My love of music and our culture was first influenced by my uncles and parents playing Soul music. All day long, I can recall hearing The Temptations, The Dells, The Four Tops, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and too many more to name. My love for this genre of music remains strong today.

When I began high school in 1979, Disco, R&B, and Funk were the popular genres. Rap music was relatively new to the scene, arriving earlier that decade, and Kurtis Blow’s, “The Breaks,” was taking us by storm. In addition to the music, there was an aspect of our culture during that time that was shifting as well. People began converting their religious beliefs to the Muslim faith. In school, I experienced this shift in two ways – people stated they were no longer eating pork, and they began changing their names from their “slave” name (the name they were born with) to a Muslim name.

Classmates named Otis, James, Tony, and Steve were now called Omar, Fakir, Saleem, Muhammad, Akbar, etc. Even in our household, my bothers’ Troy and Todd became Kareem and Sajada. I, on the other hand, never adopted a Muslim name. I did try to swear off pork, like Troy, but that lasted about a week. For the record, following behind someone else isn’t a sound strategy.

Along with the name changes, there was a phrase that came with their newly found beliefs. When someone was talking to you and they wanted you to understand they were stating facts, or telling the truth, they would say “Word Is Bond!” It meant your word, is your bond and you were going to do what you said, or were telling the truth. We accepted that as fact. That fact has gotten lost over time.

Today, not only are some people’s word not their bond, lies seem to be the norm. To make it even worse, people are accepting lies and moving on as if it were OK by assigning excuses and explanations to them to make themselves feel better. Being a liar is not OK, nor is your acceptance of it.

On the journey to becoming the best version of yourself, not only should your word be your bond, you should not accept lies as something that is normal – this includes lying to yourself. Speak up! You have to be honest with yourself and others, to build courage. Courage is the ability to have strength in the face of fear, pain or grief. You will need courage to build a strong brand.

Be careful with accepting lies or assigning excuses to them. You may wind up battling yourself over something you lost a long time ago – you. I coach too many women who are in this space trying to hold on to relationships where lies live. Remember, the best apology is changed behavior. Find the courage to save yourself and build a strong brand that will bring significant rewards for you personally and professionally. You can do it!

Visit www.yourpointofpride.com to start the journey of becoming the best version of yourself.