M

March   6th

DON’T   TELL    YOURSELF    STORIES

“In public  avoid   talking often   and excessively about   your    accomplishments and dangers,    for

however much    you enjoy   recounting  your    dangers,    it’s    not so  pleasant    for others  to  hear    about

your    affairs.”

—EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION,    33.14

odern philosopher Nassim Taleb has warned of the “narrative fallacy”—the tendency to assemble
unrelated events of the past into stories. These stories, however gratifying to create, are inherently
misleading. They lead to a sense of cohesion and certainty that isn’t real.
If that’s too heady, remember that as Epictetus points out, there is another reason not to tell stories
about your past. It’s boring, annoying, and self-absorbed. It might make you feel good to dominate the
conversation and make it all about you, but how do you think it is for everyone else? Do you think people
are really enjoying the highlights of your high school football days? Is this really the time for another
exaggerated tale of your sexual prowess?
Try your best not to create this fantasy bubble—live in what’s real. Listen and connect with people,
don’t perform for them.