Why Do We Need Standards?

Personal standards are not entirely a set of rules and expectations you have of the people around you, it is fundamentally about you. What works for you? Personal standards are reflected in your preferences and the choices you opt for. If you want other people to treat you differently, raising your standards is an effective step in that direction.

We live in a world governed by standards; different counties have different standards that make their countries different. The standard of a public toilet in an airport in one country might be different in another country. This impresses a specific impression on the tourist on what to expect from the country’s services. Here are 5 reasons why having standards is generally a good thing.

1.A sense of Identity

Having or not having personal standards reflects on the type of person you are, are you aware of your needs or not?

People with standards know they have needs that need to be met with people in their social circle. Everyone has needs, but for some those needs take a back seat while other people’s needs become their priority, the root of toxic relationships and unsatisfaction in life.

Do you think your worth should matter in the eyes of the people around you? Having standards defines how others treat you but most importantly it’s how you treat yourself. What makes us different is not our physic but our standards, it defines us.

 

“Keep your standards even when everyone around you is losing theirs” – Habeeb Akande.

 

Your value and identity are tied to the standards you subject yourself to. People take notice of what we allow to ourselves and what we can’t stand. Rarely do we have to voice out our expectations simply because people notice our expectations from what we expect from ourselves and they level up.

In our careers, standards are a game-changer. If you are an employer, your employees will take notice of how you do your work and feel compelled to do the same. If the boss leaves early nobody would want to put in the extra work, however, if the boss is determined and personate the employees pay more attention.

In our personal life, personal standards such as self-hygiene rub off on the ones around. If you never go to bed without taking a shower and brushing your teeth, nobody that is sweaty with bad breath would comfortably sleep next to you.

If you have a standard of not breaking promises, even the smallest, people around you will take notice and would generally work extra hard to make sure they keep their promises to you.

Having high personal standards constantly reminds you of the type of person you are. This means you will be quick to notice when you are being mistreated or used by other people. It also helps you notice when you are doing things based on external pressure. Having the ability to notice when you’re not being yourself, is a self-evaluation guide you have to have, it keeps you from being overwhelmed and in touch with your emotional intelligence.

2.Defines our achievement 

Our modern world is filled with all sorts of distractions, without a sense of personal standards, these distractions can easily lead us down a dark path.

Personal standards expose our weakness and indiscipline and compel us to a path of personal growth. If you subject yourself to always doing quality work, you will feel horrible when you are being mediocre. However, if you do not put standards to the type of work you do, meritocracy and progress might seem to have the same meaning.

 

“People that have trust issues only need to look in the mirror. There they will meet the one person that will betray them the most” -Shannon L. Alder

 

There are lots of techniques to keep us motivated in pursuing our goals. Delayed gratification techniques seem to be the most popular, however, personal standards are the bedrock of achieving valuable skills and knowledge.

Personal standards beat any form of motivation, motivation is dependent on your will but personal standards are what you are made of. The incredible achievements in our modern world are a result of standards that people put on themselves and their products.

Henry Ford made it a personal standard that he would produce automobiles that were affordable to ordinary people and still deliver the best quality at a time when only the rich could afford an automobile. This personal standard gave birth to the renowned Ford Motor Company.

Having personal standards ignites our potential, Henry Ford did not care that He had no workshop; he made use of his garage, what made the business successful was not his motivation but his standard. Personal standards demand more from ourselves and hold us accountable to ourselves, and positive change is inevitable.

3.Make Better Decisions

Making decisions that alter the course of our lives is never an easy task.

Defining what a good investment is and what isn’t can be a hard nut to crack. Being aware of your standards helps you make better decisions.

Anything that does to fit your standard is not a good decision to make; doing so will only lead you to a lack of fulfillment and frustration.

In life failure is inevitable, however, only those people who do hold themselves to low standards fall into self-condemnation and depression, while those with high standards refuse failure and try again.

 

“Keep your heels, head, and standards high” –Coco Chanel.

 

When we keep our priorities and preferences when presented with choices, decision-making becomes intuitive. In the light of your standards, no decision is too hard to make as most temptations that make decision making hard are usually not what we stand for.

4.Gain Respect 

Whoever said respect is earned not given, must have known the importance of personal standards in one’s life.

People measure our worth not by our words but by our actions. What we expect from ourselves is usually obvious to anyone that pays attention and that is what defines what we expect from them.

Personal standards keep narcissistic and toxic people either ‘well behaved’ or out of our lives. You teach people how to treat you.

5.Improve your leadership qualities

It is important to possess leadership qualities to be better in our careers and personal lives. In business settings, having personal standards will restrict you from copying unethical business tactics from your competitors.

Once a business loses its core principles, it loses its capacity to be unique which lowers the value of the business significantly. Even though the business might be making a profit, investors are likely to hesitate to invest in the business.

Our leadership qualities can only be showcased through our standards. We can raise better families if our boundaries are well known. It challenges others around us to match our standards thereby improving the quality of our social circle.

It is not always easy to be under the leadership of someone else, however, high personal standards help us to be in control of how we are treated.

Conclusion

If you feel unhappy or unsatisfied about any area in your life, just raise your standards. We all want to be happy in life and nothing defines our happiness index more than our standards.

Gene Botkin

Gene is the director of the Theosis Christian Project. He studied physics and military science before founding the Project. Gene is currently pursuing his doctorate in systems engineering at an engineering college in the Ozarks. The Theosis Christian Project is his attempt to expand Holy Orthodoxy in America.

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