5th grade was a tough year for me. I spent a lot of time in the principal’s office for stuff like drawing an offensive picture of my teacher, kicking a kid’s butt (literally), and calling a playground supervisor the B-word. I lied about all of it, and I was caught in my lies each time. These experiences taught me that my lies only compounded the shame of my bad behavior. That’s when I decided that it was time to be honest.
Deciding to be honest at such a young age was a terrible decision. I never developed the skills to be a liar. When most kids were lying to their parents and sneaking out of the house, I was at home in bed. I was reminded of my poor lying abilities when I played the game Avalon recently. The game requires some characters to lie, and I was horrible at it. People could see right through me.
Well, in the quarter century since 5th grade, I’ve learned that there are many benefits to being honest in all of my dealings. That is why Honesty is at the top of our list of core values at Brains Report. Below, we will look at why honesty matters.
Most People Can Smell BS
We’ve developed our fine sense of smell to ensure that we are not walking around with dog crap on our shoes. While there are plenty of exceptions, we have also developed the ability to smell BS so people are not walking all over us. And, getting caught in a lie is just awful. As Al Pacino said in most of his roles, he only has two things in this world: his balls and his word. If you lie, you lose half of what you have in this world and are left grabbing your crotch.
Lying Is Too Much Work
When you’re honest, you don’t have to keep your story straight. You have the truth right there in your head. When you lie, you have to keep track of who you told what…forever. I’m a lazy guy, and despite my name, I’m not all that smart. I don’t have the energy or cognitive abilities to keep track of lies. So, I tell the truth and save my energy for roller derby. Being honest may be uncomfortable at first, but it is so much easier in the long run.
I Can’t Stand Liars
I’ve had acquaintances that would lie to me. They didn’t stay in my life for long. I prefer to surround myself with people of character. Liars do not have character. They will either screw you over, drag you down with them, or both. I have a really hard time voting for politicians because of this. Anyway, I don’t want anyone to look at me the way I look at liars. So, I tell the truth in all circumstances: “You’re right: that dress does make your butt look like a potato that resembles Richard Nixon.”
Successful People Are Honest
I like to read about the habits of successful people in the hopes that I too might have habits someday. Multiple articles and books on the topic have pointed out the importance of honesty. In addition to attracting others who value character, the habit of honesty also allows successful people to be honest with themselves about how they are doing at achieving their goals. Put more succinctly, delusion is dishonesty turned inward. When you are delusional, it’s hard to achieve success.
Are you honest? What are your thoughts about honesty? Please share in the comments below!
