Developing an Integrity-Based Character

              

 Chapter 16

Developing an Integrity-Based Character

CONSTRUCTION  STAGE  2:  BUILDING the FOUNDATION

SAL MODEL STAGE 2:  DEVELOPING an INTEGRITY-BASED CHARACTER

"Integrity is the essence of everything successful."

—R. Buckminster Fuller

Having completed the pre-construction phase, it's now time to start building the foundation of your life as a self-action leader. Stage Two (2) of the Construction Process involves FIVE (5) different steps.

CONSTRUCTION  STAGE  2:  BUILDING the FOUNDATION

• Conducting geological surveys
• Drilling down to bedrock
• Anchoring concrete/steel piles to bedrock
• Pouring a steel-reinforced concrete slab
• Earthquake and weather proofing

The construction of a skyscraper's foundation takes place underground where it will typically remain unseen after the project has been completed. 

Your CHARACTER is similarly forged in subterranean territory (out of sight) in moments and locales not witnessed by many (if any) others. 

After a skyscraper's superstructure has been built, the strength or weakness of the building is not visibly evident. But just because it is unseen doesn't mean it doesn't matter. Quite to the contrary, if the foundation is weak, cracked, or otherwise compromised, the integrity of the entire structure will be undermined. 

Likewise, if your character is fickle, fissured, shallow, or weak, you will experience existential atrophy instead of growth—no matter how attractive your life's cosmetic facade may appear to others. 

The structural integrity of a skyscraper's foundation is critical to the long-term endurance and utility of its superstructure. If a building's foundation is properly constructed, it will pass the tests of time, extreme weather, and even natural disasters. 

The strength of any kind of superstructure (house, barn, building, skyscraper, tower, etc.) begins with the strength of its foundation. To ensure construction integrity, geological surveys and other engineering surveys and safeguards must be sound and thorough. Foundation piles must reach down to bedrock and be anchored therein. Concrete must be properly mixed, reinforced with steel, set, and cured. All of these steps have existential equivalents and analogues in the SAL Model.

My Uncle Hyrum often equated character with "Will Power" (1) and defined integrity as: "the ability to carry out a worthy decision after the emotion of making that decision has passed." (2)  

"The ability to carry out a worthy decision after the emotion of making that decision has passed."

—Hyrum W. Smith

The integrity-based CHARACTER that Freedom Focused promotes in the SAL Model is similarly action-oriented and will-powered.

Developing personal INTEGRITY is not easy. It requires that you demonstrate commitment, consistency, dependability, discipline, focus, persistence, and trustworthiness over long periods of time. 

M. Scott Peck, M.D. once captured the challenging, yet essential, nature of integrity when he wrote: "Integrity is painful. But without it, there can be no wholeness." (3)

Stage Two (2) of the SAL Model involves Developing an Integrity-Based Character. Specifically, the SAL Model contains FIVE (5) corresponding step-habits analogous to this foundational construction stage. 

SAL  MODEL  STAGE 2:  DEVELOPING an INTEGRITY-BASED CHARACTER

• Honesty
• Humility
• Reverence
• Rectification
• Service

In Your Journal

• What does INTEGRITY mean to you?

• In what ways are you currently demonstrating INTEGRITY in your life and/or career?

• In what areas of your life could you develop stronger CHARACTER and more reliable INTEGRITY?

 

—Dr. JJ

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

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Chapter 16 Notes

1.  Smith, H. W. (1994). The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management: Proven Strategies for Increased Productivity and Inner Peace. New York, NY: Warner Books. Page 123.

2.  Ibid. Page 127.

3.  Peck, M. S. (1993). Further Along the Road Less Traveled: The Unending Journey Toward Spiritual Growth (The Edited Lectures). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Page 181.