What if you stopped pretending you 

don't know what you know?

You know what people want.

You know exactly what's important to other people.

You can feel where someone is going before they make a move.

You know the right moment to say the thing to get the response you want.

It's human nature.  I've watched children under 3 do it.

 

Somewhere along the way… 

you learned that a “good” person doesn't use that.

Maybe you were called manipulative because they couldn't say no and hold their own lines.

Maybe someone put you on the back foot by being critical, creating chaos, projecting all over you. 

So you learned to watch, consider others, help, look at where you're the problem so you can fix it… then they don't have anything on you + you're safe.

 

Because if you know what you're doing so you can get a desired outcome...

isn't that manipulation like they said?

 

And if you can move someone...

what stops you from becoming dangerous like other people are?

So you put yourself in the “good person” category so you are safe from criticism and can neutralize chaos.

Smart.