A lot of people spend so much time demanding for honour from people that they fail to understand that you cannot enforce it, rather you should build it by living a life of integrity, hard work, kindness, and respect for others. You will be surprised how people chase after respect. They would want people to look up to them, to listen to them, and to also treat them as important people. To facilitate this, they may try use power, authoritative words, money, and the likes. But as soon as they leave the place, the fake respect will disappear. This is just to tell you that you cannot take true honour by force, rather you build it by your daily choices and character.
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In order to become an honourable person, you need to have a shift in your mentality and your mindset. You have to stop worrying about what people think of you and start focusing more on who you are even when no one is watching, because this is the real you. It is what you build in the secret that people will see in the open. If you work to build a good character, show integrity, and be kind to people, honour will naturally follow you. But if you chase honour at all cost, you may lose it. You are not to be more concerned about the product, which is honour, but the process, which is character.
If you are to earn honour, you also need to learn to keep to your word. Do not say something that you know you do not have the capacity to fulfill. If you say something, then try as much as you can to keep to it even when the situations look tough. When people know that you are a person of your word and they can trust your word, they will naturally respect you. This is honour. You need a level of trust to be able to build the foundation of respect. The truth is that if people cannot trust your words, then they may not be able to respect and honour you.
Another way to earn honour is by being humble. When people sense humility in you, they will be naturally drawn to you, and they will respect you. You do not need to move around and tell people how important you are. Neither do you need to boast around and rob your achievements on the faces of people just to belittle them. Instead try to uplift people. Listen to them and understand them. You do not have to treat the people that are under you with disdain. You know someone is humble, not by the way they treat the people above them, but the way they treat the people below them, like their gate men, domestic staff, workers, gardener, etc. Other people notice how you treat those who can do nothing much for you, and it will determine if they will respect you or not.
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In addition to humility, you also have to develop self-discipline and excellence in what you do. It is not enough to do something, but it is also good to do it well. If you must do something, then you have to put a touch of excellence to it. Whether you are a student, a worker, a business person, a parent, a leader, always do your job with your whole heart. Do not do lazy work, and do not cut corners. When you pursue excellence, the results will be there to speak for you. You will not have to beg for honour and recognition, your result will be evident for people to see. Competence and hard work will naturally make the people around you to respect you.
It is also worthy to note that an honourable person will take responsibility for their mistakes. Humans can make mistakes, there is no doubt about it. But a weak person will always blame others, give excuse, or try to hide the truth. An honourable person will acknowledge their mistake, admit their fault, apologise, learn from it, and work hard to fix it. This kind of honesty will require a lot of course, but people will always respect it, and they will respect you for it. Always have in mind that honour is not what you can force people to give you, but what you earn by your actions.
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