Turning a Liar into an Honest Person

Have you ever struggled with knowing whether or not someone is telling you the truth? It can be difficult to know how to connect with someone when you don’t know which way is up. If you’re interested in turning a liar into an honest person, I know a trick that can help, and it’s one that is promoted by one of the most renowned success gurus of our time.

Millions of Fans

Brian Tracy has spoken to millions of people. He has written over 70 books and has been a best seller many times over. The number of people who come to Brian Tracy for advice is literally millions.

As most parents do, he struggled with how to approach parenting in various ways. One was in making sure his kids were being honest with him. He’s not alone.

It’s challenging as a parent to do what’s best for our kids when we don’t know what’s going on. It can be difficult in relationships too. Turning a liar into an honest person isn’t easy, but Brian Tracy found a trick, and it was one a friend of mine employed in a relationship with a new girlfriend.

A Self-Professed Liar

When my friend started this relationship, she knew that he told the truth. She also told him that she would lie for various reasons, the open honesty about it somewhat out of the norm for her.

As time progressed, she found she lied less and less. She also never lied with him. Eventually, she found it difficult even to tell little white lies.

So what was his secret for turning a liar into an honest person? What did Brian Tracy do to lead his kids to honesty?

Something very simple.

Turning a Liar into an Honest Person

Now, before I continue, I want to say that this may not always work. There are various reasons people do what they do and some people have deep-seated, pathological drives to lie. In other words I’m not saying that this will make every liar turn honest, but what I am saying is if there is any way to make a liar turn honest, this is it.

To understand the trick for turning a liar into an honest person, you simply need to know what makes a liar lie. Most liars lie for one simple reason: they feel judged. They don’t want people to know that they are imperfect or they don’t want to hurt someone or they don’t want to feel bad for doing something bad.

Brian Tracy made a deal with his kids: they would never be punished for telling the truth. My friend had an unspoken commitment to his girlfriend: he wouldn’t look down on her or belittle her for things she had done. In fact, he was often comforting and reassuring. Why would you lie about something when you can be honest and receive comfort and reassurance?

There are different reasons people lie, but the biggest is the fear of judgment. If people don’t fear judgment or reprisal, they often have little reason to lie. At the same time telling the truth has the possibility of feeling heard, valued, and accepted. Telling the truth becomes the path of least resistance.

God’s Honest Truth

There are different reasons people lie and different types of people who lie. Sure, there are some people that will lie for nefarious reasons and there are some reasons people will lie even if they don’t feel judged.

But for a vast majority of people and a wide variety of situations, lying doesn’t have to be the go-to. You can remove the incentive simply by showing that telling the truth will be much more rewarding.

Accepting people as they are, loving them always, and providing encouragement even when they fail is not only the path for turning a liar into an honest person, it’s the way to make your own life more rewarding and fulfilling.