I stopped lying to please people – and I’ve never felt more free | Radhika Sanghani

Radical honesty isn't for the faint-hearted, but it's one of the greatest joys I've ever discovered

I never used to think of myself as a liar. I always saw myself as an honest person. The only time I'd ever veer from the truth was to protect someone's feelings. But that wasn't really lying, I would tell myself, it was an act of kindness!

And then I had a therapy session, where I realised that all of this was actually people-pleasing behaviour and it turned out I was a prolific liar. Not only that, but according to my therapist, by constantly hiding my true feelings to protect those I loved, I was blocking them from ever getting to know the real me and creating true intimacy.

Radhika Sanghani is a writer and author. Her children's book The Girl Who Couldn't Lie is published on 9 May