Rationalisation is where I justify bad behaviour with a superficially valid but essentially specious argument.
By its nature, it is dishonest and designed to conceal its dishonest nature from the operative (me).
So how do I know when I'm doing it?
I get a phone call from God.
What does that look like?
Well, when I go to sleep, I talk to my Higher Power. Have done for years. The first thing in the morning, I talk to my Higher Power. I've acquired the habit of talking to my Higher Power and praying when I'm one-quarter or half awake before I properly wake up. The end and the start of the day are therefore traditionally God times.
And that's precisely when God gets my attention: the very clear realisation that, the day before, I behaved badly and that behaviour needs to stop.