Cognitive dissonance is defined as the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.
When your behaviors conflict with your beliefs, you create internal tension. If you act in a way that goes against your values, or you’re asked to do something that you don’t believe in, you feel a certain amount of internal strife. The more your actions defy your belief system (whether in quantity of actions or in quality of the action), the more conflicted you will feel.
Make sure to act in accordance with your beliefs as much as possible. Ideally, you will always do the right thing, but that’s not realistic. We are all human and we all make mistakes. Do not seek perfection, but instead seek progress. Try to be better than yesterday, to learn from your mistakes, and to not compare yourself to others.
Lastly, if the above quote from Gandhi teaches us anything, it’s that one of the keys to happiness is to be happy with yourself. If your thoughts, words, and actions are not in alignment with each other, you can not experience true happiness.