Stay True to Who You Are

In the world there are many voices now-a-days. Many of those voices are misleading. They tell us it is easier to lie and cheat to get our way. They tell us it's more important to have immediate gratification rather than to have patience and self-control. In the world of business there are many people that listen to those voices. They compromise their standards, or even don't set standards in the first place because of self-interest. However, this week I learned that cutting corners is only a temporary fix for things. While being dishonest and having poor businesses practices may seem like the best way to do things in the moment, it always ends up causing more grief and pain in the long run. So many businesses suffer because of poor decisions made by those in power. Loss of jobs, money, and even entire businesses being shut down can be the result of compromising your moral code of conduct. Sheri Dew said that integrity is the one characteristic that can either make or break us and I whole-heartedly agree with that. A person who has developed the attribute of integrity will never have to worry about losing their job because of dishonesty, hurting their family, or being caught in a web of lies because they live their life in a way that keeps them out of those situations. 

This week we had to develop our own personal code of conduct and as I made my code of conduct, it was a time of reflection for me. As I thought of things I will never do and things I will try to always do, I examined myself to see what standards I sometimes compromise and areas I need to improve on. If everyone had their own personal code of conduct, and relentlessly stuck to that, the world could be a much different place. Businesses have the power to do so much good in the world. By incorporating good ethics right now, and staying true to who we are, when entering the world of business we can be a force for good and help change the way business is sometimes viewed.