doesn ’ t truly reflect your interior life . Watch for any gap you see between your words and your deeds . When you talk grace , but you snap at your spouse , kids , and staff , that ’ s a gap . When you talk financial responsibility with your colleagues , but your personal finances are a mess , that ’ s a gap . When you say people matter , but you make zero time for anyone in need , that ’ s a gap .
You hate this kind of gap when you see it in others . You call it hypocrisy , and that ’ s exactly what it is . The English word hypocrisy stems from the Greek word for “ actor .” A hypocrite was an actor who donned a mask to portray a character . That ’ s what hypocrites do : they pretend to be someone they ’ re not .
While it ’ s easy to spot hypocrisy in others , it ’ s much harder to see it in ourselves . That ’ s because we judge ourselves by our intentions and other people by their actions . It ’ s completely unfair but exceptionally common . You know what you intended to do or how you wish you had responded . So you cut yourself some slack . Then you put a thin veneer over the action that masks it and makes it look a little more like the intention . And that ’ s the beginning of the disconnect between who you are and who you want to be .
2 . You ’ re Hiding Things
As the gap grows between your real self and the projection of your false self , you won ’ t want anyone to discover the truth about you . Compromise eventually leads to cover-up .
Because you realize ( even on the subconscious level ) that you ’ re not who you should be , you ’ re ashamed to
“ While it ’ s easy to spo it ’ s much harder to That ’ s because we ju intentions and other pe
admit what you ’ re doing . You tell the accountant to make some changes in case you get audited . You delete your browser history . You change the password on your phone and tell your spouse that work required it . You fabricate stories to conceal the facts .
Cover-up is almost daily fodder for newspapers because it ’ s so common in business and politics . It ’ s typical in those fields because it ’ s so common everywhere . We all start misleading and misinforming others whenever
28 • Solutions