After drafting that last +1, I hit my 90-minute mark for my second Deep Work Time Block of the day, which, of course, triggered one of my keystone algorithms. “After 90-minutes of Deep Work, I take a 15-20 minute break.” So… I grabbed a little bite to eat and went on a short walk around our property. As I was walking, I contemplated the whole idea of “sin” and missing the mark in our lives. Joseph Campbell (who was also raised Catholic) came to mind. I just love his wisdom on the subject. We featured it in a +1 called “Father, Bless Me.” As you may recall, Campbell tells us: “Ramakrishna once said that if all you think of are your sins, then you are a sinner. And when I read that, I thought of my boyhood, going to confession on Saturdays, meditating on all the little sins that I had committed during the week. Now I think one should go and say, ‘Bless me, Father, for I have been great, these are the good things I have done this week.’ Identify your notion of yourself with the positive, rather than with the negative.” That’s awesome. Then, my thoughts were interrupted as a deer bounded away from me. She (or was it he?) paused about 50 feet away, stared at me as I stared back for an extended moment. Then she continued on her way. That’s awesome. Then my mind floated to Nathaniel Branden. I couldn’t remember the precise details of his thoughts on the subject, but I remembered the essence. I remembered he once said something about the fact that there’s something worse than "sinning” or missing the target. You know what that might be? … What’s your guess? What’s WORSE than missing the mark? … I remember that he said NOT HAVING high standards in the first place was, arguably, considerably WORSE than having them but failing to meet them. I reflected on that, finished my walk and came straight to my computer for a quick search to find the precise words he used and to create this +1. Enter: Mac search: “Nathaniel Branden.” Result: A couple Notes: The Art of Living Consciously and The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem. I opened The Art of Living Consciously first. That’s an AWESOME book and Note but nope. Not there. So, I opened The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem. Aha!! There it is. It’s the sixth and final pillar: Integrity. Here’s how Nathaniel puts it: “Integrity is the integration of ideals, convictions, standards, beliefs—and behavior. When our behavior is congruent with our professed values, when ideals and practice match up, we have integrity. Observe that before the issue of integrity can even be raised we need principles of behavior—moral convictions about what is and is not appropriate—judgments about right and wrong action. If we do not yet hold standards, we are on too low a developmental rung even to be accused of hypocrisy. In such a case, our problems are too severe to be described merely as lack of integrity.” Yep. That’s exactly right. And… That’s Today’s +1. Are YOU living in integrity with your ideals, convictions, standards, and beliefs? And… Remember: That presupposes we HAVE a clear sense of standards. So… What are yours? Let’s know them. And, let’s live them. As we solidify our intense trust in ourselves by getting better and better at hitting the mark. TODAY.
