Be A Hypocrite

Last week I showed up to a meet up with my mentor Dave Meltzer and he shared a shocking but important lesson. He says that he’s a hypocrite, he only hires hypocrites and that everyone should try their best to be a hypocrite. He was proud about it and he explained why.

Usually we have a negative reaction when someone is being hypocritical. It means that they’re two-faced, that they say one thing and do another which suggests that they're unreliable. It serves as a negative strike on their character. But Dave very insightfully reframed this whole concept.

Sure, a hypocrite can be someone who is frustrating and not dependable, but oftentimes it’s also a metric for growth. It’s evidence that you learned something new and now you’re choosing to relate with a topic in a different way. Might this contradict beliefs you’ve had and arguments you’ve made in the past? Absolutely, and it takes a strong person to admit that they were wrong and change their opinion.

The real problem isn’t that we go back on our word or flop on a stance... It’s that we’re unwilling to consider the idea that we made a mistake. Our ego desperately tries to maintain the beliefs we have which leads to us digging deeper into our current belief and putting all of our energy into proving ourselves right rather than getting things right.

Realizing that you were wrong, or changing your opinion on something can seem pretty hypocritical can’t it? But it’s a strength. It shows that you’re willing to learn, adapt, and evolve. And it helps you get to the right answer much faster so that you can perform at a higher level and be effective.

So the next time you feel yourself starting to get defensive in an argument, try to take a different standpoint and really prioritize how you can get it right rather than prove yourself right.