I lie about the stupidest shit, constantly. It’s all shit to do with me and dumb stories that never happened and exaggerated details.

This is a throaway, so I’ll just change the details but the intensities of my lies will be the same. For example, I’ve lied about where I grew up to my partner. I have a strong American accent so I told him I was American. I said I had a citizenship, lived there until I moved away for university. I told her recently the truth, but not all of it.

The only other big lie that I told is of my siblings. They are step siblings from a past marriage. I’ve never actually lived with them, but I told her I had and made it seem like we were really close. We are close now, but we weren’t before.

Another example is telling people I used to be a swimmer. I love swimming, but I was never a professional. I told people that I swam in competitions and for school, which is the dumbest lie.

See what I mean? It seems like most of my lies are said to create a false image of myself that’s better than the real me. It may be because of my insecurities that I have about myself and wanting to seem more accomplished than I am. But I can’t stop. Please help. I hate myself for it and have reached out to therapists but I can’t afford that right now.

What should I do about the lies that I’ve told my girlfriend (I’ve stopped lying to her about myself now and important things, it’s just now things like “I had an apple juice today” when I didn’t)? Should I leave it if none of them are harmful (They really aren’t. It’s shit like “I’m fluent in French” when I’ve studied it for 2 years only). How can I stop completely, even the little lies?

TL;DR: I lie a lot but none are harmful. How do I stop?