making and keeping promises to others.” In order to be successful we must learn to be completely honest. We cannot be completely honest with others until we can learn to be completely honest with ourselves. This is quite possibly one of the most difficult things for us to do. 

    What we want out of our lives must be congruent with the person we resign ourselves to be. I spent the majority of my life pretending to be something that I am not; and it wasn’t until I stopped pretending and started being myself that I received the feedback I desired. It is amazing how our tendencies are reflected through our interactions with others. If we are wholly genuine with others, not only do we foster each other’s ability to be genuine, but we also illustrate to our peers that we trust and accept in earnest, how they will respond. Summarily we can see that in order to find truth, we must seek with integrity.  

     Honesty may not always be the most beneficial policy, but being genuine can do no harm. 

Lastly, I have shared the link to a short film below that I highly recommend you watch. It speaks to what I have talked about regarding being honest with ourselves and others. And also how we must be careful to avoid letting negative habits detract from our interactions with others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdoliLNRlHo