Dare to live without limits Week of 7/8/19

Don’t compromise your well-being

Compromise is often touted as a way to achieve an agreement during negotiations. It means that each party gives up something in order to find common ground. But when it comes to maintaining high standards in your life, compromise involves lowering your standards.
Therefore, you should never compromise on anything essential for your well-being. Let’s start with your integrity, which is the foundation of your reputation. A reputation is built over a lifetime, yet can be destroyed in seconds.
All of your actions should be honest and ethical. Your word must be your bond. Compromising your integrity, through any questionable behavior, will cause permanent damage. The illusion of any short-term gain is not worth the price.
Consistently doing the right thing, because it is the right thing, enhances your reputation. Using this approach means never having to worry about questionable actions being discovered. The resulting confidence and low stress level boosts your physical and emotional well-being.
What you project affects what you attract. The manner in which you treat others shapes your projection. In order to attract nice people and positive circumstances, you must treat others with kindness, courtesy, and respect. Doing for others without expecting anything in return, attracts many positive elements into your life.
People who tend to put themselves first, to the detriment of others, emit a negative energy which blocks the attraction of good and attracts exactly what they don’t want, or need in their lives. While there may be the delusion that they are taking care of themselves, they are seriously compromising their well-being.
You also want to make the right choices. Think things through carefully and objectively before making a significant decision. This also includes the type of people you chose to associate with. Your reputation is impacted by the reputation of your friends. Negative people have a negative effect on your reputation, while positive people are an enhancement.
When one of your decisions is not working out as planned, make a different and better decision. Chasing a bad decision takes you down a bottomless pit. Your decisions must be based on what works best for you. Say NO to any deleterious external influences such as peer pressure or group think. Conforming to these influences for the sake of acceptance compromises your well-being.
Making the right choices is important for your well-being. Think before you act. Assess your options to determine which ones will produce the best results. Reject any option which is unethical, immoral, or deleterious to others.
A bad decision is corrected by making a better decision. A string of bad decisions creates an ever deepening hole. Failed strategies must be stopped, while successful strategies should be pursued. Life is fluid and requires continuous fine tuning. The process of self-monitoring keeps you focused on the direction you are headed and enables you to make corrections as needed.
Never compromise your standards for financial gain. Don’t have a price at which you will lower your principles. This standard protects your well-being by making your integrity non-negotiable. Besides being unethical, taking money to do something you shouldn’t leads to a permanent loss of freedom.
Your well-being requires constant attention and vigilance. It must be cared for and nurtured. As unfair as it may be, your well-being can be permanently compromised by making just one stupid decision. Make sure that you are caring for your well-being on a daily basis. Treat it as the priceless asset it is.

NOW AVAILABLE: "Dare to Live Without Limits," the book. Visit www.BryanGolden.com or your bookstore. Bryan is a management consultant, motivational speaker, author, and adjunct professor. E-mail Bryan at bryan@columnist.com or write him c/o this paper.  2019 Bryan Golden