Having A Good Name

When people think about you, would they have good thoughts or bad thoughts? Would the very mention of your name bring hope or stress? Would your very presence make people happy or frightened? When they think about you, do they feel that you're a person of honor or a person who belongs in jail?

One thing I stress to my children is to not lie. For one, if I catch them lying, there will be SERIOUS consequences. But two, lying breaks trust. Lying ruins your good name. When you say something, people wouldn't know whether or not to believe you. Lying could also get you in serious trouble that includes everything from going to jail to being killed.

You NEVER want to have that reputation of being a liar. ALL children lie, of course, but not all children understand the seriousness of lying. Not all children are concerned about having a good name. With children, lying is simply a way of getting out of trouble.

One time while attending church in New York, one guy whose kids were homeschooled indirectly taught me this one valuable parenting advice: "All I ask is that you don't lie." If you do something that is wrong, just tell me and we could work out something. But NEVER lie about it. Little did he know that he encouraged me to pass on those same values to my children. If you did something wrong, just admit it. There will be consequences, of course, but lying about it is absolutely unacceptable.

If you admit your faults, you WILL build a powerful reputation. People would feel that you are a man or woman of your word. People would trust you. People would be more than willing to help you in your needs. But if you get a bad reputation, it could cost you your very job.

There's a biblical proverb that said, "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." (Proverbs 22:1) No amount of money or prestige in the world could make up for a bad name. But if you have a good name, people will take care of you.

Previously, I wrote an article about having your work speak for you. If you do good work, then you don't need to say anything about yourself. It's when you have bad work that you would need to spend a long time trying to convince people of how good your work is. In the same way, a good name requires very little talk from you. Simply who you are is more than enough to persuade people to take action. If you have a bad name, then you'd spend hours trying to convince people to take action.

Think about working for a boss who has a good name with the company. Does that boss have to go around fussing to his or her employees about working? No. His or her very presence would encourage employees to do good work. But a boss who has a poor reputation would have lost all credibility with his or her employees. Nobody would come to work on time or complete their tasks. Nobody would really want to work for that employer and would look for any reason to leave work early.

Think about a teacher who has a good name. Students would behave in class and complete their assignments. A teacher with a poor name would have students who come late to class, never complete assignments, and who would always be disrespectful to the teacher.

Think about a child who has a good name. Whatever that child says you would see as truth. You would give that child liberty to do certain things. You would give that child certain responsibilities. A child who has a bad name won't be trusted. You would restrict his or her freedom and won't entrust that child with certain responsibilities.

A good name takes you places. A good name grants opportunities to you. This is why you need to take extra care of polishing your name. This is why you need to take all the actions you can NOW to have a good reputation with those around you.

Remember that when people can't trust you, people won't do much for you. People won't help you get a job or give you help when needed. When you have a great reputation, people would almost do anything for you.

Look at your name and write it down. Now, what would other people think when they see this name? Would it make them smile or would it make them cringe? Heck, what do you think about when you see MY NAME? If my name gives pleasant thoughts to you, then ask yourself if your name would invoke those same thoughts to somebody else. If you're doubtful, then you know that you need to work on your name.

If you're going to work hard on anything, work hard on YOUR NAME. Not your job, not your business, and not even on your physical appearance. Work harder on your name than you would on anything else.