we feel ashamed of what we’ve done
or who we’ve become. It’s just that
most of us never make the news.
3. You Fail to Follow Through on What
You’ve Said
Another sign of compromise is when
you commit to things that you never
end up doing. That may be a common
human condition, but it intensifies as
you compromise more and more.
ot hypocrisy in others,
see it in ourselves.
dge ourselves by our
eople by their actions.”
Sure, you say you want to get together
with your parents and siblings, but
your real priorities have shifted. You
promise to meet up soon because
that’s what decent people say, but you
just don’t deliver. Similarly, you told
your team the report would be done
by a certain deadline, but it wasn’t.
You were just too preoccupied with
other things. You promised your
spouse a date night, but it never
happened because, once again,
you got slammed with more urgent
matters.
No big deal, you say? If you think your
lack of follow-through involves only
little things not worthy of a second
thought, just know that this is exactly
how compromise begins.
4. You Justify Your Bad Actions and
Decisions
There’s a certain point when you
compromise regularly enough that
you
decide to stop apologizing and
instead start justifying. There’s a
reason you are the way you are.
Everyone in your field behaves the
way you do; to change would mean
you’d lose. You can’t help it that your
marriage has grown cold; it happens
to all couples. Your irritability is
because of the overwhelming
pressure you’re under; there’s nothing
you can do about it. And your greed,
well, you deserve something good
after how hard you’ve worked; who
could fault you for that?
When you start justifying your bad
behavior and decisions, you begin to
believe your condition is inevitable.
You shift blame to circumstances
“beyond your control.” You convince
yourself that if others were in your
shoes, they would be just as cynical,
unhappy, and compromised as you
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