You tell lies.

Well, not just you, I tell lies too. So…

…We tell lies.

In some cases, the lies you tell aren’t meant to harm anyone. You tell lies (the white lie) to your friends so their feelings don’t get hurt. You tell half truths (lie of omission) so you don’t get into more trouble yourself or to keep someone else out of trouble.

These are not the lies that I want to draw attention to today. I want to talk about the lies that you tell yourself and the weight of those lies.

Weight of Lies by The Avett Brothers

The Lies You Tell Yourself

The lies that you tell yourself are so incredibly damaging. They can crush your spirit and destroy your personal direction in life…a direction that is meant to help you embrace your greatness and share it with your family, friends and everyone else that you come in contact with.

What is so interesting about that these lies is that by the time you have passed your 20’s, you tell them with such ease to yourself that they become an integral part of your life. In fact, you may not even recognize them as the life-crushing constrictors that they are. But, you definitely experience the result of them…stuck in a rut, not having fun, feeling out of control of your life, feeling weak, not able to move forward towards your dreams and feeling comfortable with where you are in your life (that last one is a whole different blog post).

Here are examples of 5 lies that you may be telling yourself:

• I’ll do it someday.
• I don’t have a choice.
• It’s too hard for me.
• I don’t have time.
• I don’t lie to myself.

In the simplest terms, I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt:

• You won’t do it “someday” without a plan
• You always have a choice
• It’s only hard until you make it easier
• You have time for things that you think are important
• And yes, you definitely lie to yourself

Now, just because you lie to yourself, it doesn’t mean that all is lost! There is a 3 step process to taking the power of those lies away.

1. Become aware of your lies
2. Recognize the damage that each lie does
3. Replace each lie with the truth

Honestly, the most difficult step is the first one…becoming aware of the lies you tell yourself. This step is the most difficult because you’re busy. You’re busy with work, family, friends, your cell phone, the tv, life…and you’re not used to sitting still with yourself to reflect on what it is that you’re thinking.

At first, you will need quiet to hear your lies. You can do this in meditation, prayer, taking a walk…whatever feels most comfortable for you. Allow yourself to hear how you talk to yourself. Capture these lies and write them down. As you see them, ask yourself, “What is this lie doing to me?” If it’s hard to see, think of a child telling you these lies, what would you tell the child about them? Then take each lie and write down what the truth actually is for you.

As you go through this exercise, you are training your brain to think differently. Over time, you won’t have to sit down and write, you’ll begin to recognize the lies you tell yourself as they are being formed which allows you to replace them with the truth much more quickly and keeping you moving forward powerfully!

Be BOLD and Kick Your “Stuck” to the Curb™