. . . to yourself.
“Tell the truth, or at least don’t lie.” That’s from Jordan Peterson.
The 75 Hard challenge has given me a couple of opportunities to see this in action.
First, with myself. On Day 33 I forgot to take a picture of myself. On Day 34 I briefly entertained the thought of lying and continuing with the streak. Within a couple of seconds the thought was gone. You can’t lie and get away with it: you know the truth, and knowingly, deliberately compromising your own integrity . . . well, I don’t know if anything more destructive than that.
Oddly (or maybe not) within 30 minutes of starting over on Day 1 of the challenge — by telling myself the truth — I felt better, stronger. Success, I felt, is inevitable for me. By that I mean success in the small task of completing the 75 Hard challenge, but also more generally in life itself. All because I told myself the truth.
Second, with another person. I was describing the 75 Hard challenge to someone, and my reset at Day 33 simply because I didn’t take a picture. The response was to wonder why I didn’t just take a picture and carry on. I marveled, silently.
Those who have eyes to see, etc.
Don’t lie to yourself. If it’s you against the world and you fail, it’s not the world’s fault. No matter what external “cause” you can point to, something is going on inside you and that’s the real problem. Fix that.
Just as a barbell reveals the extent of your physical weakness, the world (or more precisely your reaction to the world, your opinion about the world) simply reveals the limits of your mentality. Your mistaken beliefs in your abilities. Your ignorance. Your arrogance in refusing to accept new information. Your unwillingness to refuse the seductive lure of cynicism, resentment, or envy.
The friend who suggested lying about the Day 33 picture failure will pay the price for living with that mindset. I will pay the price for telling the truth. (As near as I can tell, it cost me a few seconds of disappointment that I had to reset to Day 1.) We don’t get to choose, when faced with a “lie or tell the truth” decision, to do neither.
The Great Filter.
Today is Day 10. I am doing 75 Hard with greater clarity and a sense of ferocity that I previously lacked. I think that’s because I told the truth to myself.