Using the Power of Integrity to Transform Your Reality

Webster’s dictionary defines integrity as the state of being complete or undivided.When we act out of integrity, we’re acting from a deep and integrated place within ourselves, and from this place, we have enormous power to achieve our dreams and goals.


We’re not thrown off course by some unacknowledged place within us that is in conflict with what we say we want. Our inner selves and outer selves are in concert with each other.


Consider the metaphor of an iceberg. We are able to see about 10 percent of the iceberg above the water. That 10 percent is the part of us that tells our friends and family things like, "I want to find a new career," "I want my relationship to be different," "I’m ready to turn my financial situation around and make more money,"


"I want to have more time for myself and to really make a difference in the world," or "I want to manage my time differently." And then there’s the other 90 percent of the iceberg that is hidden beneath the surface. This is the part of us that believes things like, "My partner will never change," "I’ll never find someone I can commit to," "I’ll never be able to make more money in this economy," or "I’ll never find my ideal career." It’s the hidden underbelly of our higher intentions.


It’s one thing to claim that we want our particular situation to be different, but what determines whether or not we achieve success or act out of integrity is who we’re actually being in a particular situation – not what we’re saying about it. And who we’re being is often determined by that 90 percent of us that is just below the surface.


By tuning in to below-the-surface conversations that we’re having with ourselves about a particular situation (which reflect our unconscious beliefs and can often appear as "reality," "truth," or "the way things are,") we can determine whether or not we’ll successfully achieve our goals.


One way of accessing this stuff below the surface is to simply ask yourself, "What are my unconscious beliefs about this situation that I’m not currently aware of?" … and then notice what comes up. It might be surprising, even uncomfortable to do this process.


Many events that occur in our lives unfold in a particular way because of our true intentions – or what we’re really up to at the fundamental level of who we’re being (that portion of the iceberg concealed under the water). This is incredibly hard for us to see in the moment because it often looks like everything is "out there happening to us."


Remember in the movie The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion arrived at the Wizard’s house? They entered a palatial room that was filled with puffs of smoke and a loud, intimidating voice, only to discover later that the Wizard wasn’t the big booming voice, but a timid, shell-of-a-man who was running the show behind some curtain.


Like the Wizard, we declare in a booming voice, "I want such and such!" And then we talk about it. We tell our friends about it. We dream about it. But the question remains, who’s really running the show?