What are standards?
Never apologize for having standards. The beauty of standards is that they will always expose those who come with an agenda. And your emotional intelligence and biblical standards will always frustrate those who can’t run the game on you. It will always frustrate manipulators. You have to be careful of manipulators as they will try to project on you.
They’ll start to say things like you got trust issues. With standards, you will answer like this ” I’ve seen this pattern before and I refuse to entertain the same pattern of being deceived.” To have standards is to be aware of your value, that God set your value to be priceless.
The danger in allowing people to give you value and significance is that they have the power to set your price. Meaning you can be more valuable than a whole department store but you will settle with being on the clearance rack just so that you can get approval.
If you are not willing to experience loss or to lose something due to your standard; then it’s not a standard it’s just a suggestion. Sometimes we have mislabeled victories because if you lost them but found them- that’s a win.
Importance of having standards
The standard of living helps to improve the quality of life. Standards make people think about income, employment, affordability, economic growth and stability, safety, environmental conditions, comfortability, basic facilities of life, and many other things.
The key to success often begins with adjusting standards of performance, or the level you must operate at to feel good about yourself. In truth, the higher the standards, the more one is willing to stretch to get there. This is attributed to the fact that our minds abide by whatever we command them to do and respond to how we have programmed it.
Therefore, standards are benchmarks that let our minds know what is acceptable, hence guiding our actions and the level of work we put into. Yet most of us resist standards as we equate them to having an oversized ego. Some use standards as a show of self-importance, but deep down they feel inadequate. This is because standards can be influenced by morals.
Why do you need standards?
- You will feel more authentic: Set standards that are grounded in your knowledge of what is important to you. This increases the chance of picking what you want, love, and need. Your career, relationships, and personal growth will be a reflection of what you believe to be true about yourself and the rest of the world.
- You will be respected: With standards, people are less likely to overstep your boundaries. You know we tell people how to treat us. When we communicate our standards to others they will know where to draw the line and act accordingly.
- Decision-making becomes easier: Having our preferences at the forefront, decision-making becomes a smooth and simplified process. Standards can provide you with guidance for making well-thought-out choices based on your values.
Standards form the bedrock of your identity. They are essentially your rule book for living. They represent the quirks and characteristics that make you the amazing person you are. I can liken them to the protective gear that straps us in.