Compounding Integrity

I like the idea of Compounding Integrity as a way of life. As a person who is in the midst of or approaching some meaningful (but “normal”) transitions in life, I aim to refer to it as a guide or North Star and ingrain it over a long period of time.

What does Integrity mean?

After a bit of struggle, it became clear that an attempt at showing what Integrity means is more useful than simply telling what Integrity means. Integrity is such a loaded and dynamic idea that condensing it into a simple characterization or explanation would be incomplete. To that end, I did a multi-day meditation on what I think Integrity means, and the results of that meditation are below (with excitement, I discovered from Chris Begg the idea of doing an extended meditation for subjects like this, and this is my first crack at it. Credit also due to the Nick Sleep Long-term vs. Short-term analysis). The practice of this particular exercise shed light on the possibility that Integrity is closely entangled with other similar ideas or mindsets like Quality, Independence, Thinking Long-term and Win-Win.

When I think about Compounding, it’s one of the very few things that I feel as something above language. It’s abstract, and it’s more than the simple but non-humanly-instinctual math of exponential growth. It’s an undying awe that small, incremental, consistent progress can create something stunningly large over time, and at times with seemingly little effort. Compounding can take place on many interesting and high-leverage things: capital, knowledge, learning and training and relationships (not necessarily prioritized in that order!). So, Compounding Integrity as a way of life is designed as a North Star to encourage a life well-lived. No doubt, it’s easier said than done.

I feel a mental dissonance when I think about talking or writing about concepts like Integrity. It’s the same feeling you get when you hear people tell you or other people about how humble they are. So, there’s a certain awareness of that when talking about a topic like Integrity, but that said, I think the usefulness of thinking through this lens far outweighs that uncomfortable dissonance. I’ll admit upfront that I’ll always have work to do myself, but that is why this is a guide for learning and improvement, not a weapon for negative self-talk. Additions to the meditation are welcome.