If you’re like me, you get annoyed at the “fairy tale” successful life stories.
They usually go something like this:
– I had a dream.
– So then I achieved it!
– Voila! And here I am now giving you advice.
And the author ALWAYS skips over the hard parts to make themselves look smarter than they really are.
Give me a break.
I’m 34 now. And while I still have a lot to learn, I know life is much harder than these success stories make it seem.
So today, I’m going to go over 15 brutal truths about life that mainstream media simply won’t tell us.
1) Without goals, life is pointless
If you’re not working towards something, then you’re living without direction.
Goals help us to sort out what is important and what isn’t.
And when I look back on my life, my happiest moments are when I’m focused on the present moment working towards something bigger than myself.
2) What other people think about you really doesn’t matter
I’m sure many people can relate to this. I know I can.
We must realize how ridiculous all this worrying is. Being entirely dependent on others to experience self-worth is not healthy. There’s no point in being a people pleaser.
The moment people stop saying positive words towards you, you feel dejected and devalued.
It’s up to you to build your own value and approval in life.
3) We don’t have much control.
A lot of us experience a great deal of anxiety thanks to our preference to control everything in our lives.
But the truth is, we don’t have much control.
Think about your body right now. Your hair grows by itself. The heart beats by itself. Your glands secrete their essences by themselves.
If you’re going to be human, it’s necessary to accept that in life we don’t have much control.
On some level, you’ve got to let go and accept what you can’t control, so you can spend more energy focusing on things you actually can.
4) Failure is the road to success
Nobody has a life just full of success. It’s unavoidable to have some sort of failure in your life unless you don’t take the chance to succeed.
Yet so often we try to avoid failure because it makes us feel worse about ourselves.
But if we’re honest, failure often gives us the best lessons in life. It’s time to not fear failure as it may be your stepping stone to finding success.
5) A person isn’t defined by what they own
Expensive cars, branded bags, lavish clothes – Sure they may seem cool when you’re young, but they do not add value to you as a person.
It’s time to stop focusing on these material things and start building meaningful experiences and relationships.
6) Thinking vs doing is not the same
This brutal truth about life is a kicker.
We do a whole lot of daydreaming when we’re young. But if there’s no actions involved it will never happen.
Success will not come find you and pick you up on the journey, it’s our responsibility to get up and start doing what we’ve been thinking about.
We need to stop waiting for that perfect moment and get going!
7) Change is the only law in life you can count on
Change is the only constant in the universe. No matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to stop the natural force of things.
We’re all getting older. It’s better to grasp the good moments while you can, while accepting that life goes on.
8) Everyone you know will eventually die
When we’re young, we don’t appreciate this fact. We think our elders will live forever.
They won’t.
And if you forget this then you won’t make the most of these relationships while you have them.
9) Worrying is useless
Worrying is created in the mind and really doesn’t offer any value to our lives.
Will worrying change what’s going to happen? If not, then it’s a waste of time.
This quote from Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh says it best:
“Worrying does not accomplish anything. Even if you worry twenty times more, it will not change the situation of the world. In fact, your anxiety will only make things worse. Even though things are not as we would like, we can still be content, knowing we are trying our best and will continue to do so. If we don’t know how to breathe, smile,and live every moment of our life deeply, we will never be able to help anyone. I am happy in the present moment. I do not ask for anything else. I do not expect any additional happiness or conditions that will bring about more happiness. The most important practice is aimlessness, not running after things, not grasping.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
10) The root of suffering is pursuing temporary feelings
So many of us crave those feelings of what we think is happiness. We think happiness includes excitement, joy, euphoria…but these are only temporary feelings.
And the constant pursuit of these feelings only turns into suffering because they don’t last.
Instead true happiness comes from inner peace – being content with what you have and who you are.
11) Being patient is more important than most people realize
In today’s world, we often want things right away. We want to succeed quickly, make friends fast, and get what we want in no time.
But life doesn’t work like that.
Things take time to grow and get better. Think of planting a seed and waiting for it to become a tree. You can’t make it happen all at once. You have to water it, care for it, and wait.
It’s the same with our goals and dreams. We can’t rush them. We need to be patient and give things time to happen.
When we learn to wait and be patient, we understand things better and enjoy them more. So next time you want to hurry something along, remember that good things often take time. It’s okay to slow down and wait.
12) Hard work is drastically underrated
Many people dream big. They want to have lots of money, a great job, a nice house, and many friends. But dreaming isn’t enough.
Getting what you want in life often takes hard work.
Think about building a tall tower with blocks. You can’t just throw the blocks in a pile and hope they make a tower. You have to stack them one by one, carefully and with effort.
It’s the same with our goals. We can’t just wish for them to happen. We have to put in the work.
Hard work means doing your best, even when things are tough. It means trying again if you fail. It means not giving up.
So if you have big dreams, that’s great. But remember, you’ll need to work hard to make them come true. The more you try and keep going, the closer you’ll get to what you want. It may take time and effort, but it can be worth it in the end.
13) Not everyone will like you, and that’s okay
We all like to be liked. It feels good when people think we’re fun, nice, or cool. But here’s a tough truth: not everyone is going to like you, no matter how hard you try.
Think of flavors of ice cream. You might love chocolate, but someone else might not like it at all. People have different tastes, and that’s okay!
It’s the same with people. You might be the nicest person in the world, but there might be someone who just doesn’t like you. And that’s okay too.
It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you. It’s just how things are.
What’s important is to like yourself and to be kind and respectful to others, even if they don’t like you back.
14) Life isn’t always fair, but you can still move forward
Life has a way of throwing surprises at us. Sometimes, they’re good surprises, like finding money on the ground or getting a good grade on a test you thought was hard.
But sometimes, life’s surprises aren’t so nice. You might work really hard on something and still fail. Someone else might get something you wanted, even though you think you deserve it more.
This doesn’t feel good, and it might not seem fair. But here’s the truth: life isn’t always fair.
What can you do about it? You can get angry, or sad, or just give up. But those things won’t help you feel better or get what you want.
The best thing to do when life isn’t fair is to keep trying. Learn from what happened, try to do better next time, and keep moving forward.
It might be hard, and it might take time, but you can still reach your goals, even when things don’t seem fair.
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