Most people think discernment is something you either have or you don't.

Like you're born with some kind of BS detector that just works.

It doesn't work that way.

Discernment is a skill. You get better at it with practice. 

I've watched really smart people get completely fooled by manipulators. People with track records. People who've done this before. People who absolutely should have seen it coming.

But they got caught up in the polish. The right words. The performance.

It's happened to me too.

Nobody ever teaches us what to actually look for.

Here's what changed things for me:

Stop listening to words. Watch what people do.

Words are easy. Anyone can say the right things if they know what you want to hear. What matters is how they act when nobody's looking. How they treat people who can't help them. How they treat their spouse.. their children. What happens when things don't go their way.

Be skeptical of flattery.

If someone's buttering you up.. telling you how great you are, ask yourself why. 

When you start building this skill, things shift.

You stop chasing shiny objects. You stop wasting time on people who talk big but never follow through. The polished performers stop working on you.

And the people who are actually going where you're going? They find you.

Start paying attention differently.

🚀

​- James