Correctness and High Standards creates Meaning and Purpose
We find meaning and purpose in different ways, and one of the ways is our correctness and high standards.
When we dedicate ourselves to the correctness, discipline and pursuing high standards, we often feel great about ourselves as we are doing the right thing, the good thing or what would be expected of a great friend, partner or colleague. It can also feel like we are accomplishing, having some sort of mission or serving the greater good for others. The correctness, high standards, and discipline can also be followed by following orders, agreements, or rules and when we follow the boundaries we have agreed, a sense of “right and wrong” can occur, as it is clear what is right and what is wrong.
I don’t like to be late, and I prefer to be there when others are on time for an appointment with me. Being on time is a way for me to pay respect to our relationship, whether it be in my personal or private life. I also want to correct others if they are not following the agreements we have, if they do something that includes me but keep it behind my back or if they act unethically. Recently, some of my work has been used without my knowledge to promote someone else’s work. I have not given my agreement for my work to be used, and even if the rules for using someone else’s work could be understood in several different ways, the mindset behind the action is still unethical. In a case like this, I have the urge to set things straight and I want to correct others in their doing. But not for any gain or benefit, just because I want us to act with correctness and high standards.
The urge to correct others has brought me into trouble several times, and it is important to me to understand why I want correctness and high standards. I naturally invest much time in exploring if I am right or wrong, but in the end, who will benefit from me being right? Correcting others also puts me in a situation where I feel more right or better than the other person. Is that correct, and do I then act with high standards?
The question is to balance the feeling of doing the right things for the right reasons. Acting correctly, with discipline and high standards, and following the rules, ethics, and agreements can bring a strong sense of meaning and purpose. But can it be too much, and how does it look when it is out of balance?
Your weekly question
This week’s question is about how to create a healthy balance of correctness, discipline, high standards, ethics, and doing the right things for the right reasons.
- What do you do to act with the right level of correctness, discipline, high standards, ethics, and doing the right things for the right reasons?
- How do you know when you have overdone your rightness?
- When do you stop yourself from being the right one among others?
Your weekly quote
Perfect can stand in the way of great.
Your weekly recommended reading
Balancing System 1 And System 2 In Leadership and how to do the Right things Right.
