Have you ever heard that saying that people lie to themselves? It’s not like someone wants to do it, but it happens automatically.
How often do you think that your inner voice is lying to you? Do you still believe it? How do you know when to believe it or not? This thinking path can lead to low self-confidence. I think that this needs to be approached with empathy not with fear. We need to try to understand where is that voice taking the information provided and how real are they. It’s a human voice so it can be wrong.
- It is a defense mechanism
Sometimes reality is tough. So tough that we might not be prepared to face it. This is the denial phase, which protects people from getting in touch with a cruel truth until they’re somehow prepared to deal with it.
- Ego
Some people lie to themselves because of their huge ego. They cannot accept that someone or something happens from reasons that have nothing to do with them. None of is the center of the universe, but when something happens to us, we take it very personally. Like there was some intent oriented towards us when in fact it might have nothing to do with us.
- Low self-esteem
I often notice how my inner voice tries to keep me down. Thoughts like “You don’t deserve that” or “You’ll never get anywhere” comes from my self-esteem, which sometimes drops to levels that threatens my daily schedule.
And the other way around is still possible. When we do something good, our inner voice tries to diminish our contribution due to this low self-esteem issue.
- To keep themselves in the comfort zone
Have you noticed that when you need to do something out of your comfort zone, your inner voice tries to come up with reason why you shouldn’t do it? The reasons might be real so this isn’t actually lying, but that inner voice tries to trick us so we won’t get out of our comfort zone. Our actions are justified.
- Because of emotions
Our emotions are our biggest driver. Our behavior is easily bend by emotions. I’m sure you’ve noticed that even though you “know” what you need to do, you won’t do it if emotions tell you something else. That inner voice is allied with our emotions so it becomes easy for it to lie to us and to direct our behavior based on those temporary emotions.
How often do you question your inner voice?