Ten Tips for Being More Truthful

                                                             -Barbara A. Lewis

 Tip 1. Make a commitment to tell the truth.

Tip 2. Tell someone about your commitment.

These two tips go hand in hand. By doing both of them you will be choosing the right decisions. When we commit to tell the truth we are taking a great step to choosing the right. We tell someone what we are doing so that we cannot forget about our commitment to the truth. No one likes being lied to it’s a horrible feeling and it makes you feel betrayed. When we care to be the right person and we want to be successful we tell the truth. When we don’t tell the truth people don’t trust us and trust is a very important thing in life. How are we supposed to get anywhere in life if no one trusts us to do anything. Our image is ruined when we don’t tell the truth, it is very easy to loose someone’s trust but it is very hard to regain that trust.

Tip 3: Think before you give a dishonest answer, explanation, sarcasm, or irony.

I think this tip is something we should all keep in mind. What’s going to happen if we give a dishonest answer and get caught? Well first of all, that person is going to lose their trust in you. They are going to think this that you are someone who isn’t trustworthy. Second they will tell people that you lied creating a bad image for yourself. This is going to get in your way in you want to become someone successful because you already have the reputation of someone who is a liar and cannot be trusted. If you lie to someone who trusts you, you can hurt their feelings because they thought that you were someone who they can trust. There nothing worse than the feeling of being betrayed and that is how the person is going to feel. It’s always better to just be honest and tell people the truth. That way you can be trustworthy and you can be well on your way to success. 

Tip 4: Be careful of when and how you use exaggeration, sarcasm, or irony.

There are times when we make certain remarks about people and we may not be think about what we’re saying. This can come off as sarcasm or irony and we may not realize that we hurt someone’s feelings. This is why we must always be careful about what we say because even though we might not mean any harm by it, we can still end up hurting someone’s feelings. We may exaggerate on something that we think is just funny but to someone else it can be serious or personal. We need to think before we say things to people because we never know when we can hurt or insult someone by the things we say. It’s important to be careful when we use exaggeration, sarcasm, or irony because when they are used, even if in a harmless way, we can end up hurting someone’s feeling.

Tip 5: Be careful not to twist the truth or leave out part of it.

It is important to be 100% honest. When we only give part of the truth and leave out some people may think that there is something we are trying to hide. Others may think that because you are not telling the whole truth you are lying to them. Once people see that you leave out parts of the truth twist the truth they will think that are untrustworthy. Twisting the truth, in many people’s eyes, is consider lying, because your making other excuses and not telling the truth. It is important that we tell the truth and nothing but the truth, when we start saying lies we get caught up in the wrong path and always come out with a bad image. People don’t want someone who is going to be lying and hiding things from them. People want someone they can trust, someone who will tell them the truth no matter what. The truth is always the correct path. Lying only send you down the path of failure. Telling the truth sends you down the path of success. Telling the truth is choosing the right.

Tip 6: Don’t indulge in little white lies.

Sometime lies may not seem to be very big or they may seem like they can’t do any harm. THAT IS NOT TRUE! Even if it’s a small lie, it can still have big effect. A small lie is like a ripple, it will only keep getting bigger. The bigger the lie gets the harder it will be for you to get out of it and the more trouble you’ll be in. it’s always better to just stay out of lies and tell the truth. Even if you will get in trouble by telling the truth, the consequences are always bigger when you lie. We may think that by lying we are doing good but that is never true, we need to always be honest to the people around us and to ourselves. If we become someone who only tells lies then eventually those lies will consume you, all you will be able to do is lie and no one will be able to trust you. When on one can trust you where do go? How can you make a successful life for yourself if people don’t see any good on you because you’ve been lying your whole life. We not think of it much, but lying has great impact on us it’s always easier to tell the truth and choose the right.

Tip 8: When you catch yourself lying, throw your mouth into reverse.

We need to stop ourselves when we catch ourselves lying. Lying never leads to anything good, at the end there’s only trouble waiting for you. We need to be honest to the people in our lives because they are the ones that are going to be there for us in the future, we need to build a trusting relationship with them from the start. If we meet someone new and from the beginning we lie to them. How are they supposed to trust us? They are going to thing that we are someone who only tells lies and can’t be trusted. We give them a bad image of ourselves. There are going to be people in our lives when we grow up and they can either take to success or they can make sure we never succeed in life. They’re not going to do this just because, no, they’re doing this because we showed that we can’t be trusted, that we lie, and that is why they will not help us. But if we show them that we can be trustworthy then they will take us to success. It’s important that as adult we don’t us lying as a way to try and cheat our way to success. Even if cheating does help for a while, what’s going to happen when someone finds out? No one is going to want to hire you because you’ve shown them that your someone who is willing to cheat they’re way us and that you lie meaning you can’t be trustworthy. Lying is never the answer and if you ever catch yourself lying just throw your mouth into revers. 

Tip 9: Talk to yourself.

There are times when we do things without even realizing that we do them. We don’t think about our words, we just say them. When we find our self at a situation like this we must stop ourselves and think for a moment. We need to ask ourselves, “What am I doing?” and “Is this really something that I want to say or do?” Asking ourselves these questions will help us think and clear our minds. When we ask these questions we also may realize that we don’t want to do whatever it is that we were going to do. We may also realize how our actions can hurt someone and how it may affect ourselves to. IT IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT TO THINK OF OUR ACTIONS AND ASK OURSELVES IS WE REALLY WANT TO DO THIS.

Tip 10: Treat yourself when you tell the truth.

It’s important to always tell the truth. You feel good when you tell the truth, and you know that you have done something good. When you tell the truth you can treat yourself because you have done the right thing. There are many ways you can treat yourself, for example you can buy yourself some candy or something else you want to buy. There are many ways for us to treat ourselves but in my opinion the best reward is the feeling you get knowing that told the truth and that you choose the right thing to do. But of course who doesn’t like a reward and after all telling the truth takes great courage at times. We should all treat ourselves in whatever way we want; it is after all a treat for ourselves because we did something good. 


Reflection:

These ten tips will come in handy to me whenever i find myself about to tell a lie. I think everyone can learn from these tips. For example; tip 9: Talk to Yourself, I think this is a important tip because sometimes we make decisions based on what other are telling us too. peer pressure can sometime affect our judgment and we may do things that we don't want to, that's why it's important to talk to yourself and ask if you really want to do it. Another tip that i think is important and helpful is tip 1; Make a Commitment to Tell the Truth, this tip may be the most important because we should all make this commitment. Making a commitment to never tell a lie and always tell the truth will make us stop and think at times when we find ourselves about to tell a lie. We'll stop and think for a bit and ask ourselves, "What am I doing? Do I really want to break my commitment?" This will make us reflect on our actions and hopefully it will stop  us from telling a lie. All of the tips are important to keep in mind at all times. We must remember to not indulge in little white lies because those will only lead to big lies and trouble. And we must also remember that telling the truth is the right thing, even if it's not always the easiest thing' and when we tell the truth we should reward ourselves for it.