00:00A scorpion stood at the edge of a river. He couldn't swim. Then he saw a frog.
00:06Carry me across, the scorpion said. The frog laughed. Why would I do that?
00:12You'll sting me, the scorpion replied. Think about it. If I sting you while we're crossing,
00:18we both drown. The frog stopped. It made perfect sense. So he let the scorpion climb onto his back
00:25and started swimming. The water grew deeper and the shore disappeared behind them.
00:30Halfway across, the frog felt a sharp sting in his back. He froze. The poison was already spreading.
00:37As they both began sinking, the frog looked at the scorpion. Why? You knew this would kill you, too.
00:44The scorpion quietly answered. I know. And they disappeared beneath the water.
00:51That's the part of the story people remember. But here's the part they forget.
00:56The frog wasn't fooled by the scorpion. He knew exactly what the scorpion was capable of.
01:02He just allowed a convincing explanation to make him ignore what he already knew.
01:08And people do this, too. We hear the right apology and the right promise.
01:13The perfect explanation. And suddenly, we forget the pattern. Words can explain behavior.
01:20But patterns reveal it. So when someone's promises and their repeated actions tell you two different
01:26stories, believe the one they keep repeating.
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