20 truths about life that nobody wants to believe

I was thinking the other day about how there are all
these key pieces of advice that someone influential in
our lives (mom, dad, grandma, Cthulu) tells us are true,
but that we don’t like the answers to. So to deal with the
issue, we decide we’re too awesome to pay attention
and insist on failing for ourselves.
Anyway, I thought I’d make a list of the truths I’ve
discovered in case anyone out there is wondering about
them. NOW: I’ve tested these things and can vouch for
their truth, but feel free to ignore me if you’d like the
experience of screwing up for yourself. It’s cool.
Here we go:
1. If you want to lose weight or see your abs, you need
to eat less.
Nobody wants to eat less or eat better, so if they want to
lose weight, they keep eating and simply exercise more. I
know I did. I have been aggressively weight training for
20 years and have experimented with just about every
way of training out there. I have done powerlifting. I have
done strongman workouts. I have done Crossfit. I once
did four major endurance events in two months, and I
trained 20+ hours a week during that time. But despite all
of that, I only finally got a six pack when I got my diet
under control and started tracking what I ate religiously
using an app . There’s an expression that says “you can’t
out-train a bad diet” and one that says “abs are made in
the kitchen.” Both are 100% true.
2. The best moneymaking and success strategy is to be
awesome.
It’s amazing how many people fret about perfecting their
marketing strategy when what they have to offer is total
shit. Sure, marketing and SEO and positioning matter…
but only once you are producing awesome stuff. No
matter how many times we talk about marketing funnels
or KDP Select promotion strategy on the podcast , the
bottom-line advice always boils down to, “Keep writing
awesome books that people love.” That philosophy
applies to everything.
3. Most people are lazy.
People say they want to make some kind of a change.
They get good, solid advice. Then they do nothing.
NOTHING. In most cases, failure is not the result of
outside influences. In most cases, failure is due to a
simple lack of effort. It’s an ugly truth, but it’s the truth,
all right: most people don’t want what they claim to want
badly enough to actually put in the work required to get
it.
4. Guilt and regret won’t make your problems go away.
There’s no point in dwelling on bad things that
happened or that you did in the past. Most people feel
that it’s their duty to dwell on guilt, as if they’ll somehow
be a horrible person if they refuse to keep feeling guilty.
It’s not true. What happened happened. Move on.
5. Bitching won’t make your problems go away.
This one is hilarious to see in action. Why does your
father always complain about his crappy car? Why does
your neighbor complain about the government and
taxes? Bitching and complaining does nothing. Action
does something, but bitching is not action. Bitching is
bitching. Yet people do it fervently, as if they think that
bitching enough will, by itself, solve the problem.
6. Doggedly pursuing a stupid idea won’t turn it into it a
smart idea.
I once tried to get a Ph.D in genetics. I hated my studies
within a month, but I told myself that if I just stuck with
it, I’d eventually love it and life would be grand. It didn’t,
and eventually I wised up and quit. One of the best
aphorisms I’ve ever heard is from the movie Christine ,
when Darnell says, “You can’t polish a turd.” So stop
trying. That turd is a turd, and no matter how long you
polish it, it won’t turn into a shiny new Plymouth Fury.
And sure, Arnie got lucky in the movie, but his car turned
out to be evil. There’s a lesson there.
7. You should always be yourself.
Ask any gay person if they’d rather go back into the
closet and go back to pretending to be someone they’re
not. I’ll bet you don’t get a yes. It’s always better to be
open about who you are, what you do, what you like,
and what you want out of life. I don’t mean to open a
can of worms on this one, but sex is a huge issue here.
We had a whole episode of our podcast about this if
you’re interested. Just be warned that it is EXTREMELY
NSFW AND NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN . (You’ve
been warned; click here to listen.)
8. Worrying is useless.
Worry is like bitching. It changes nothing, but we feel like
we’ve got to do it because if we don’t worry about
something enough, it seems like we’re being flippant.
But try something for me: the next time you’re worried
about something, ask yourself how much the problem
will improve if you worry really, really hard. That’ll fix
things, right?
9. Most successes happen in small steps and take a
long time.
This is the cornerstone message behind my Everyday
Legendary community , which is filled with people who
actually understand that most things worth doing take
time. Almost nothing happens in huge, gestalt leaps.
Want to become a champion ballerina or start a
successful company? Get a little better every day, then
repeat.
10. You shouldn’t buy what you can’t afford.
Want that TV? Wait until you have enough cash to pay
for it. Want to take the vacation but need to borrow from
your credit card (and then not pay it off in full) to do it?
