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Self deception is good?

Posted By Michael On December 3, 2009 @ 5:01 pm In Change, Mind, Motivation, Psychology, Stress | No Comments

I’ve been investigating lies and lying of late (in case you didn’t notice the other [1] posts [2]). In doing so I discovered some very interesting research on self-deception.

Such interesting research that it fits into many different areas. From life, sports, business and other pursuits. And the research hints at top performers often ’self-deceive’ more than others.

Psychologist by the name of Joanna Starek discovered that swimmers who lie to themselves swim faster than those who do not. (Link to the research [3]).

The document hints at much of the other evidence out there that ’self-deception’ helps with stress, depression, happiness, and more.

Above all, this shows that the ability to focus on your goal, ignoring any other information that goes against that goal, makes it more likely to reach your goal.

So what do you think? Is self-deception needed for success? Does it help at all from your perspective?

Thanks to Radiolab [4] for the links.

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Article printed from Tales of a Corporate Hypnotist: http://www.toach.net/blog

URL to article: http://www.toach.net/blog/2009/12/03/self-deception-is-good/

URLs in this post:

[1] other: http://www.toach.net/blog/2009/10/01/are-you-good-at-telling-lies-are-you-good-at-noticing-them/

[2] posts: http://www.toach.net/blog/2009/10/22/how-to-improve-your-lie-detection/

[3] Link to the research: http://www.wnyc.org/files/radiolab/Self_Deception_and_Swimming.pdf

[4] Radiolab: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2008/02/29

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