Insuring Your Reputation

Daily Meditation #390–3/22/2023

One of the frequent sayings I use in YouDaimonia is for us to act in a manner consistent with the person we aspire to be.

And I absolutely believe in this. It keeps us in line with our personal morals and ethics, moving in the direction of the improvement we desire.

But there’s more to it.

If you’re a sober person — a recovered alcoholic, for example — and someone goes to their friend and says

“Boy, I think I saw George in the tavern the other day,”

The mutual friend listening should make a surprised and unbelieving face, telling them “That’s impossible. George is sober. Alcohol isn’t part of his life anymore.”

Because his reputation is insured by the way he acts.

And we also need to act in this way — not to “save face” or to impress others, but to act so consistent with who we present ourselves to be that others will rush in to protect our reputation because they have seen no evidence to make them believe otherwise!

What part of your reputation do you feel confident is “insured?”

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These are distillations from my coming book “YouDaimonia: the Ancient Philosophy of Human Flourishing.”