VIR-I-0006
“I'm tempted to stretch the truth to get what I want.”
Notice that you're at a decision point — that's already progress. Stretching the truth is still a lie. And what you get through a lie, you have to maintain through more lies. Ask yourself whether what you want is actually worth the upkeep.
Your Practice
Before you say anything, write the true version of what you want to communicate. Then write the stretched version. Read both. The stretched version protects your ego for a moment and costs your credibility over time. Say the true version. That's the one you can build on.
The Architects
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book XII