Someone is lying to you right now. No, I’m not talking about Donald Trump.

This Liar knows you.

Knows your insecurities. Knows your doubts and fears better than any. And has probably already fed you some lies already today.

The worst thing is — you probably believed its lies.

Your future hinges on one single thing: Your ability, or inability, to defeat this Liar.

Please know:

• The Liar’s goal is to feed you a bunch of crap that you accept as truth. 
• The Liar is playing for keeps.
• The Liar means business.
• The Liar does not want you to move forward.

And please know:

• Your future.
• Your goals.
• Your family.
• Your impact on this world

All depend on your ability to shut the Liar’s mouth. We must do it. Here’s how…

Who’s The Liar? Why does it lie? And how do we stop it?

The self-helpers might call it negative Self-Talk.

The spiritual might call it Satan.

Creatives might call it Resistance.

Whatever you feel comfortable naming it, just know the Liar’s filthy game. Because when you sit down to do your work, the Liar is going to try and stop you.

Whenever you are doing something worth doing, the Liar’s going to attack. Every. Single. Time.

And it won’t be a full-front assault like an army storming the castle.

No, the Liar is like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.

Sneaking up next to you, whispering in your ear a soft hiss of lies. Each lie poisoned with just enough truth that only after you take a fews bites do you realize it’s killing you.

As Stephen Pressfield writes in The War of Art,

“Its target is the epicenter of our being: our genius, our soul, the unique and priceless gift we were put on earth to give and that no one else has but us.”

Even as I sit here and write this right now, the Liar is whispering in my ear.

“Who are you to encourage people to stop me?”

“You’re not as creative as ____________. “

“Not as funny as _____________. “

“Not as influential as ________ and especially not __________. “

“Quit now before you embarrass yourself.”

The Liar inflames my Obsessive Comparison Disorder, telling me everyone is doing it better. I don’t have what it takes. And I should just stop. 

Its lies unnerve me.

But I can not let it stop my forward movement.

Neither can you. 

You Can’t Let the Liar Stop You!

As I wrote in Why You Can’t Give Up Now — “Who will you not be able to help if you quit now?”

The world is desperate for your impact. The Liar wants you to believe that you have none. 

Giving the Liar authority to speak truth into your life is as insane as letting a wrecking ball try and build your house.

We each must stop the Liar before he takes too much ground. 

After years of fighting this internal, creative, spiritual battle, here are the best strategies to do it.

3 Strategies on Defeating the Liar

1. Speak Directly to Its Lies with Truth!

Some days when the battle is fierce, I literally speak these phrases out loud.

“Liar, you have not created one single thing in your entire miserable existence. How do you have any right, authority, or credibility to tell me how to do something you are incapable of doing yourself?”

“You destroy. I’m building.

You mock. I’m encouraging.

You critique. I’m creating.”

You fight lies with truth. You tell the Liar who you are. As I wrote in 101 Secrets For Your Twenties, 

“Sometimes you have to climb hills and declare the truth of your bright future instead of the reality of your lackluster present.”

2. Constantly Remind Yourself that Failure and Embarrassment are a Necessary Part of the Process

The Liar will have us believe that if we try something big, we will fail. 

And the problem here — the Liar is right. At least partially.

If we go for it, we will fail. We have to. That’s part of lifting a weight heavier than you. You tear your muscles so that they can become stronger.

But you see, the Liar wants you to believe that failing is terminal. That failing means you’re a failure.

What a lie.

Failing means you’re finding a more profound way to be successful. 

If you learn from it and find a better way to move forward.

Failing is just perseverance in progress. 

The Liar wants us to believe that somehow our failure will be front-page news. It probably won’t. 

Everyone fails. Everyone trips over their feet on stage. 

“The possibility for greatness and embarrassment both exist in the same space. If you’re not willing to be embarrassed, you’re probably not willing to do something great.” – 101 Secrets For Your Twenties 

3. Realizing the Beauty of the Liar’s Game

Here’s the awesome thing about the Liar – when it starts babbling, you know you’re onto something important.

The creative battle only becomes fierce when there’s something you’re actually fighting for. (click to tweet that)

Don’t be surprised when the Liar tries to stop you.

Be excited that you’ve been given confirmation that you’re on the right path. 

But we must make sure to cut its head off before it gets its way like a snake suffocating its prey.

We’ve been given the authority to create and the Liar can’t take that away.

Our calling, our children, and our purpose in this world — all depend on our ability to shut the Liar’s damn mouth.

I’m fired up about this and want to share about 17 more ideas on how to stop the Liar.

Instead, I’d love to hear your thoughts within the comments on this article. Have you felt the Liar try to stop you? 

We need to join forces on this one. It’s that important.

A version of this post appeared as Secret #74 in my book 101 Secrets For Your Twenties.