Honesty may not get you a lot of friends, but it will always get you the right ones. John Lennon

When was the last time you took a close look at the people you are surrounding yourself with? It is easy to fall into the routine of only associating with agreeable people. Naturally we always want to hear that what we are doing is the right thing. But we can’t be right all the time, and someone needs to have the courage to tell us otherwise.

If someone is saying “yes” to everything, whether executing a bad idea, ignoring a problem or taking on more work than they should, their dishonesty will no doubt have repercussions.

It’s easy to write off agreeableness as trying to be nice, but it’s deceptive. It reminds us of the story of the emperor’s new clothes, nobody was willing to tell the emperor that he wasn’t wearing any clothing. In the end, he was left looking like a fool for not having any objective, honest counsel that he could rely on.

Telling a lie, no matter how small, can quickly evolve into an interconnected web of deception. We confuse ourselves, we confuse others and we put our integrity at risk.

Honesty is like an investment, it requires consistency.

With honesty you are investing in your own integrity. When you are always telling the truth you don’t have to think about which ‘version’ of the truth you’ve been telling people. It comes naturally. The more honest we are in our daily lives, the easier it is to spot in others and the easier it will be for others to see in us.

How do we measure success? Can it be reduced to a number in a bank account, or do we need to look at the richness of our character? Our propensity for hard work, our kindness to others and our virtues when it comes to business and family are all part of the bigger picture of our success.

We need to keep people in our social and professional spheres that are willing to tell us what we need to hear instead of what we want to hear. We can’t afford to keep people around who are not willing to tell us the truth.

If you are in need of an honest chat about your finances, our doors are always open.