The Honest Path: Finding Freedom and Authenticity in a Deceptive World

 Tum ek honest aur sacche aadmi ho Vicky, aur yahi tumhari taaqat hai, said Shraddha Kapoor to Rajkumar Rao in the movie Stree2. It was at this point, that I recognised that honesty is a strength that's not recognised enough but it really is a strength. I know people teach quite a lot of things about honesty, for an example, Robert Greene says that it's not good to be honest, but Robert Greene for some reason has never worked for me. I tried reading him, but every time I would find myself disagreeing to most of the things he preaches. Anyways, never mind let's focus on honesty right now. As Shraddha Kapoor said that dialogue, the dialogue came home with me and rang my mind and ears every single time I was interacting with someone. Whether it was my manager at the office or whether it was a friend of mine on a video call, all I remembered during the time was that Tum ek honest aur sacche insaan ho aur vahi tumhari taaqat hai. 

Google defines honest as following: free of deceit and untruthfulness; sincere. It means it's free of deceit and untruthfulness, which in positive terms means being truthful and sincere. That's all. Speaking the truth no matter what is honesty. I can understand there would be situations where you would want to hold back, but what I mean over here is when you really do have to speak, speak the truth, or else keep your mouth shut. 

1. Honesty brings freedom: Sometimes honesty is hard, and even very painful, but when you speak the truth, the freedom that it brings to you is unbelievable. You would be a free man but only when you speak the truth. For an example, there might be truth that you have a lot of addictions, be it social media, be it male attention, be it porn addictions, etc, but when you have these addictions and you are honest about it, only then you can really do something about it. It will bring you a lot of freedom when you are honest about it. 

2. Honesty brings out positive energy: This is a wonderful quote, it says that being honest brings out positive energy in life. Take for an example, you don't know how to ride a horse, you can be like oh I will do it, nothing to worry about it, but in reality that's not how things work right. You have to learn the mechanics and the techniques to ride a horse, you can't just go and ride a horse easily on the first day. But when you are honest about not knowing how to ride a horse, the more easily you would be able to learn. 

3. Being honest gives you the right kind of people: In a world that's so fake because of social media, it's very easy to attract fake people in life. People who have tons of things to hide, people who say something and do something else, but when you are honest to people and call out their behaviour, one of the 2 things can happen. Either they leave from your life or they become real. If they leave, it's a good thing because you have actually filtered out people that you don't need. If they become real, you realise that it was just the circumstance or the situation that was causing them to act in a certain way. But honesty gives you the polarity in life, either they love you or they hate you. There's no where in between. Now this does not mean, that you have to share all of your honest opinions about the world. Yes, if you are asked you need to, but not just like that. 

4. Honesty and Wisdom: There is a very good reason that Thomas Jefferson says something about wisdom and honesty linkage. I believe the reason Mr. Jefferson said this is because when you are honest about things, you are really really honest to yourself on what you have done right, what worked, what does not work, and also what do I need to improve on. That's where wisdom starts, the question what do I need to work or improve on. 

                                    

I like this quote too, speak with honesty, think with sincerity and act with integrity. That's it. Speak the truth, think for the positive outcome and act such that your what you speak and what you do is in alignment. It's simple but if remembered can make a whole lot of difference. 

When you are honest, you bring a lot of trust, respect and peace of mind. Whether we believe it or not, we want honest people around us, people who help us become better version of ourselves, and we want to be those type of people in others lives also. After all what's the point of being so well educated, when you can't bring a difference in the lives of others. But honesty will bring a lot deeper connections and much more meaningful connections in all types of relationships, from brother-sister to bf-gf. Everything. 

When you speak the truth you don't really have to remember what you need to say. That's the best advantage of speaking the truth as well. 

Now let's think about what are some practical ways we can apply honesty in our lives? 

1. Clear Communication: Stay transparent in your communication, whether you are discussing plans, feelings or your intentions, communicate clearly and honestly. Avoid omitting important details or giving half truths. Moreover, whenever you give feedback, give a true and genuine feedback to the other person with the intention that they will improve. However, it's important to keep a kind tone while giving feedback. 

2. Integrity in actions: Whatever promise you make today, whatever you say, do that thing and that thing only. Unless the circumstances are way out of control, don't do something and say something else. 

3. Own your mistakes: We all make mistakes which is quite a real thing, however, how unreal it would be if someone does not really own up their mistakes. You would never be able to improve in life if you do not accept your mistakes. 

4.  Honesty with yourself: Everything on one side, but it's important to be honest with your own self. For example, if you did not do something well, be honest about what did you not do well. For example, you did not score well in a test, be honest to yourself about your lack of preparation or your lack of understanding of the subject. Tell yourself where you can improve and then work on those improvements. No one would ever know you better than you would know yourself. 

5. Relationships: In your day to day relationships, try to be honest to others with your words and actions. If you feel bad about something say that, if you have feel good about something say that, and if you find that we are doing something wrong, say that. An honest and an open heart brings about trust in a relationship. Being honest and truthful goes beyond just words, it goes to actions. 

6. Leadership: Every leader is an example to the team. For an example, if you are a captain of a sports team, you being honest with the team mates encourages your teammates to be honest with each other as well. So set the right example as a leader. 

Admit when you don't know something: Whether you are a sports team captain, or whether you are a manager of a corporate team, it's okay to not know everything. Tell your team mates that you don't know something, this will encourage more learning and collaboration within the team. 

What I am trying to point out here is that, every area of our lives can be more honest, all you have to do is say the right things, even if they are bitter, if you don't know something, say that you don't know something, if you are wrong somewhere, accept your mistakes and make sure you self reflect on what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. 

Exercise: In order to increase your honesty with yourself, think about a goal you are working towards. Think about your daily habits after that and then tell yourself what you can do better, what things you are doing wrong and try writing those things down so that you remember what you need to work on and how you can improve yourself. But be honest, if you know you are addicted to social media or if you are addicted to porn also, tell yourself that it's wrong and be honest about it. Sometimes you can't share everything with the world, but telling yourself that you are doing something wrong is very important. 

By embracing these tips, you can cultivate a habit of honesty that permeates all aspects of your life, leading to stronger relationships, greater self-respect, and a more fulfilling life overall. I am telling you with honesty you will have better relationships, better work ethic and more self respect for yourself. So just from now on, be honest, it has more benefits than you think.