Integrity is the act of being in and of itself, from every angle.
As we see the bait-and-switch of the online networks and monopolists, it’s easy to imagine that nothing with integrity stays that way very long. The systems we support almost always end up trading a straightforward clarity about what they do for a facade that’s easy to fall into and hard to get out of.
Big businesses usually succumb to short-term compromises that corrupt the mission that built their brand in the first place.
The opportunity, then, is to find a career path that’s a whole. In calculus, the integral takes an infinite number of tiny slices and reassembles them into a coherent result. Each slice is infinitesimal, almost nothing on its own, yet the accumulation produces something real. We don’t need each moment to be grand. We need it to be of the same function. Showing up consistently in small ways that cohere.
In the movies, there’s plenty of stirring music when the hero has to make their choice. But in our lives, there isn’t a single moment. Instead, there are a million of them.
The way we show up will rarely be perfect. But perfect isn’t the point. Countless tiny decisions add up to a whole. It helps to be clear about the purpose of the work we’re here to do.
In the words of Hugh MacLeod, “The market for something to believe in is infinite.”
PS I just finished the first draft of my new book, THE KNOT, which will publish this September from Authors Equity. If you’re interested in pre-ordering the audiobook and being part of a small beta-test community, I’ve built a page explaining how you can join us. I’ll take this link down once the cohort is full.