If you want to be honest with yourself, it’s not that difficult. While you may think a history of self-lies makes this impossible, you can turn this around. Try these simple ways to boost honesty.
“When compassion awakens in your heart, you’re able to be more honest with yourself.” – Mingyur Rinpoche.
Simple Tips to Be Honest With Yourself
The impetus to be honest with yourself doesn’t come naturally if you’ve been telling yourself lies for a long time. Going from lies to truth can be challenging. However, you can train yourself to be honest with practice. Furthermore, you can benefit from the surprising secrets of truth to better your life.
How Often Do You Lie to Yourself?
Do you lie to yourself? Maybe just a little? Maybe a lot? Whatever the answer, you’re not alone. Most people rationalize at times, trying to reassure themselves with a self-talk that’s more wishful thinking or revisionist than actual truth. Besides, lies can harm you.
However, sometimes lies are not all bad. If you need to embroider what happened with a brighter colored thread to get past it, maybe that’s healthy.
However, for the most part, learning to be honest with yourself is the more proactive approach. How do you get there? Does it take a long time? What steps can you take today? Here are some thoughts.
Try to see things from the other person’s point of view.
What might look black and white on the surface to you is probably quite different from the way the other person looks at the same set of facts or circumstances. By putting yourself in their shoes, you may help increase your sense of understanding and compassion. In so doing, you’ll increase the likelihood that you’ll be a bit more honest with yourself. It’s certainly worth a try.
Accent the positive.
Find one good thing you did today and be grateful for the chance to make a difference. It doesn’t need to be a life-changing act to qualify. Just highlight one of today’s positive efforts, and this helps frame your outlook to do more of the same. Besides, the more good you can do, the more honest you’ll be about yourself and your capabilities. After all, this is a habit that pays handsome dividends in the long run.
If you feel that you want to help others, that’s compassion awakening in your heart.
Things are changing if, instead of always thinking of excuses or trying to gain an edge, you begin to feel like you want to do something to help another. That’s often a good sign that you’re starting to feel compassion, which is a very positive development. Along with simplicity and patience, compassion is a powerful skill.
So, try to nurture compassion, rather than trying to squelch it as uncomfortable or requiring you to make good on the feeling. Honestly, who doesn’t need compassion? Being honest with yourself helps both you and the recipient of the powerful emotion.
Forgive yourself to be honest with yourself.
People often lie to themselves and others to escape the consequences of wrongdoing or failing to live up to their responsibilities. However, to move forward from past misdeeds, you must first forgive yourself to get forgiveness from others. Besides, forgiveness is powerful and helps.
Once you take ownership of what you did in an honest and forthright way, and forgive yourself, you’re ready to move forward. Importantly, self-forgiveness makes it a little easier to be honest with yourself.
