How We Fool Ourselves
Home Obstacles to Happiness Live Your Best Life Assess Yourself Self-Sabotage Top 20 Inner Character Detector How We Fool Ourselves Get Out of Your Way About the Book Helpful Books Site Map Links and Resources

 

"We are so used to disguising ourselves from others that we end up disguising ourselves from ourselves."
– François La Rochefoucauld

“Who hath deceived thee so often as thyself?”
– Benjamin Franklin


You define who you are in every moment. You can see yourself as big or small, smart or dumb, worthy or unworthy, winner or loser. Sometimes self-definitions are benign, even humorous. For example:

  • In an Australian study, 86 percent of workers said their performance was above average. 1 percent said below average
  • 80 percent of U.S. drivers surveyed rated their driving as better than average
  • 85 percent of people rated their own manners as good or excellent. Only 23 percent give the same marks to others
  • 94 percent of university professors ranked themselves better than average at their jobs
  • 25 percent of high school students rated themselves in the top 1 percent in leadership ability.
  • 87 percent of Americans surveyed said they expected to go to heaven. In the same survey, only 79 percent said Mother Teresa would go to heaven.

Other times you may define yourself and your options in counterproductive ways.

Examples of common self-defeating thoughts:

  • I must never quit
  • I must be successful
  • I can't let anybody beat me
  • I can't be alone
  • I am not competent
  • I must be different from others
  • I must be like others
  • I cannot survive arguments or disagreements
  • I can't be happy when others close to me are not
  • I cannot break the rules
  • I cannot tell a lie
  • I cannot get caught in a lie
  • I cannot be bored
  • I cannot openly ask for what I want


Identify "Inner Characters" that Foster Self-Defeating Thoughts

Find the Authentic You

Tips for Living Your Best Life

Links and Resources

Helpful Books

Site Map

Top of Page

Home Obstacles to Happiness Live Your Best Life Assess Yourself Self-Sabotage Top 20 Inner Character Detector How We Fool Ourselves Get Out of Your Way About the Book Helpful Books Site Map Links and Resources