Integrity may be the king of all values.

I was talking to someone the other day who mentioned that integrity was one of his core values. It got me brain-storming about the word integrity. What does it mean to have integrity as a core value?

As I talk to people about values, I find that most people list "honesty and integrity" as one of their core values. At some level, we all honor the concept of integrity. We certainly expect it in others. Most of us have integrity. But what does it mean?

A quick brain-storm about the word integrity comes up with a variety of angles:

	Standing up for what you believe
	Fulfilling your commitments
	Doing what you say you're going to do
	Acting according to the principles you say you espouse
	Being who you say you are
	Being "internally consistent"
	Keeping together in one piece (whole / intact) - Uncorrupted, unpolluted
	Consistency - Being the same person in different situations - Being the same person in the different roles you play in life
	Sometimes used as a synonym for honesty - Personal Integrity - Professional Integrity - Artistic Integrity

Integrity is a much fuller, more meaningful word than mere honesty. Integrity rolls up honestly, completeness, consistency, and commitment into one powerful word.

Some people might say that they have integrity because they haven't changed. They'll say "I am the same person I was five and ten years ago." But that's not integrity. That's lack of change.

Consistency over time is much more than lack of change. Consistency -- the kind we mean when we say integrity -- has more to do with being rooted in the same core values. It means you don't have different personalities and different "stories" when you talk to different people.

Change happens.

People change all the time. It's not possible to be the same person you were five or ten years ago. If you didn't change in ten years, then you didn't grow. If you don't change, you don't learn new things; you don't get new friends; you don't evolve.

Change is not an option. You will change. And not just in superficial ways. After all, you will change the way you view the world and how you handle various situations.

That doesn't mean you can't have integrity.

Fulfilling one's commitments becomes difficult as the world, your life situation, and you personally change over time. You are a different person than you were 3, 5, or 10 years ago. You are a different person than you will be 3, 5, or 10 years from now.

If integrity is merely a name we give to our desire for internal consistency, then it's not really a moral activity. If integrity is merely consistency, it's still a great tool for reducing stress and internal conflict, but it's not a moral activity.

Not all values have a moral flavor to them. But integrity does. When people value integrity, they don't mean mere consistency. When they value integrity, people mean that they value honesty in every aspect of their lives, consistency between their spoken morals and their daily actions, and commitment to fulfilling their commitments.

Integrity certainly doesn't mean that you never make a change.

But the changes you make create a greater consistency in your daily life. They reflect a re-evaluation of moral activity and a realignment with higher principles.

As I review the Relax Focus Succeed® articles and book, I think perhaps the whole undertaking could be wrapped in an understanding of how integrity and consistency reduce stress.

Hmmmm . . . I'll have to think about that.