There are two types of bullshitters in this world. There's the friendly type that causes you to laugh when they tell stories you know are probably not true, and then there's the type that gives you the ick when they talk because you know you're blatantly being lied to.
The first type of bullshitter is the type that is harmless, telling you stories about them drinking 47 beers on a cross-country flight like they were Wade Boggs. The second type is telling you they made a million dollars last year off a lottery scheme.
I hate the second type. The first type, I'm good to hang around for a few minutes, but even still, I can only handle so much. It all stems from my desire to be around people who are authentic, real, honest, and true to the version of a human they are.
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Look, life is fucking messy and far from perfect, and as a result, your relationships and your career are going to go on a roller coaster over time. It just is inevitable, and the more likely you are to be authentic and real with what's happening, the further you will go because you will extract value out of real conversations and discussions with people who have been through the shit too.
If you hang around these bullshit artists for too long, you start to believe that life is clean and easy, that they have never been through any adversity, and that you must be messed up as a result of going through it.
If you listen to these people, then you'll start to think you're messed up for going through some relationship challenges with someone somewhere.
If you listen to these people for too long, then you'll start questioning why you're not earning enough, why you're not taking more exotic vacations, and why you don't have the latest and greatest fanciest shit.
Bullshitters expand the truth; they screw with your mind, and they are toxic to your life and your career.
I've been around enough of them to tell you that you should keep them at a distance. You should also take everything they say and cut it in half, throw the other half out, and then take the remaining half and cut it into thirds, and choose which portion is the truth. Most likely, that remaining 16.666% you keep might be accurate, but the 83.333% you tossed out is definitely full of nonsense.
I always talk about surrounding yourself with the right people, but the people who live in a false reality and want to bring everyone on that journey with you are for sure not the right ones.
Look, the authentic ones help support you in a time of need. They help lift you up, they help tell you it's ok because they've been there before, or they can empathize because they just get it.
Have you ever been around that couple with the expensive SUV and the house they can't afford, and the kids always look perfect when you see them, but in reality, you know they're a god damn mess inside the walls of that home?
The same goes for your career. How many people have you come across who are trying to tell you how big and fancy a title they have, but you know they aren't really in that job, and they don't really have the connections they claim?
It comes back to insecurities, and you know what, I'm not here to be someone's therapist, but I am here to help you avoid these relationships, because they're not healthy for you.
At some point, you have to decide what kind of environment you're willing to sit in every single day, because whether you realize it or not, that environment starts to shape how you see yourself, how you measure your progress, and what you believe is normal. If you're constantly surrounded by people inflating their lives, exaggerating their success, and masking reality, you're not just listening to noise; you're slowly recalibrating your own expectations in a way that will mess with your confidence and your judgment over time.
The people worth keeping close are the ones who will tell you the truth, even when it's uncomfortable, and who are willing to show you the parts of their life that aren't polished, filtered, or tied up with a bow. Those are the conversations that actually move you forward, because they give you something real to work with, something you can learn from, and something that reminds you that you're not off track just because things feel hard right now.
So protect your space, protect your energy, and be a little more selective about who you let influence how you think about your life and your career, because the goal here isn't to be impressed by someone's story, it's to build one that's actually true.