Lying is Bad...Right?

Haven't we all been told throughout our lives that lying is in fact bad? That we should always tell the truth no matter what? Even when it's hard? Well, I hope we've all been taught that again and again throughout our lives but if you simply open up your social media apps or turn on your favorite news station guess what? You're most likely seeing or hearing lies. I mean let's call a spade a spade. Half-truths or whatever you want to call them there's no denying we experience a lot of dishonesty from all different types of people every single day. Now, that doesn't make it right of course.

But what if I told you there were in fact "good lies" we can tell? Interesting concept huh? Especially given the fact that I just went off on a tangent about how lies were bad. Let's break this down. Lying to a friend to cover your tracks or manipulate their thinking? Bad. Lying to your sister about what happened to the hairbrush that you just tossed out the window? Also bad. You get the point. Lying to manipulate others and change their thinking is bad. But how about this one, "Connor you get through this lap and the last 4-mile loop will be easy. It's all smooth sailing from there." This is a true story and statement that I told myself during my weighted marathon in Grand Rapids last month. At the time, this wasn't true at all. I was broken. It was somewhere in the middle of that second to last loop around mile 20 where I wanted to quit. I wanted to stop. My feet and ankles were in pain. But I dug and I kept going. I was able to do this because I kept telling myself good lies. I kept saying things like, "Get to that tree and then walk" or "Get to the next mile marker and you'll feel better." To be honest, none of these things actually took the pain away from my feet and ankles(Granted, I was running in NoBulls...Not smart. 10/10 do NOT recommend). These statements didn't make me less fatigued or all of a sudden more energized. Not even close. But what they did do is build momentum. They created small wins that I was able to carry over to the next and to the next and the next until finally, I finished the race.

Sometimes all we need in life is a little nudge. We need something to help us build momentum. I do this quite often through lying to myself. By telling myself that things are okay when they really aren't the greatest. It doesn't have to be big either. You don't have to apply this to an event like a marathon or anything like that. It can be as simple as, "Hey man, get up now and go workout and then take a nap later." By building that little momentum you get yourself rolling. You get yourself to the gym and you absolutely get after it and crush your workout. Then, all of a sudden, instead of going back to bed and missing an awesome workout you just got the ball rolling for the day. I can almost guarantee you won't take that nap. You'll be so fired up and the endorphins will be flowing you'll be looking for the next thing and the next and the next. And then, before you even realize it, the day will be over and you will be able to look in the mirror and feel satisfied with your effort. You will have truly won the day. And you can trace it all back to you building that momentum by telling yourself a good lie.

Now it's time for you to try this concept out for yourself. It's not easy and you'll probably fail more often than you succeed at first. But stick with it and over time watch the magic begin to happen.

Get After It.