If you aren't honest with the rest of the world, how can you hope to be honest with yourself? Honesty isn't what you say you believe, it's what you model, encourage, reward and let happen every day.

Come with me for a moment to Oklahoma. One of my friends, proud father Bobby Lewis, was taking his two little boys to play miniature golf. "It's three bucks for you," the attendant drawled, "and three bucks for any kid who's older than six. They get in free if they're six or younger."

Bobby said, "Well, Mikey's three and Jimmy's seven, so I owe you $6.00." The attendant looked surprised. "Hey mister, do you like throwing your money away? You could have told me the big one was only six and saved three bucks. I wouldn't have known the difference."

"Yes," Bobby said, "but the kids would have known the difference." Daring to take responsibility for your own life requires truthfulness and honesty in all your dealings, both with yourself and with others. As an individual or a company, what you do in private is as important as what you do in public.

Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE is a San Francisco-based executive speech coach, sales trainer, and award-winning professional speaker on Change, Customer Service, Promoting Business, and Communication Skills. She is the author of Get What You Want!, Make It, So You Don't Have to Fake It!, and Past-President of the National Speakers Association. She can be reached at: PFripp@Fripp.com, 1-800 634-3035, http://www.fripp.com