There are some things that we like to believe, even if they are not entirely true. You likely have a few of these lies that you are telling yourself and that allow you to procrastinate many important things and let your life pass you by.
Here are the six lies that you might be telling yourself and that are probably hurting your life.
1. You will have more time for everything
Sure, you might not have time now, but you will have more time for everything soon. Tomorrow. On Monday. Next year. When you retire. This is a comforting lie because it suggests that you will one day finally be able to do what you want to do.
But why is this a lie? You will not make time for something in the future if you are not making time now. It is not accurate to believe that a future you will have more ability or willingness to start doing something if you can’t do it now, unless you take specific steps to achieve this new goal or situation.
2. You will improve your financial situation soon
Sure, you have a big debt, but you can still afford this new product. You will work on improving your finances afterwards. But this is another lie.
You are likely to continue with the same patterns you have now and make your situation worse unless you start making changes right away. Things might change, but habits do not miraculously become different, and this includes spending and saving habits, unfortunately.
3. You will start working out tomorrow
You might believe that you just have to wait for the right time. You will start on January the first or on Monday, because it feels like more of a fresh start. But this also unlikely to happen. Nothing will change just because you try to start a new habit on Monday instead of a Wednesday.
The idea of a fresh start is appealing, but it doesn’t help as much as we expect it to. Ultimately, while it seems powerful, there are other things that influence our chances of success or failure more.
Another layer to this one is the idea that we should wait until a better situation, one that is perfectly suited for a change. But the stars will never align perfectly to fit our needs. We can’t put off things until the best opportunity, because it might never come along.
4. Now it is too late to start
Most dreams can be pursued no matter your age or situation. Even if it is on a smaller scale, you can do it, so telling yourself is too late is also a lie.
This is a comfortable excuse to avoid doing something that feels threatening or difficult. It can start serving as an excuse as early as you want, and later on, it only feels more convincing. But it is still a fake idea that is only meant to keep you from doing things.
5. You can’t do it
Ultimately, the biggest lie you might be telling yourself is the idea that you can’t do it, after all. If you want to try something, you should try it and do it, see how it goes. Otherwise, you become stuck in your head, finding new reasons why you should not do it.
You can guess why you can or can’t, but nothing beats actually trying it. Stop telling yourself these lies and find the first step that you can take towards these goals today. Take action and you will see how your mindset shifts to become much more open. See how far you can when you start telling yourself the truth.
6. You are too busy to make any change
This is a variation of the other lies. But it suggests that you are inordinately busy at the time, but there will come a space when you have enough free time to do what you want. But this is unlikely to happen.
It’s a very common cognitive error to believe that the future will be fundamentally different from the present. But even if you finish a big project, other things will come up and occupy your time.
So, what are the lies which you tell yourself?