You’d better wait. I’ve violated this plenty. Sometimes,
for necessities, it feels essential. I almost always regret
it.
11. Nobody is rooting for you to fail.
The world isn’t out to get you. There’s no point in
pretending that it is. People have their noses so far in
their own business that they’re not paying attention to
you and your potential failure. You simply don’t matter to
them enough to root against. That means you’re free.
12. Nobody cares if you succeed.
This is the corollary to #11 above. Think Aunt Margaret
will push your new book to all of her friends? Think that
famous person who could really help you will hop on
board with your fantastic idea? Nope. They don’t give a
shit. Not really. They have their own issues. Your
successes are up to you.
13. Nobody cares about your complaints.
I was once part of a group that really, really pissed me
off. I made sure I let them know why I was leaving, and
how unwelcome I felt. I didn’t think that they’d change
and/or beg me to stay, but I thought they’d at least
express concern or regret, or at least register some
emotion. They didn’t. Same when my wife stormed out
of a job under shitty conditions. Same with a bank that
had hideous service. And so on. They don’t care, so
make your feelings known… but then don’t expect a
reaction, and certainly don’t expect change or for them
to make it right.
14. There is very little that you truly need.
Food. Water. Air. Shelter. Those are the things you need .
You do not need a house. A cardboard box covering your
head will do just fine. It’s not ideal, but it will work. Most
people inflate their personal cost of living by turning
things that they merely want into things they feel they
need. It’s okay to want things. It’s good to want things.
But stop adding stress to your life by equating your gym
membership or your car to your literal survival. If you
lose most things, you and your family will continue to
live and will still probably manage to be happy from time
to time.
15. Everyone lives life according to their own rules, not
yours.
Someone says something to you and you’re offended.
You think they’re being a jerk, because you have a
personal rule that says, “If you say X to someone, it’s
because you want to insult them.” But that other person
doesn’t necessarily have the same rules as you have.
They’re responding according to their own rules, and in
all probability, their rules say that they are responding
appropriately. They may even think that you are the bad
guy. So who’s right? Neither; you simply have different
rules. The sooner you realize that everyone is trying to
do the best they can in life with what they have (rather
than going out of their way to be mean to you), the
better.
16. Clueless people don’t know they’re clueless, and
never will.
If you’re aghast that someone is a total dipshit and feel
the need to show them the dipshit nature of their ways,
don’t bother to try. It may be super-obvious to you that
you really shouldn’t rest your testicles on the countertop
while using the sink like some old men used to do at my
gym, but they’re never going to have that epiphany. They
may change to please you, but they will never think,
“Wow, I was really dumb!”
17. It seldom makes sense to try to convince people
you’re right.
I once heard Deepak Chopra call this as “the law of
defenselessness.” It basically goes like this: Have your
opinion, but release the pressing need you have to
defend that opinion to other people. It’s fine to just
believe something and not spend a bunch of time
justifying your point of view, especially when the issue in
question is just an opinion. (TIP: Most things —
including those things you’re certain you’re right about
— are actually opinions.)
18. You really can achieve just about anything.
It may take you a while, but you can in fact achieve most
reasonable things and plenty of unreasonable things.
You’ll see that if you stop deciding that things are
impossible before even trying. (See also: Everyday
Legendary’s central premise.)
19. The people you look up to are just as nervous as you
are.
Succeeding gets a lot easier when you realize that
everyone who has ever succeeded has doubted that
things will work, has failed terribly, and has generally
been where the rest of are: worrying and certain that they
aren’t good enough. (Bonus fact: Those people you look
up to also don’t start being bulletproof and perfect
AFTER they’ve succeeded. They actually remain human
until the day they die.)
20. Your worst-case scenario is seldom very bad.
Here’s a fun game: Ask yourself “what’s the worst that
could happen?” about the thing that worries you most,
and then keep asking it until you can’t ask anymore.
Then, when you’re at the bottom of that chain of
questions, ask yourself how terrible that end result
would really be. Here’s an example: I might lose my job >
I wouldn’t be able to pay the bills > I would lose my
house and car > I’d have to declare bankruptcy > I’d
have to move in with mom/dad/grandma or bum on a
friend’s couch and have a bad credit rating. Now: is that
scenario really THAT bad? Did you die? Are you ruined
forever and ever? Will you be tortured? The truth is that
most “worst case scenarios” are merely inconvenient,
uncomfortable, or embarrassing.
So that’s my list. What are some of yours?

Source- http://johnnybtruant.com/20-truths-about-life-that-nobody-wants-to-believe/