This Sunday, April 30th is National Honesty Day – a day to remind and inspire us to be honest. A suggested way to observe the day is by being truthful all day long. The existence of such a ‘National Day’ stirred up a few thoughts that I wanted to share.
At face value, this day serves as a poignant reminder of fundamental action. I want to be enthusiastic that such a day exists, and while I think we can all put it to good use it’s a bit sobering to think we need a day to remind us of such a collective societal core value. Although we all must do our own internal work to determine the values that we hold most dear, I would venture to say that honesty and truthfulness would appear on most people’s initial brainstormed list of their key virtues. For many of us in our society honesty was taught as one of the very first values by our parents, schools, religions, and culture.
So if most of us would add it to our brain-dump of personal values, then why do we need a day to remind us to ‘practice’ something so critical? In a word – ACTIVATION. When it comes to values, in many ways we’re conditioned to be reactive, rather than proactive. Most of us go about our days without thinking about our values until they are challenged and then we react – usually with anger or frustration. What would be possible if instead, we learned to express our values, and through that ourselves, more completely?
You may have heard the old adage that ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’. I believe the road to authenticity is illuminated by value activation.
We can all hold a deep and true list of things that are important to us, from the practical (such as making time for family dinners) to the philosophical or abstract (honor, integrity, and honesty). But in both cases, these values will live and die on our “list of values in the sky” if we don’t figure out how we will express them each day of our life. Depending on the value, how we activate it can look quite different, but the key is to build a way to put values into action in all that we do.
Value activation is core to the work we do at Tapas Innovation because we realize that identifying what is important to you and your brand is only the beginning. Bringing those values through in all the work that you do is the real magic behind meaningful work that feels good to you, and builds an authentic connection that your audience can feel. When values are activated authenticity flows effortlessly.
So on this National Day of Honesty, find a quiet moment to reflect on what honesty means to you. Ask yourself if this is a core value of yours. If so, reflect on how you activate this value in your life. Do you always hold fast to it? Are there scenarios where you find it challenging to apply this value? Is it negotiable? Next, think about how you can activate truthfulness as a value every day. Maybe it begins with being honest with yourself about where you’re at and where you want to be.
Ready to activate your values? Take the abstract and make it real by scheduling a complimentary Radical Consultation today.
By Staci Brindle – Balance Bomb | Radical Consultant | Tapas Innovation Owner
