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Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith)
The truth might hurt, but self-deceit keeps you in mediocrity.
“The truth might hurt, but what hurts more is to persist in self-deceit and ignorance.” -Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
When you start with an honest and diligent effort to determine the truth of your situation, the right decisions often become self-evident.
Most people are stuck. They’re in a rut with their relationships, finances, careers, and health. In many cases, they’ve accepted that where they are is the best they’re ever going to be. In the words of Ramit Sethi, “At the moment when we accept our weaknesses and stop deciding to grow, we’re the BEST we’re ever going to be. It’s all downhill from there.”
The fastest way to evolve is through brutal feedback.
This feedback tells us immediately what we need to work on, what’s holding us back, and how we can significantly improve.
A lot of people simply aren’t open to brutally honest feedback. It’s painful and uncomfortable. To be sure, it’s a skill you need to develop, and it takes time to be OK hearing about all your failures.
But like the writer who refuses to have his work proofread (“I already read it, there aren’t any typos!”), we often miss the…
