The media is fooling us !
Politicians have been making fake promises all the time !
You can’t succeed without being deceitful these days !

It’s almost as if we have accepted lying as the new norm. Every single day of our lives we complain about the lack of integrity in an individual or an organization. Whether it is someone at work who was promoted despite their dishonest behavior or an entire organization dwindling its customers with unethical practices — we are surrounded by a web of lies.

Remember how you felt when you found out that Facebook was unethical about using its customers data?

There is also the notion that one must be dishonest to be successful and scale new heights. How many times have you heard the phrase ” He must have done something really wrong to be up there ” ?

As dark as this sounds, but when a society starts adopting wrongful doings over honesty and integrity, how close are we to a dystopian era?

Lying is easy. Why take the long hard route of honesty when you can easily lie and cut corners ? In order to justify lying, we could probably write an entire novel, because a lie could only be justified with another lie and so on. But in order to justify honesty it only takes a simple one page blog post like this one 🙂

HONESTY ATTRACTS SUCCESS

You, me and everyone else is seeking success in one form or another. Current notions have altered our mindset where we believe that honesty would leave us behind in a competitive market. “By Hook or By Crook” is the new age motto.

Remember watching “The Wolf of Wall Street”, where Jordan Belfort acquired immense amount of wealth in no time, only to be prosecuted for criminal charges later? You would probably argue how fantastic his life appeared with millions attached to his net worth, but how long did that last?

The path of honesty may take a while longer to reach the top of the race, but it is this honesty that will help retain the acquired position. When businesses make false promises to their customers, they often fail to sustain in the long term. Those who are honest about their shortcomings, may see some rough phases, but they possess the ability to sustain.

HONESTY IS A 2 WAY STREET

You : Hey, do you want to go out for a movie tonight ?
Me : Sorry, but I need to work tonight.
Later, you spot me at the movies with another friend.

In a matter of seconds you lost your faith in me for not being honest about something so trivial. Will you ever entrust me with anything important to you? I know I wouldn’t, if I were you!

You always want to surround yourself with people who are honest and trustworthy. One of the biggest factors in relationships is trust, and a lack of trust is often the root cause of misunderstandings that can lead to failed relations.

If you expect the world to stop being fake, you must take the first step.

HONESTY IS A MIND CLEANSER

As Mark Twain suggested, speaking the truth frees up your mind from having to keep track of every lie you have spoken. Remember those annoying history lessons where you could never remember the dates of any of the important events? How then do you expect to remember figments of your imagination aka lies?

Honesty provides the much needed mental cleanse for our cluttered minds. Treat this virtue as a form of meditation, and make it a habit for your own benefit.

HONESTY IS A QUALITY OF THE COURAGEOUS

It takes courage to speak the truth in a world of lies, but when you do, the world looks up to you. Most people cruise through their lives giving in to the demands of society, lying to the world and themselves. We blindly follow the latest trends of our time only to fit in, regardless of how we truly feel about it.

From professional relationships to your personal life, being honest is the easiest way to influence people. There will be times when you would rather lie, but don’t be under the false impression that others are unaware of your dishonest behavior.

IN CONCLUSION …

A few white lies don’t hurt anybody, but make honesty the foundation for anything you pursue. I don’t claim to have never lied, but write this post with all honesty and truly hope you can resonate with this idea upon which humanity was meant to survive. Keep it real and let the TRUTH SET YOU FREE.

Carpe Diem !

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