What Does Being Honest Mean?

In The Personal Bank Account (PBA) chapter, you learn that being honest means being honest with yourself and being honest in your actions. Honesty is associated with words such as upstanding, incorruptible, moral, principled, truth-loving, steadfast, true, real, right, good, straight-shooting, and genuine. If you can apply these words to yourself, there’s a good chance that you’re an honest person.

Self-honesty means to appear to others as you really are. It means not being fake or trying to pass yourself off as something you’re not.When you’re not honest with yourself you feel unsure and insecure, and you end up making a withdrawal from your PBA (the way you feel about yourself).

Honesty in your actions refers to the activities you participate in every day. From taking tests, to talking to parents and friends, to the things you do at work, you have opportunities to be honest or dishonest every day. Every act of honesty you do is a deposit into your PBA.

Jarvis Exercise:

1. For this exercise, pay close attention to the Be Honest section on pages 72 & 73.
2. Research a famous person, real or fictitious, that was known for his or her honesty or transparency.
3. Write the name of the person you researched and the benefits he or she and others gained as a result of the honesty.
4. List ways in which you can be more honest.
5. Describe how your PBA will be affected if you improve your honesty