This book is about lies. Not the malicious or the harmless ones, but a far more dangerous and persistent form of falsehood: The lies we tell ourselves - unknowingly, because we have mistaken them for our very identity, our core truth and our guiding principle.

Always be nice to everyone.

Strive for perfection.

Hard work always pays off.

These appear to be truisms, when, in fact, they are survival strategies born out of vulnerability, fear and pain. The person being nice all the time learns that their purpose has all along been to mediate and keep everyone happy, mostly at their own expense. A perfection-chaser realizes that excellence is not a permanent state but a learnt behaviour. Those who champion the hard-work culture forget that it normalizes burnout, stifles innovation and sets countless people up for profound disappointment.

Ankit Jhamb's The Most Truthful Book of Lies is about understanding the history of these lies, and of many others-where they come from, why we adopt them-and choosing to let them go. Treat this book like a tool that gives you the courage to question the lies, dismantle them, and arrive at the most profound and liberating truth in your life: the truth of who you are.