The biggest lie we tell ourselves every day is that we are thinking rationally, but in reality, we are not as logical as we think.

Arthur Schopenhauer, one of history’s most crucial thinkers, argued that most of our decisions are not driven by logic.

They are driven by something that he called “the Will”, an irrational force pushing our desires, emotions, and impulses.

Think about it.

Did you ever buy something you didn’t need?

Have you ever stayed in a bad relationship?

Or have you ever ignored obvious red flags and allowed problems to grow?

According to Schopenhauer, our mind wasn’t leading us. Our desires were. And then our brain created a story to justify our bad decisions afterward.

Schopenhauer believed that truth is uncomfortable because it forces us to see reality as it is, not as we would like it to be.

Sometimes, people do not want to see the truth because reality clashes with their wishes.

What is Schopenhauer’s solution?

We should stop chasing every desire.

And we should start questioning our motives.

And when something feels true, we should ask ourselves:

Do we believe this because it’s reality, or because we just want it to be true?

Schopenhauer said that finding the truth is not about feeling good.

It is about pushing ourselves to see clearly.

Truth sometimes hurts, but delusion will cost us much more.

If you are interested in applying rational ideas in all sorts of situations, I recommend my book “The 10 Principles of Rational Living”