Have you ever wanted something really badly? My guess is that your answer is “yes”. Have you ever done something really shitty in order to get something you wanted really badly? Hopefully, your answer to that is “no”.

Having a burning desire to achieve something great can drive people to unimaginable extremes. Some people sacrifice convenience and do things like sell their cars to start the business of their dreams. Some people sacrifice time and do things like work 3 jobs to fund their dreams of becoming a business mogul. Some people take on insurmountable debt to fund their passion. And there are those who end up compromising their integrity to get ahead.

It could start as small as cutting corners on your product or service and hoping that your customers don’t notice. It could be overcharging someone $5 here and there or charging someone for something that you can’t deliver and then refusing to make the situation right. 

Integrity...

Two of my favorite pieces of advice to give people are…

1. Know yourself.
2. Own your shit.

I even started my podcast, Master Your Mission, with those five words in the first few episodes. 

Knowing yourself and owning your shit are both qualities of a person who is self-aware. Google defines self awareness as conscious knowledge of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and desires.

I personally think that self awareness is one of the most overlooked keys to fulfillment and success in life and in business. The opposite, not knowing yourself, is really a liability.

Self awareness builds integrity. When you have integrity, you own your mistakes and you do what you need to do to correct any situation in which you’ve made a mistake or to avoid repeating the same mistake. You treat people with fairness and you don’t try to take advantage of people. When you have integrity, you care about your reputation and you genuinely want your customers to have...