"No, I won't send that."
"Why not?"
"Because it's unfair to our members, who have paid a lot of money for those materials. And it's a breach of the contract."
I place a very strong value on truths and ethics. Honesty is one of my top character strengths. And I once worked into a job where this value was challenged repeatedly. I had this type of conversation. So. Many. Times.
The lies I was asked to tell were relatively small, but they were lies nevertheless. And I feared if I told the little ones, I'd be asked to tell bigger ones. I stood firm and refused. I was out of alignment with my core values in that position, and it was such a relief to finally leave. It was tiring to stand my ground over and over again, but I'm glad I did. And the few times I didn't, I felt terrible.
Yes, I am working on going with the flow when things are not all that important in the grand scheme of things. Yet on those decisions that are really important, I choose to stand firm.
I heard this expression once and never forgot it: "When values are clear, decisions are easy."
Identify your values. Then stand firm.
Photo by Michal Kmeť on Unsplash
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