Are You Exaggerating?

Well this one hits really close to home as something that I’ve struggled with throughout my life. Let’s talk about exaggeration and what it’s actually saying about you, rather than what you think it is. 

The reason we use exaggeration is we want to evoke an emotional response. We want people to be captivated and to care, so we stretch the truth to stimulate someone else’s curiosity.

While the tactic is very effective, the difficult part about exaggeration is you can make the argument that it’s a form of lying. Fundamentally you’re not being honest in the way you’re representing the truth, and that could cause issues. This doesn’t necessarily mean that exaggeration is always done with poor intentions, but in certain settings it can be deceptive.

The reason I’m sharing about this is because at various times and for various reasons, I’ve found myself exaggerating the truth. In being self-aware about those instances I uncovered some very vulnerable and human elements to it that you might be able to relate with.

If you’re exaggerating about the details of yourself - statistics, memories, progress, whatever it might be - it means that you don’t believe the current state is enough. It means you’re too scared, embarrassed, or lacking in confidence to stand nakedly in how things are so you come up with a different version of it that makes you look better to others.

Again, I’ll raise my hand and tell you that this has been me at times. I’m not above it and it’s something I’m working on. I've found that the exaggeration isn't actually for them and their interest, it’s for you and shaping how you want to be perceived.

I’ve come a long way in this, and what really helped me was getting real results that I felt good about. I don’t need to exaggerate the truth if I feel good about the truth. Now if you don’t have the results to back it up, it’s helpful to incorporate a learner's mindset. In gathering perspective and other people who’ve been where you are, you can find more normalcy in your story and realize that there’s nothing wrong with you and you just need to be more patient.

Anyway, I’ve asked myself the difficult questions and gotten hard answers, but it was the bet thing for me. So now I’ll turn the question over to you - Do you catch yourself exaggerating? If so, maybe it’d serve you to get curious and understand why that is.