A friend of mine asked me to participate in a new experiment, The Honesty Experiment. And I, being the person I am, said, “Sure, why not?” If nothing else, it will make me blog more. (Side note, it appears that I’m the only dude in the experiment in the experiment thus far. Amazing how often this happens to me in my life.) When asked about why I am doing it, my blurb on the site says:

“Honesty is something that we as a society value greatly as individuals, but at the same time struggle with constantly. What is the balance between being honest and being tactful or being considerate of other people’s feelings but also being true to your own opinions? Furthermore, some work situations require secrecy, so how does that coexist with valuing honesty? I personally think that the world would be a much different (and a much better) place if honesty was present more often, because I think honesty and vulnerability are intertwined. My greatest form of dishonesty is probably lying of omission. And I think this little experiment will allow a little more accountability and a little more structured introspection in my life.”

So what does that mean and what does it look like? Well, you can look it up yourself. But I’ll also be nice, and copy and paste the rules so you don’t have to click through”

“What do I have to do? Every week, we’ll ask you to answer four questions by email:

• How honest were you this week?
• What did it feel like?
• What was the hardest part?
• What positive changes have you noticed, if any?

Your answers will be published on this blog. Afterward, we’ll all have a discussion/celebration/commiseration session to talk it over. At worst, you’ll have some interesting stories to tell. At best, your vague goal will be vague no more.”

On top of that we’ll get a daily tip. And a weekly theme. This week’s theme is being more honest with people that I care about. And today’s tip is to be honest on Facebook. As for the weekly thing, it has been a work in progress. And as for the Facebook thing, since 99% of my posts are articles, those are all honest, right? Especially more so when I add my pointed commentary. This is what I ended up posting:

Was challenged at a meeting today to talk about something I’m truly excellent at. I struggled. Partially because taking ownership over anything you’re “truly excellent at” is inherently egotistical. But, onward. I’m truly excellent at reading. I know I post a lot of stuff. But I’m pretty sure I post less than 10% of what I read. Now the struggle is finding the time to do that reading.

Day 1 down. 29 to go.

P.S. Sorry about my terrible formatting. But I never claimed to be a good writer. Or a writer in general. But the next few posts should be a little clearer. Hopefully.