This month, perhaps through a series of coincidences, or perhaps through something else, I’ve seen dozens of different people being set free in dozens of different ways.  Oh what the hell, I don’t believe for a minute that it’s a coincidence.  Something is changing in the collective Zeitgeist, or the “Spirit of the Times.”  We are moving into a time when transparency, authenticity and openness (what my coaches call “TAO” or Chinese for “The Way”) is critical.  Being transparent, authentic and open is not fool hearty social behavior, but the only safe way to success.

I am beginning to believe that radical openness is the single characteristic that will differentiate successful people from unsuccessful people as time goes on.  According to Kevin Kelly, a leading theorist in technology and social change, as technology continues to transform our lives, privacy will become a thing of the past.  This is obviously a daunting thought.  The comfortable margins of anonymity and secrecy that have been normal for humans thus far are disappearing.

As I coach many people from many walks of life in to what I call “this wild new world,” I find myself reaching one inescapable conclusion over and over:  If you want to live peacefully, joyfully and abundantly in the years to come, you must walk your talk.  Why?  Because everyone will be talking about your walk.  If there is any level of hypocrisy in your life, you are in “danger” of exposure – but this is like the danger of having a wound cleaned or a broken bone set.  As Byron Katie says, “It is not happening to you, it is happening for you.”  So don’t resent or resist people who expect you to behave in a way that is consistent with the values you express.  Instead, wherever there is dissonance between your value system and your actions, change one or the other to make them congruent.

Let me give you an example:  If you occasionally say negative things behind someone’s back while acting ingratiating to that person’s face, and you say you value honesty and want others to be honest with you, either stop the gossip altogether or learn to say kindly and clearly to someone’s face what you would also say if they were not present.

The word “integrity” shares its root with the word “integer,” which means one indivisible thing.  To have integrity means to be the same person, to say the same things, in almost the same ways, no matter what situation presents itself.  “Duplicity” means to be two things.  If you plan to live a duplicitous life, prepare for your hypocrisy to be known.  It is the revelation of duplicity in those who are not honest and the revelation of integrity of those who are honest that I’ve seen freeing people all around me during the past few weeks.  I believe this is a wave of social change that will ripple through all our lives, removing forever the possibility of living in duplicity while ostensibly championing integrity.

To me, these crazy times are breathtaking and exciting.  The challenge to live with more integrity myself is like learning to ski a steeper slope than I’ve ever negotiated before.  I have loved examining my own life, finding out where I have been wrong, and working to bring my values and actions into closer and closer alignment.

For those of you interested in “manifesting” a wonderful life, this scrupulously transparent, authentic, and open life will open the floodgates.  The pressure to be honorable is here to make you powerful. This very day, do something brave to reduce any duplicity in your life. Stand up for yourself with someone who you’ve allowed to bully you. Apologize to someone with whom you may not have been entirely honest.  Immediately – this is a promise – you will find the things you have been longing for drawing nearer to you.  The TAO (The Way) of integrity puts the Law of Attraction on steroids.   It brings hope, peace, clarity and love from everywhere in the Universe.  Walk this bold path and watch your life blossom.