Alone is my favorite show.

Alone is my favorite show.
A survival challenge by National Geographic.
• 10 contestants
• 10 items of their choosing
• No camera crew
• Stranded in harsh conditions
• One winner takes home $500k

Some get pulled for medical reasons (malnutrition, frostbite, etc) but most quit voluntarily.

When they leave, almost everyone says the same thing:
"I did what I came here to do."

The problem I have... they're lying.
There is footage to prove it.

No one came to quit.

Day one, every single one of them said they came to win.
During the challenge, they talk about staying until the end.
Winning the prize.
Everything the prize will do for their family.

But somewhere between arrival and the helicopter ride to civilization, they reshape the narrative.

It reminds me of something I learned about car crashes.

During a car crash, there are actually three collisions.
1. The car hitting something.
2. Our body hitting the car (or seatbelt).
3. Our organs hitting our skeleton.

The third collision isn't as obvious, but it's the most dangerous.

Lying works the same way. Three points of impact.

First, the lie we tell others.
Then, the lie we tell ourselves.
Finally, when we believe the lie.

It becomes the story.
It becomes us.

Losing isn't what makes us weak.
But the story we tell ourselves about the experience certainly can.