The path of dishonesty can be a lucrative one in the short run. Win over some people, pull off some scams, then break hearts and run away with some cash. After your short ‘success’ you’ve become infamous as not to be trusted. Your name will mean avoidance.
The truth will surface eventually. A web of lies won’t stay consistent for long, facts are written down and people’s behaviour and actions will show you what happened without telling you directly. As long as you’re living honestly, you can trust the truth to become visible at some point in the future and that will be the time when people will update their judgement of you.
Honesty is key in adhering to all core values and all areas of life. You can only progress so far in an area without being truthful to yourself and others, before you’re met with blockades on the road. Only an honest evaluation of where you stand can teach you where you’ll need to grow next.
Honesty in tough times is often directly rewarded with praise. Whenever you tell a colleague, partner or friend your true view, although conflicting with theirs, they will thank you for your honesty. If they don’t say it, they will think it. If they don’t think it, they haven’t matured enough. The same obviously holds when they start throwing a tantrum after not being able to handle the truth.
Being truthful seems polarising at first glance. You think one thing, and they either agree with it or not. In reality, by having good intentions and throwing all cards open on the table, you can come to a place of understanding and compromises, bringing more people together. The only polarisation happening is most likely between you and people that are incapable of going through such processes, which you want to filter out anyway. People with an honest but different view than me have been less of a problem and often act more respectful and inspiring than people incapable of dealing with honesty, even with similar views.