1. Behaviors are inconsistent with values.
A hypocrite is someone who says one thing but does another. To avoid hypocrisy, we must continually check the distance between our lips and our life.
2. Acting out of expediency rather than principle.
JC Watts points out that if good politics were based on polls instead of principle, we would never have had a civil rights movement in the U.S.
Doing what is popular, quick and easy is often the shortest distance to moral bankruptcy.
3. Participating in or promoting activities that are not life giving.
Devoting one’s career to a company that markets products that are bad for consumers and/or the environment is not the highest use of one’s talents.
4. Not telling the truth.
We can’t always tell people what they want to hear, but we can almost always tell them in a way that they’ll be willing to listen.
Mirabeau once said, “If honesty did not exist, someone should invent it as the best way of getting rich.”
We owe it to others to tell the truth.
5. Gaining personally at the expense of others.
Exploiting others for personal gain–taking credit or taking advantage–is indefensible.
6 Wasting the opportunity to contribute.
How often do we pass by someone that we might have helped, but are too self-absorbed or busy to offer assistance.
Business leader Kirby Dyess said, “I can tell that I’ve hit the wall at work, and that I need to recalibrate my life, when I can no longer empathize with others, when I’m focused only on results, when I ignore other people’s goals, and when I become frustrated with life’s interruptions.”
7. Settling for being less than one could have been.
Living a life of unfulfilled potential deprives you of the fulfillment you are capable of, but it also deprives society of the contribution you could have made. Being the best you can be isn’t about an egomaniacal drive to be perfect, but about a healthy motivation to achieve your true potential and, in the process, create a greater good for those around you.
