It can be easy to lie — especially when you’re trying to stay out of trouble or avoid confrontation — but it can catch up with you. If you have trouble sticking to the truth, imagine each lie you tell as a charge on an imaginary truth credit card.
Photo by Alan Cleaver.
Being in debt can be stressful, challenging and lead you to bankruptcy, but debt comes in many different varieties. Todd Vernon at Inc. describes a debt that involves your honesty:
This is “Truth Debt.” It’s like financial debt. Sometimes it’s alright to have a little financial debt to bridge short-term issues, but if not kept in check, the interest on this debt can become stifling. And when the debt gets called, the results can be disastrous.
As much as we’d like to believe that honesty is the best policy, it’s not necessarily ideal for every situation in the real world. Lies do build up, though, and when the “creditors” come calling, you may not be able to pay up. Think of each lie you tell as a charge on your credit card. A little bit here or there is ok, but eventually you need to pay it off, so keep it in check. Being honest and telling the truth is like paying in cash: even though it rarely comes with any convenient “perks”, cash is always king. Know when to pay with the right tender.
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