Attract Success With Integrity

"Your true character is revealed by the clarity of your convictions, the choices you make, and the promises you keep. Hold strongly to your principles and refuse to follow the currents of convenience."
-Taken from a "Successories" print.

Wisdom is knowledge of the right path to take... integrity is taking it. Simply put, when you have integrity, your words and your deeds match up.
John Maxwell says, "Integrity is not what we do as much as who we are. And who we are, in turn, determines what we do."

Integrity is never easy, but most of all requires self-discipline, inner trust and honesty at all times. Practice integrity by saying what you will do and then doing what you promised.

Look for the best in everyone and encourage and help others through the power of a compliment...the power of positive words..., but, most importantly conducting your life from a place of love.

The energy of love can overcome anything. Mother Teresa said that we can do no great things, only small things with great love. Many times we think that if we are only one person, how can we make any significant change in the world?

Can you imagine what an impact we could have if we practiced doing all of the small things in our life with great love. Others would see our example and do the same and we would ultimately impact thousands.

Be true to your convictions. With every decision you make, you are shaping the person you will become. Choosing right over wrong, truth over popularity...these are the choices that will measure your life and become the values you live by. Remember the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have done onto you."

People who understand who they are, and who know where their power comes from, can be people of great influence. They are not dependent on other's people's praise and affirmation. Their self-worth comes from a higher source in their lives.

I have committed to God my career and business future and I will accept the results, no matter what, and just try each day to be a good ambassador for Him. I somehow suspect that it will be a faith walk, exciting and wonderful all at the same time.

I also know that God can do some incredible things in my business that I could never have done alone. He has already sent me some special people and circumstances to help me live out my mission. It is no longer about me and my ego (EGO - Edging God Out), it really is doing what God wants me to do.

We cannot compartmentalize our spirituality or relegate it to Sundays only. Our career and our spirituality are rolled up together. God dwells within you wherever you are. The whole world is the arena of His divine activity.

How does one apply spiritual principles to business and work?

1) Do all things in a positive spirit, without complaining or disputing. Keep a positive spirit and a smile.

2) Watch what you say. Think before you speak. Winning an argument brings fleeting gratification, but winning a friend brings lasting satisfaction. I remember my mother always saying to us...."If you have nothing good to say, then don't say it."

3) Keep learning and maintain a teachable spirit. Don't let pride hinder you from growing spiritually. Keep good people around you to help you process ideas and issues.

4) Guard your integrity. It is priceless. Do not allow anyone to dismantle it.

5) Work hard. The reason many people underachieve is that they are not willing to pay the price of focused work to reach their goals.

6) Give to others - your money, your time, your support, your ear. "Give and it will be given to you....for the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." Luke 6:38

7) Show mercy to others and control your emotions. You are where you are by God's grace. Remember to be gracious and grateful to others willing to help you along the way.

8) Do not fear people, nor allow others to intimidate you, as this can make you vulnerable to compromising your faith and integrity. God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and love and sound mind.

And, never forget that God's ways are not necessarily our ways. God values and loves people, not necessarily profits and He wants our lives to bless others. It would be wonderful to know that our colleagues at work or in business appreciated and were even grateful to have worked with or for you, but we are not to seek gratification for our integrity-based behaviour.

God will guide us in specific and practical ways if we just ASK Him. The closer you walk with Him, the more clearly you will recognize where He is leading. God always acts with truth and grace in perfect balance. He can guide you to stand up for truth while continuing to show grace toward those around you.

People today are tired and disappointed by the often lack of honesty and unethical behaviour displayed by others. Follow your heart and your head, and don't do the easy thing, do the right thing.

Ethics plus competence is a winning equation. Our society is evolving to a higher standard and we can all contribute to this evolvement in our own businesses and workplace situations by practicing integrity principles.

Being integrity-driven means two things, doing what's right and taking a stand against what's wrong. Both of these require guts, fortitude and most importantly, courage.

So, work with love and from love, displaying kindness and reciprocity.
Most importantly, commit to excellence and integrity. And remember that our life is a journey and not a destination.

Look forward to the future and smile kindly on the past...your experiences and lessons have made you what you are today.

Remember this: Your personal decisions have eternal impact, not only on you and your family but on hundreds of people around you. Think for a moment of the impact of your prayers, the influence of your donations, and the positive ripple effect of your good deeds. Your choices are powerful. Allow your spirit to help you make even better choices.

Learn the art of asking, believing and receiving.

We cannot live life nor can we do anything of significance alone. We need to connect with and focus on win-win interactions with everyone.

Contemplate these brief spiritual success tips:

1) Remember people's names and acknowledge their accomplishments. Everyone craves attention.

2) Ensure encouragement is genuine and comes from your heart.

3) Find ways to compliment people in an honest, sincere manner.

4) Encourage people to become who they really are instead of trying to change them.

5) Be generous and appreciative.

6) Be slow to correct and quick to praise.

Make a difference by walking a higher road and living your values in your business or workplace with conviction and courage.

