You Can’t Lie to Yourself

What’s up, readers? This is Demetrius, and I am back with another message. Today I want to talk about being real with yourself when it comes to your fitness lifestyle. There is a saying that goes, “You can lie to others, but you can’t lie to yourself”.  It means that you know who you truly are when you look yourself in the mirror at night.

I find this is even more true in present times since you can create a public image thanks to outlets such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. We can create a whole reality that is not based on who we really are and sell it to the public. There’s also software such as Photoshop that can help us take this process one step further by allowing us to completely edit photos.

The problem with this is that the truth eventually comes to the surface. You meet someone and you present a false image to them. A year later, they get to know the real you and make the comment, ” You have really changed”. You didn’t change, they just found out that you aren’t who you pretended to be.

Another example of this in real time is online dating sites. If you are familiar with sites such as Plenty of Fish and OkCupid, then you are probably aware that people generally try to put their best foot forward in order to make a good first impression on a potential mate. A large part of this is the pictures one puts up on his or her profile. Suppose you meet someone online and decide to meet up in person. When you meet the person, they look 5 years older or are 50 pounds heavier than they are in the pictures. You would obviously feel lied to and wonder what else this person has lied to you about.

This relates to fitness, because humans have a tendency to want to be accepted and admired by others. Again, this is why people try to sway their public perception in ways such as talking about all of the good things they are doing or by posting pictures in the gym or in their workout gear. If you’re like me you, then you have noticed that people like this aren’t consistent. They aren’t in the gym day in and day out, and in they don’t make any significant progress from a physical or performance perspective. In many cases they will come to the gym for a few days and then take a few months off.

When you are really about this life you don’t have to post endless selfies or continuously talk yourself up. Of course you might do these things to motivate others and show them what’s possible, but you are not doing it solely to hear others tell you how great you are. At the end of the day, you can lie to others, but you can’t lie to yourself.