If you’re like me, you’d know the hardships of grappling with self-doubt and fighting the imposter syndrome lurking in the dark, ready to pounce at you anytime you feel like you have achieved something. I have constantly underestimated my abilities, and it got to a point where compliments made me uncomfortable. Slowly, this became my second nature. In hindsight, I realized my poor self-image made me lose out on various opportunities.
At one point, I realized that my life was in a downward spiral. The reason why I wasn’t happy or content with my life was that I made it so. Even with self-awareness, I did not know how to help myself out of the rut. I hoped things would work out on their own. But the bad news for me was that I held the steering wheel of my life by becoming an adult. This meant that how my life would pan out would solely depend on me. If I crashed, then that was it.
Realizing this felt like getting a slap across my face. But the truth was bitter, and I had no choice but to accept it. A few days into processing all of this, I remembered something my therapist told me a couple of years ago. She let me in on this little secret of tricking my brain into thinking happy thoughts. It’s an approach that helps you gain control over your mind and not let your thoughts run wayward. It starts with identifying when your mind starts wandering into dark places. Then, you tell yourself to hit the brakes and divert your mind to think positively.
I went and did some snooping on the internet, and I couldn’t believe the horde of productivity hacks that used this approach. It wasn’t just about tricking your brain into thinking happy thoughts; there were articles and videos on how to trick your brain into learning difficult things, how to trick your brain into believing something new, and even an article on how to trick your brain into losing weight faster (I’ve bookmarked this for future reference).
So, does this mean “Delulu is the solulu”? Before we unravel this mystery, let’s see what ‘Delulu is the solulu’ really means.
A few months ago, social media was caught in the frenzy of a Gen-Z trend that preached staying delusional is the solution to your problems. Not surprisingly, Gen-Z came up with lingo for this, just like they do for everything. When I saw the “delulu is the solulu” trend, I thought it was just another viral bandwagon everyone was getting on. I laughed at these reels and shared them with my friends. Little did I know then that it actually made sense.
After a bit of research, I found out how delusions could be used to our benefit. Self-delusion (a teeny-tiny bit of it) can actually help you achieve your goals. By starting to dress, talk, and act like the person you want to become, you slowly become that person.
Fake it till you make it, right?
Even though this life hack became popular recently, it’s not the child of the 21st century’s productivity culture. The French natural philosopher and mathematician Émilie du Châtelet explored the power of self-delusion centuries ago. In her autobiographical work ‘Discours sur le bonheur’ (Discourse on happiness), published in 1779, Châtelet talks about illusions’ role in creating one’s happiness. Though the term self-delusion is not explicitly used, we understand from Châtelet’s writing that she’s talking about breaking away from the clutches of bitter reality and constructing illusions using imaginative powers to make oneself happy.
Here’s an excerpt taken from ‘Discours sur le bonheur’:
“In order to be happy, one must have freed oneself of prejudices, one must be virtuous, healthy, have tastes and passions, and be susceptible to illusions; for we owe most of our pleasures to illusions, and unhappy is the one who has lost them. Far then, from seeking to make them disappear by the torch of reason, let us try to thicken the varnish that illusion lays on the majority of objects.”
Amen, sis!
But isn’t self-delusion a bad thing, you may ask. Humans deceive themselves every single day without even realizing it. Even when we know something is not good, we find ways to make ourselves believe it is.
Here’s an example: I bought myself expensive coffee the other day when I had everything I needed to make decent coffee at home. I convinced myself I needed a little treat even though I was broke. If I could deceive myself into buying that overpriced coffee, why can’t I use the same strategy to my benefit? A healthy amount of self-delusion could be helpful. It gives you the confidence you lack and helps you reach your goals. Start by visualizing yourself as the person you want to become. Eventually, your actions will end up making you that person. Instead of letting your mind paralyze you with negative talk, you learn to hype yourself up. This will slowly untangle you from the web of negativity you have spun over in your mind about yourself and your circumstances.
So, do we say delulu is the solulu and simply lay back?
Here’s my two cents on it: Too much of anything can be bad. The same goes for self-delusion. You cannot trust your delusions entirely and hope everything will work out how you want it to. (Life would have been much easier if it worked that way.)
Self-delusion is a tool or strategy to help you leverage your situation. But before you start using it as a strategy, you should also understand that there is a downside to an unhealthy amount of self-delusion. Ask yourself why you are using this strategy and what you want to achieve with it. Define your boundaries on how much you can depend on your delusions and where you have to start doing actual work. It would help to let your inner voice reason with you occasionally so you don’t lose sight of reality. Remember, self-delusion is not a one-size-fits-all solution to your problems. It is a mindset and, if used in moderation, can help you incredibly.
