top of page

Unlocking Fulfillment and Ethical Clarity: A Journey to Inner Happiness (Final Blog in the Chasing Butterflies Series)

Writer's picture: Bill Carlson Bill Carlson

The “Chasing Butterflies” blog series has explored an often-overlooked path to happiness and ethical decision-making. Each entry examined the pursuit of external sources of happiness—the “butterflies” that seem so attractive yet lead us astray—and how turning inward can lead to true contentment. Through exploring personal experiences, including my own, this series laid out a roadmap for recognizing and avoiding the chase for external validation and focusing instead on building happiness and ethics from within.


In this final blog, we’ll summarize the core lessons of the series, highlight the ethics-centered insights gained along the way, and discuss how these concepts enhance personal well-being and professional ethics training.


Reflecting on the Series: Core Lessons in Chasing Happiness


  1. Understanding the Illusion of External Happiness

    Our journey began with a close examination of the allure of external sources of happiness. These “butterflies” include money, power, possessions, status, and validation from others. While society often celebrates these pursuits, we learned that they can lead to a cycle of dissatisfaction and emptiness. This lesson reminds us to question the value we place on things outside ourselves and reconsider what we’re willing to compromise to obtain them.


  2. The Ethics Connection

    When we chase external happiness, we open ourselves up to unethical behavior. In the 10/80/10 rule defined by the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers (NASACT), we discussed how 10% of people act ethically, 80% may stray from ethical behavior under certain pressures, and the last 10% actively engage in unethical acts. When we chase external rewards, we fall into the 80%—allowing the pressure to lead us to decisions that contradict our values.


  3. Happiness as an Ethical Choice

    A key insight of the series is that when we find happiness within ourselves, we are less likely to compromise our ethics. Relying on internal validation reduces the need to prove ourselves through status, possessions, or recognition from others. This intrinsic approach to happiness creates a sense of inner stability, allowing us to act in alignment with our values without feeling pressured to chase unethical gains.


  4. Honesty, Openness, Gratitude, and Awareness (HOGA)

    Practicing HOGA helps us pause, reflect, and build awareness around what we genuinely need for happiness. Honesty and openness help us be true to ourselves, gratitude centers us in the present, and awareness helps us recognize and let go of our attachment to butterflies. HOGA, introduced as a practical framework in this series, enhances personal clarity and helps establish ethical clarity in decision-making.


  5. Gratitude as an Antidote to Unethical Behavior

    While incarcerated, I learned firsthand the transformative power of gratitude. When we appreciate the positive aspects of our lives—our relationships, our health, even the lessons learned from setbacks—we reduce the drive to chase superficial rewards. Gratitude enhances our contentment and helps us foster ethical decisions that align with our values. This shift in perspective is fundamental to our well-being and contributes to ethical behavior by focusing on what truly matters.


Integrating These Lessons into Ethics Training


Incorporating these ideas into ethics training provides a holistic framework that goes beyond rules and regulations, tapping into individuals' motivations and personal values. Traditional ethics training often focuses on compliance, which is necessary but incomplete.


Emphasizing internal happiness and personal fulfillment empowers individuals to recognize their values as ethical compasses. Through this approach, ethics training becomes not only a tool for preventing unethical behavior but also a means to enhance personal and professional well-being.


Teaching individuals to recognize their personal “butterflies” and avoid chasing them aligns with fostering a culture of ethical clarity in organizations. When employees understand the significance of internal happiness, they are better prepared to resist unethical choices and act in ways that reflect the organization’s values. This model aligns ethics training with personal development, contributing to subjective well-being, greater resilience against unethical pressure, and a more ethically sound workplace culture.


Enhancing Personal Well-Being through Ethics


When we stop chasing butterflies and embrace gratitude, we not only become more ethical individuals but also experience a profound improvement in our subjective well-being. By shifting our focus inward and practicing gratitude, we develop greater contentment and peace. These qualities are closely tied to ethics—individuals who are internally fulfilled are more likely to act in ways that align with their moral values, leading to better decisions in all areas of life.


Conclusion: Practical Steps to Ethical Clarity


In summary, the "Chasing Butterflies" series demonstrates that the pursuit of internal happiness, gratitude, and self-awareness is not only a powerful tool for personal growth but also a foundation for ethical living. As we conclude this journey, our final blog will provide actionable steps for applying these principles in daily life. Whether you're on a personal journey to redefine happiness or looking to create a more ethical workplace, remember: the path to true fulfillment and integrity begins within.


3 views0 comments

Comments


What the Professionals Are Saying 

"I teach a course on negotiations, during which I spend a good deal of time talking about honesty and ethics in negotiations. As an ethics researcher, I think it is important that students not only understand strategies for successfully claiming value in negotiations, but also learn about the temptations they will face to engage in unethical bargaining, and unethical behavior more broadly in their professional careers. Bill brought this message to life. Bill explained to my students – with openness, authenticity, and scientific insight – the ethical missteps he took in his career. I am incredibly grateful to have had Bill in my class – I learned from him just as much as my students did. I think he would be a welcome, and much needed, addition to any course related to ethics, well-being, power and influence, or negotiations (and likely many more!)."   

                                                                        Professor Emma Levine/ University of Chicago Booth School of Business 

“Bill Carlson has a reservoir of experience that will resonate with college students and professionals from all walks of life. Seldom do you encounter an individual willing to openly share his foibles and mistakes in an attempt to deviate the life paths of those mutually-inclined to make the same errors. Bill lays his life bare in his presentation and shares the detrimental impact his decision-making had on his personal and professional life; yet he lays the foundation for an inroad to a better future built upon his gratitude for life, learning from his mistakes, and pursuit of his new definition of “life wholeness”.  

                                                                         Dr. William C. McCoy, Director/Rutland Institute for Ethics

                                                                         Visiting Professor, College of Education/Clemson University 

"For over 30 years, I have been teaching full- and part-time. For the past eleven years I have been a member of the accounting faculty at Fordham University. This semester, Fall 2021, Mr. Carlson agreed to speak with my students about his story, and I can say that I have had few guest speakers who delivered such a powerful message about the importance of professional obligations. It was the story of a seemingly nice guy who exhibited a lack of judgment and would pay a heavy price for it. Most importantly, it is a story of a man who reflected upon his moral lapse and has made a solid commitment to helping others."              

                                                                                       Timothy P. Hedley, Ph.D., CPA, CFF, CFE

                                                                            Retired Global Leader of Fraud Risk Management Services, KPMG LLP

bottom of page