10 Tips for being more Truthful

1. Make a commitment to tell the truth
2. Tell someone about your commitment.

I would have to make a commitment to myself to tell the truth at all times but I would fail because I'm even dishonest to myself how can I be truthful with others. I would tell my closest friends about my commitment but they know I would cave too.

3. Think before you give a dishonest answer, explanation, sarcasm, or reason.

I agree that people should really think about what they say before they give an answer. Especially sarcasm, because for example I could never tell when someone is being serious or if they're just being stupid and sarcastic. 

4. Be careful of when and how you use exaggeration, sarcasm, or irony.
 
This is important because exaggeration, sarcasm, or irony can be taken the wrong way or offensively, which is why it is better to be truthful than to try and be funny sometimes. For example the other day at the fair we were at this restaurant and my friend Johnny's brother went to go say hi to my friend Sarai and she was like "I don't know you" in a very angry tone. He looked hurt and honestly I believed she was being serious but then she laughed and said she was just kidding so I never know when she's joking or not.

5. Be careful not to twist the truth or leave out part of it.

Well as much as I think this should completely be taken into consideration sometimes leaving out the truth is better for me. For example I don't like the feeling of having to tell a friend something that might hurt her I would rather her find out on her own or by someone else besides me. Or me on the other hand, sometimes I prefer lies than to hear the truth because it could leave me heartbroken.

7. Watch out for silent lies
I'm not sure I know what silent lies are. I think it's also kind of like how someone may be telling you something and they're leaving out the silent lies I feel like that's what it may be. 

8. When you catch yourself lying, throw your mouth into reverse.
 I wouldn't do a very good job at this tip because If i catch myself lying it's most likely I can't correct myself. For example if someone hurts my feelings and someone else asks if I'm okay I would lie and say I'm fine and that I don't care but in reality I'm just trying to hide my emotions because I don't want anyone to know that I care what people think or say about me and that deep down I feel hurt and I'm trying my hardest not to let the tears fall. That's why it is better for me to pretend like it doesn't bother me if someone puts me down which I've had to do pretty much my whole life so I've gotten used to it and much better at hiding it.

Treat yourself when you tell the truth
I'm always treating myself no matter what even when I am just telling the truth. I think rewarding yourself afterward is important so that in encourages you to tell the truth more often.

Reflection
My final thoughts on the ten tips for being more truthful is that these are all very useful tips to get better at telling the truth. They can benefit us all in many different ways to just mainly improve our honesty skills. A tip that I will be applying now is to think before I can give an honest answer and it is making a difference in my life because now I don't have to worry about whether what I said was right or wrong because I actually thought about it. I will totally incorporate the other tips into my life planning goals and plans with my personal life.

                   10 Keys to Personal Power
                         

Key 1: Clarity
"Have vision. Determine what you want to be, do or have in life. Have a sense of direction and know where you're going. If you do not have clear specific goals in life, you are doomed forever to work for others who do."

Key 2: Competence
"If you commit to excellence, opportunities will always come your way. The harder you work, the better you get." 
I think it is true, if you really want to succeed at something you have to really be determined and if you really want it, you must definitely work hard at it so you get better until you master it.


Key 3: Concentration
"Make the best use of your time. Ask yourself "Is this the best use of my time?" before you start anything."
I think to be actually concentrated you do need to make sure you're giving the right time to the most important things before the least important things for example pay more attention to your school work rather than your rat. 


Key 4: Common Sense

Key 5: Creativity 
"Except the fact that very human being is a genius. The hallmark of creativity is asking questions. The people who are most creative ask the most questions." 
I think creativity is a major key. If someone is not creative, they may not have an idea of how to do most things, which is why I think that creative people are really smart. Creative people think more than people who are not. I find creativity really attractive in a person, and if a person is not then I have no interest in talking to them. Usually uncreative people are the ones who don't know what to make out of their lives so they turn to drugs and that's not choosing the right. 

Key 6: Consideration        
"The quality of your relationships with other people will determine your success in life."

"Develop the people skills you need to become a better communicator. Take courses in listening, speaking, etc."


"If you were to learn one new word a day, within 5 years, you'll be the best educated person in history."

Consideration is a really important trait that I look for in a friend. Most of the people I hang out with are considerate, I try to stay away from rats.


Key 7: Consistency
"Dependable, steady predictable work is always superior to fast spurts of work."

"Be consistent in your relationships, your family, friends, your boss, your work. Be the person that people can depend upon. That if you say you'll do something you do it..."

Of course I think consistency is really important in many cases. Whether it is a relationship with a significant other, a friend, or a family member, or at a job interview. I think it is just like making a commitment or a promise, it is something you're expected to keep. In my opinion, immature stupid teenage boys seem to have a problem with consistency. For example, some girls with their stupid rat boyfriends have problems in their relationship because dumb boys don't know how to handle arguments. In another scenario, boys are either dumb or just clueless and don't know how to handle a girl's feelings and because of their lack of consistency, they end up breaking their hearts and leaving them wondering what could have been if the guy was actually different and not like everyone else.

Key 8: Commitment
"No success is possible without commitment. The ability to commit yourself whole heartily is the basis of achieving all success."
"Become totally absorbed in your work. Be totally committed."

Commitment is a major key. I stay committed to many things in my life, like my friends, my work, my idols. I've been supporting Miley Cyrus since I was 7 and now I'm 16, I've been there through the Disney phase all the way up to now. If that's not commitment then I don't know what is. I am very committed to keeping my friends' secrets which is why I think so many of them trust me with their stuff. I'm also committed to my goals because I have not given up on my future dreams and goals since 5 years and that's a really long time.



Key 9: Courage
"The fear of failure is the single greatest reason for failure in life."


Courage is a key that everyone wishes that they'd have under control. I wish I was courageous for sure as much as I wish other people also were. If only I could build up some courage on my own then I'd be able to do the things I imagine myself doing in my head and I would do those things in real life. It is such a struggle to be scared the way I am because being scared doesn't allow me to get what I want. I think if I were confident enough to say and do the things I imagine I would probably get it my way.



Key 10: Confidence
"You only get confidence by doing things over and over again."


When people say they think confidence is attractive, that breaks my heart because that's something I don't have. All the time I wish I did have confidence, it would be very helpful in everything I do. Sadly no matter how much I try, I can't be confident because I'm ugly and I feel that I have no right to feel confidence.



Reflection:
Well these 10 keys are all major keys to success. Each one benefits us in several different ways. I think the key I'm trying to apply to now is Key#9 which is courage. I think the reason it hasn't made a difference is because I'm actually not trying. I hope to incorporate the rest of the keys into my life planning by building up a bit of each key inside myself.

                              Commitment 

Commitment is being dedicated to a cause, keeping a promise, or the loyalty you keep to someone or something. 

                             
I believe in order to make a strong commitment you have to be loyal and really mean it because if you don't you're going to fail, break your promise and that's going to affect others, not just you.