Everyday, we are faced with a lot of choices. Some choices may be easy, while others will test our character, our principles, and our values. There might even come to a point when it may look like doing the right thing will put you in disadvantage. Or when it will look like following shortcuts and cutting corners will deliver quick rewards. At that point, you may be tempted to lie to secure an opportunity, or to cheat to secure something good, or to compromise your values for gains, or even betray someone's trust so as to get one form of favour or the other. But what you need to understand is that there is no long-term benefit of sacrificing your integrity, only temporary gain which may not be worth it at the end.
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Integrity is the foundation upon which a respectable life is built. It is an act of remaining honest, truthful, and morally upright even when you are faced with situations that may look tough and challenging. Your Integrity is tested when you are faced with a situation where doing what is right may come at a personal cost. Maintaining integrity may be uncomfortable at the moment, but it will deliver gainfully at the end. One of the mistakes that a lot of people make is to sacrifice their principles and their values for what may not even last. Just to let you know, your position, influence, opportunity, popularity, etc, may come and go, but the consequences of your dishonest actions may stick around for a very long time. Before you make a questionable or dishonest decision, ask yourself if the immediate gain is more than what you might potentially lose in the long run.
There was someone I knew back then whose story is a practical explanation of this. There was this particular job he was pursuing and because the requirements for the job got increased, and he did not have the qualifications at that time, he decided to cut corners. For the job, they needed a particular professional certification, so he lied that he has it. He even went ahead and falsified the certificate. He got the job. When he got the job, he enrolled for the certification and got it. But the problem is that the one he submitted was not the real one. And very funny enough, the application window was still open even after he got the certification. So he would have just waited and gotten it before applying. But he thought it would close, so he decided to fake it.
During the job, after a few months, they started doing result verification for their new intakes. And that was when he started running around, because he knew what was going to happen. He tried to sneak in the real certificate and withdraw the fake one, but it was not possible. Every attempt he made was not yielding any positive result. Eventually, on the day of the result verification, when it got to his turn, he was panicking and all that. In the screening, they discovered the fake result, and they pointed it out. That was how he lost out on what he thought he had gotten. You see, he sacrificed his integrity for momentary gain, and it came back to bite him so hard. He faced the consequences of his actions in a hard way. Even when he was narrating it to me, he told me that he learnt his lesson in a hard way and will not sacrifice his integrity again. Well, he got another job through the right means, and he is still enjoying it. The gains of maintaining integrity.
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You have to always remember that your integrity is your identity. People may forget your achievements, the position you held, your possession, and your influence, but they will hardly forget how you treated them, and if they could trust you. As a matter of fact, the reputation you build is heavily determined by your integrity. When people know that they can trust your words and that your actions are consistent, they will have more confidence in you. Do not be the person that will say one thing, but when situations change, you will do another thing. Your character should not be dependent on who is watching you, but on who you are. You character is not also a function of what you stand to gain on the immediate, nor on the opportunity facing you, but on your real self. This is why you have to protect your name and your reputation, because they cannot be easily replaced.
It is worthy to note that doing the right thing requires a level of courage. Sometimes it may cost you a lot. Do not allow pressure from people, from friends, family, colleagues, to push you into taking decisions that will contradict your values or that will harm your conscience.
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