Know the Life of Your Favorite Celebrity

Who's your favorite celebrity? Guess you already have one, two or more in mind. As human, we really can't avoid to adore and admire someone. Usually we prefer our favorite celebrity as someone who can be a good role model to us and someone who gives inspirations.

Probably for teenagers today they will admire 16-year-old Canadian singer Justin Bieber. For the early adulthood people, they most likely idolize Taylor Lautner or Robert Pattinson. We really can't get enough of them, isn't it? How can we avoid them if their charm is overflowing?

If you wanted to ask me about my favorite female celebrity, I will give you some clues first. She was born on April 10, 1984 in Nashua, New Hampshire but was raised in Orlando, Florida. In addition, she became popular for her song Candy, Cry, Only Hope, and Crush. She has made us cry on her role as Jamie Sullivan alongside Shane West in the Adam Shankman's film A Walk to Remember. Yes, the person I'm talking about is Mandy Moore and I consider her as my role model.

When in comes to male celebrity, I am really into Taylor Lautner. If you are familiar with the Twilight Saga then you'll know that he portrayed the character of the Jacob Black, a werewolf. You can never resist his six-pack abs. All girls will get crazy over Taylor and that include Bella. Well, Bella is also attracted to Jacob but she loves Edward more.

Can't get enough of your favorite celebrities? I know one thing to show your admiration to your idols. Don't you know you will be able to know the life of your favorite celebrities? One way is through scrapbooks. Scrapbooks are not that hard to make. Just express what you wanted to express, put up some pictures, and that's it.

I once made a scrapbook about Mandy Moore. When I was still in high school I cut out pictures of her from magazines and newspapers. Not only her pictures but the lyrics and trivia of her movies as well. What I did at that time was that I used some highlighters to elaborate the title of her songs. I used different colors of pen in every song stanza to make the lyrics more presentable. On the other hand, I also made borders to the picture. To make me more inspired, I have written and added styles to my favorite Mandy Moore lines or quotes, either from her songs or movies.

Mandy's Heart

Psalm 51:10 - Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

My friend had no intention of hurting anybody.

We'll call her Mandy. She's a sweet, warm person with a bubbly personality; she's funny and lovable and kind. This gal wouldn't willingly hurt a fly.

But she has absolutely no control of her tongue.

In the brain, out the mouth-that's Mandy's modus operandi. But sometimes, things she intends to be humorous or teasing inflict hurtful wounds. She's always sincerely repentant, but as most of us have learned from experience, our words can no more be recalled than feathers in the wind.

Last time it happened, Mandy came to me in tears. A simple, thoughtless comment-spoken without malice, but equally without forethought-had caused a deep rift in a valued relationship, and this time her abject apologies were not enough. In fact, her church body would almost certainly lose a beloved member, and Mandy herself would lose a good friend. All because of her unruly tongue.

"What am I going to do about my mouth?" Her anguished gaze pleaded with me to do something, and I longed to repair the damage, but only God could do that.

"Let's pray," I suggested. "Then I want to show you something."

Dutifully, she knelt. We joined hands and prayed a simple prayer while tears raced in endless streams from my friend's eyes. Then I opened my Bible and read with her.

No, I didn't take her to the famous verses about the tongue in James chapter three-though the disciple's words are still true, and I love that passage of scripture. But I knew Mandy had read it before, many times. This wasn't a new problem. She knew her tongue was out of control. She also knew she had been less than successful at taming it.

What she hadn't realized was that the problem lay elsewhere!

We visited the Book of Psalms and discovered a correlation between the heart and the tongue. Over and over again, David linked the two.

Psalm 17:3 (NIV) - Though you probe my heart and examine me at night, though you test me, you will find nothing; I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.

What's this? David all but challenged God to find sin in his mouth ... by examining his heart!

Psalm 19:14 (NIV)- May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Again, David indicates a link between the reflections of his heart and the words he speaks.

The New Testament picked up the same significant message in the very first book.

Matthew 12:34 - You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

Over and over, scripture after scripture, we found the same, straightforward message: If your heart isn't right, your mouth will reveal it. The only way to tame the tongue is to purify the heart.

Finally Mandy worked up a ghost of a smile. "What a relief!" she said. "I was seriously starting to have nightmares about Matthew 5:30."

Puzzled, I flipped open my Bible and looked it up.

(NIV) And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

"Mandy!" I tried not to laugh, but of course it was wasted effort.

"Okay, okay." Mandy still looked a little subdued, but she was smiling, and I was glad to see it. "Just my heart talking again. But me and God are gonna get a handle on that real soon!

"Father, we ask that You purify our hearts today - make them clean and undefiled before You. Your Word says the condition of our hearts is reflected in the words we speak, and we sincerely want to speak only those things that edify and encourage others. Let it not be so that we should hurt or harm one of Your children, nor endanger our own souls, because our tongues are unruly. Create clean hearts and right spirits within us, Father. Make us like You, and the words of our mouths will bring refreshment and joy. We ask it in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Amen.