The Correlation Of Integrity, Dignity And Humility

Start by asking yourself “why do I seek to improve?” There may be a magnitude of reasons why you seek improvement, perhaps someone has indicated that you need to change, or maybe you just have an idea in your head that there’s something about you that needs improvement, the want to improve may even be propelled by social, religious or lawful expectations. No matter what your motive or reason for seeking self-change, it’s important to identify this reason before you embark on your path to the new you. As you begin, keep in mind the following values: “live your life with integrity, loose with dignity, and win with humility.” These values when fully understood can provide a strong guiding hand throughout your entire life, once you start living with awareness of what these values mean you’re already living a better lifestyle than before.

So what does “live your life with integrity, lose with dignity, and win with humility” really mean? Well, this is my reasoning behind this article, to provide you with the literary definitions of each value; my personal interpretation of the values, and real life stories to broaden your understanding of how these values evolve in our everyday lives. Once you’ve gained an understanding and begin to integrate the values as a part of your daily life style, you’ll find yourself becoming a much better friend, relative, co-worker, spouse, and a better Citizen of your Town, the Nation and the World.

Integrity, Dignity, And Humility these three words hold power, they are the characteristics that separate leaders from followers and eagles from chickens. Without further ado, let's start with our first value; Integrity according to Merriam Webster is “A firm adherence to a code especially one of artistic or moral values” more understandably it is an attitude in which one holds fast to their belief of what is right and what is wrong, They don’t make “exceptions” to their values nor do they stray from the direction of their moral compass.

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Integrity is actually quite important and despite the word itself not being used very often, the concept of incorruptibility and loyalty to one’s cultural and personal beliefs and morals is something that’s been valued for ages. Integrity holds people to a will; it keeps humanity from descending into total chaos and having integrity keeps us from some of the most heinous and animalistic acts. On the contrary people who don’t hold fast to some form of moral values tumble down the ladders of society where they end up causing serious harm to themselves, their loved ones, and any organizations or people they associate with. Integrity holds society together which is why it is crucial to always strive to include this value in your daily life.

“Loose with dignity” is our next value on the list, of course your first thought may be “loose? Why is this on here? I don’t want to lose!...” This is exactly the point, people don’t like to lose, humans are competitive we’re always striving to “get that gold medal, get that promotion, get this, get that!” You know the drill, our competitiveness is certainly an advantage that allows us to move forward it allows us to discover things that we may never have learned about ourselves and the world around us. However, our competitive nature has a dark side; the dark side reveals itself when we don’t win that shiny trophy. When we lose, feelings of anger, jealousy, and in some cases a cold self-doubt can bubble and surface, making potential for conflict. This is where the dignity arrives. Dignity is formally defined by Merriam Webster as “the state of being worthy of honor or respect”. The definition of dignity is relatively self-explanatory, when a person exhibits dignity it means their actions, words, and values are all aligned; they aren’t two faced and they don’t cheat the system even when it’s against them. Loosing with dignity quite a similar matter, when you lose with dignity it means you accept the loss, you recognize it as a learning opportunity and a chance to improve any habits or behaviors that may have contributed to the loss. Someone who doesn’t loose with dignity won’t do these things, they won’t accept defeat and they rarely see loss as a chance to learn. They see it as an insult which can lead to a spectrum of negative feelings and more poor decisions. As unfortunate as it is, I can very easily use my academic performance as an example of “Loosing with dignity”. I say this because my academic scores are frequently below what I consider satisfactory; however, I’ve used these missteps as learning opportunities. I use them as chances to improve and change things that may be affecting my grades such as distractions, poor time management and even plain old laziness on my part. Instead of trying to pass blame to someone else, I’ve taken personal responsibility and strive to improve, as a result. That’s what makes the difference between loosing and loosing with dignity; not what or when or where you lose, it’s how you react to the loss that defines this trait.

The third and final value is “win with humility”. Winning unlike loosing generally employs a range of more positive emotions, when we win and succeed we feel exhilarated and proud; we feel stronger, smarter, and just overall better than our competitors. However, keep in mind when people lose (especially those who don’t take loss in a very dignified way), they might feel bitter towards you. These emotions can easily lead to disagreements, tension and conflict; which is never a good thing for anyone involved. That’s why you need to keep humility in mind when you win. Humility is defined by Merriam Webster as a “modest or low view of one's own importance”, this means that people who exhibit humility are frequently low thrill about their victories. Yes, they are proud of themselves but they generally don’t look beyond a feeling of “well I did great, the people below me did great, and everyone always has the opportunity to improve”. Even then they don’t boast or look for further attention, people who win with humility don’t bask in the sun of their victory and they don’t think themselves as “better or more worthy” than anyone. Individuals who win with humility tend to be able to handle loss as well as they are able to see it as a learning experience. When you win with humility, not only does it avoid conflict and anger from individuals who’ve lost, it can even gain admiration from competitors you’ve defeated in competition. People who do the opposite will be sure that you KNOW that they won something. It doesn’t even matter WHAT they won, all that matters to them is that they did win, they bask in the glory of any victory and walk hand in hand with narcissism and intense feelings of superiority. This behavior of winning WITHOUT humility can quickly escalate to conflict which is why it is indeed important to keep this value in mind. One personal example of “winning with humility” took place in fifth grade, our class had entered the annual Stratoma essay competition, that year’s topic was “freedom”. I remember, I wrote a nice little essay, in which I used imagery from nature, especially birds to symbolize the many facets of freedom and how I interpreted it. I was fortunate enough to win and ended up as one of the 5 students in my grade that had the privilege to move up to the next level in the competition. I received compliments left and right and it was all really nice. However, I didn’t let it go to my head, I just had fun writing the essay; the special recognition was just a nice bonus. I didn’t prance around rubbing it in people’s faces, I didn’t tell the others that they all sucked; I took the victory and went with it. The humility I exhibited certainty helped keep the potential for conflict at a minimum. On the contrary, I could have waved it around like a battle flag, making my achievement visible to all eyes, and auditable to all ears but I didn’t! I won with humility which not only taught me that there is always room to better yourself but also showed the importance of this trait when it comes to conflict prevention.

When put together the three values “Live your life with Integrity, Lose with Dignity, and Win with Humility” all represent important keys in the building of trust between friends and competitors alike. Integrity keeps people from doing things that may cause harm to themselves and others. If we didn’t have moral guidelines to follow and ethical values to uphold, the fabric that holds civilizations together would be too frayed for comfort. Loosing with dignity helps keep conflict at a low, considering that conflict causes more problems for people than it fixes. The avoidance of conflict is always smart, and that’s why loosing with dignity is important. It minimizes conflict and allows you to learn from the loss instead of retaliating. This keeps people civil and lessons learned always contribute to the greater good. Finally winning with humility quite similar to loosing with dignity keeps the chances of conflict between people and organizations low. Winning with humility can also make it easier to see any faults in your climb to the top, seeing these faults only allows for further self-improvement which in turn makes you ready to face bigger challenges. Winning with humility maintains progression and learning humility allows us from basking in our old glories which can only slow our personal and global advancement. All three of these values benefit the greater good of Individuals, their Community, the Nation, and the World. People who follow these values are generally successful and at the very least happy with who they are in life, but on the contrary know that there is always room for personal improvement. These people tend to be leaders and role models which further encourages others to live by these values. So when asked for advice on how to improve whether it be an individual, an organization, a community, a nation or the world, Simply answer….“Live your life with Integrity, Loose with Dignity, and Win with Humility”.