Brand, Ideas, Story, Style, My Life: How to Write With Integrity

Thursday, February 15, 2018

How to Write With Integrity

We all have the opportunity to be spiritual pioneers in some way. When you put relationships before results, live with integrity, and care about how your actions affect the greater community, you too add spiritual value to the world. ~ Cheryl Richardson

Whether you blog to express yourself, to share information, make money or entertain, it makes sense to do it with honour and integrity. How can you check in with your integrity-ometer to see if that’s what you’re doing?

Are you willing to risk losing readers by telling the truth, in your posts and in your comments?
Are you scared to stay silent for a few days?
Do you form alliances simply on the basis of their usefulness to you?
Are you pandering to your audience by day but tossing and turning at night, feeling you’ve sold out?
Do you really believe in fostering a sense of community or are you stat-building by the back door?
Do you skim blogs you don’t enjoy, simply to leave a comment?

If any of those gave you inklings of ickiness in your gut, read on.

Who are the spiritual pioneers in your feed reader?

Write to Done has been one of my favourite blogs since its creation. Mary and Leo’s pieces embody what authentic leadership means.

As people, they represent the power of forming strong alliances built on resonance and friendship; they harmonise with and complement each other.

As professionals, their aim has been the ultimate win/win – to empower other writers. No-one with fierce egos would ever consider doing this.

Sean Platt and Dave Wright at Collective Inkwell have managed this ego-less marriage of minds too, by co-creating a serialised work of fiction and a new community of writers.

Some pioneers blaze new trails, profit from their innovations but manage to make people feel like fresh flesh at a vampire fest in the process.

Spiritual pioneers, on the other hand – like Mary and Leo – steadily make their way forward; along the way, they embrace new challenges, create communities and learn from the detours and diversions that almost entice them from the path they’re clearing towards their own fulfilment and what used to be called The Greater Good.

They showcase, link to and support other bloggers. For me, that’s the ultimate blogging win/win. Mary was the fairy godmother to my own blog launch, and for that I’ll be eternally grateful.

What does it take to be a spiritual pioneer?

A vision of where you want to go and a heart full of courage, integrity, loyalty and honesty.

Courage and Honesty

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeated. ~ Helen Keller

Be brave enough to spend time getting to know yourself well so that you have something authentic to offer the world. There is only one you – there has never been another, nor will there be. Get to know your roles in life and your values for each role. If blogging means you go to bed at night feeling you’ve let down your loved ones, you need a rethink.
Be brave enough to stand up to the fear of ridicule, self doubt and wingclipping advice that inevitably follow bold new ventures.
Be brave enough to know when something isn’t working and let go. My friend Eric Hamm, created 5 new websites in four months and has only kept the best. Mary tried out new formula at Goodlife Zen and her posts have gone viral.
Be brave enough to up the quality and length of your posts and cut the frequency if it works for you; you may be gifting your readers with a few days’ breathing space to catch up on your posts.
Be brave enough to cut down on the quantity, frequency and length of the comments you leave on other blogs. You’ll know in your heart if commenting is interfering with the quality of your own writing or the time you spend reading and living your non-cyber life.
Be brave enough to withdraw from social networking till you see what’s the absolute minimum that’s beneficial to your business and emotional welfare.

Integrity and Loyalty

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. ~ Ghandi

Don’t follow templates or advice that make you feel uncomfortable or sad. Your gut will know if you’re going against your true nature, ignoring your inner voice.
If your posts go viral and Twitter explodes your posts exponentially, don’t make your original readers feel left out and neglected, especially if you decide to stop replying to individual comments or emails. Write a small post explaining your new decision to keep your inbox and your daily commenting manageable. Do you really want to hurt the very same people who supported you daily when your comments read {6 COMMENTS} or the ones who emailed you to tell you to keep going?
Use links with integrity. Ask yourself some deep honest questions about why you use Comment Luv, as a blog host or a visitor.
When you visit a blog daily, ask yourself if you’re loyal, or just scared to miss the opportunity to advertise your latest posts through Comment Luv.
Do your comments add more than your silence would?
How many of your readers become friends? How many leave when your blog goes silent? Do you describe all visitors to your blog as ‘traffic’ without giving it a second thought
Do your Twitter stats reveal loyalty – or tribal fear?