Wise Words of The Day: Who Are You Deceiving?

No one ever fools you as constantly and as successfully as you fool yourself.  ~Dr. Paul Parker

White Castle Advertisement, 1930; Image courtesy of Hunter on Flickr.com

Confirmation bias is a funny thing.  It enables us to believe what we want to believe while also being able to dismiss evidence that goes against what we believe.  It is why political arguments become so heated because both sides have “foolproof” evidence that they they are “right.”

The downside of confirmation bias is that it also enables us to fool ourselves into thinking that self-sabotaging behaviors are okay because they aren’t hurting anyone.  But that is a lie.  They are hurting you. And you deserve better than that.  You wouldn’t let your best friend engage in behaviors that would hurt them, would you?  Use that same rationale with yourself.

The next time you start justifying self-sabotaging behaviors, take a step back and ask yourself who is really being deceived and what you would say to your best friend if she were in the same situation.

What lies are you telling yourself today?