What is the one quality that will give you a long-lasting and successful career?
A few weeks ago, we heard the devastating news of the CFO for Bed, Bath & Beyond, Gustavo Arnal, who jumped to his death from the 57th Floor of his luxury apartment in New York City. It was shocking and tragic to read that a man of his caliber, pedigree, and influence would succumb to suicide.
His career in business and finance ended so abruptly and tragically. My heart goes out to his family who had to face the sudden loss. It didn’t have to end this way for him but he chose death over repentance.
I believe in my heart of hearts, Gustavo was so ashamed and humiliated to have taken the wrong path, he felt he had no choice but to die rather than face the consequences of his sin.
Had he repented, he would have found forgiveness! He probably would have ended up in jail but he would still be here and would have been able to make his wrong actions right. God gives us second chances when we come to Him with a heart of humility and brokenness.
“A broken and contrite spirit God will not reject.”
I spoke about Gustavo on my recent episode of Songs of Psalms because we were on the topic of finding purpose.
At 2GM, we connect aspiring artists to their artistic destiny, but we would be doing a disservice if we did not address the fact that in order to successfully walk in your purpose, it is equally important to operate your purpose with integrity!
WHAT IS INTEGRITY?
The definition of integrity is this:
“the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness;” “the state of being whole and undivided.”
INTEGRITY
“the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness;” “the state of being whole and undivided.
Having strong integrity means that you operate from a place of moral standing and at all times you hold good values! Why is this important? Why do you need to have integrity?
Integrity is the foundation for a long and successful purpose-driven life.
One of the keys to building integrity in your life as a musician, vocalist, songwriter, or any profession is to choose honesty over deception. It’s easy to deceive when a person’s values are not aligned with honesty.
MAINTAINING INTEGRITY
Social Media can be a blessing but also a curse! It creates a thirst and a craving for having more and more “followers” and “likes.”
This insatiable appetite for “followers and likes” comes from a place of insecurity. A person seeking these insignificant indicators of value is simply doing so to satisfy their ego. They’re seeking affirmation of their calling by placing their value in the hands of social media strangers.
Seeking popularity for the sake of popularity may cause you to compromise your values. You may be tempted to resort to deception, or worse yet, becoming something you weren’t created to be.
An Instagram user can easily buy “followers” from a Bot and give the appearance of having thousands of followers when in fact that is not the case. I’ve seen Instagram accounts with less than 5 posts yet having five thousand (5,000) followers.
A worship artist does not need to use deceptive practices to achieve popularity. If you are authentically you, your work will speak for itself and will go before you to open doors for you. Proverbs gives us a wonderful reminder of this truth!
“A man’s gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men.”
This truth gives you permission to operate fully in your purpose. As you grow and develop your gift, your ability, it will open doors for you. If you’re pursuing fame and fortune for the sake of fame and fortune, you are in danger of falling into a trap.
BE AUTHENTICALLY YOU
My friends, I care about your life and purpose! I write these truths so that you do not fall victim to the temptations that will cut short your life’s purpose.
You were given a gift that is needed in the world and that gift should last successfully for the span of your lifetime. We do not want to see that gift cut short because you started making choices early on which eventually led you down the wrong path.
Going back to Gustavo Arnal, Bed, Bath & Beyond CFO, he started taking shortcuts here and there, and over time, little white lies turn into bigger lies. He lost his way and ended on a path of deception over walking in integrity. His choices cut his life short.
Again, his life ended in tragedy. It’s a tragedy for his life’s purpose and meaning, a tragedy for who he was called to be on the earth, a tragedy that his true gift is missing from the earth, its a tragedy for his family who lost a husband, father, son, uncle, etc.
Let us learn from the mistakes of others. Let us choose wisely in the way we walk! Ask God to give you wisdom in the areas you lack and He will be faithful to give you what you need.
As you step into your purpose and your calling. Choose to walk in integrity! Choose honesty over deception. Choose to be truthful over promoting lies. Be authentically you and your gift will open doors for you organically.
If you have any questions or anything that I can help you with, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Until then, keep being amazing!
MRJ
PS…
Click on the link below to hear our video blog series on Purpose!