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I launched this blog in 1995. Since then, we have published 1603 articles. It's all free and means a lot of work in my spare time. I enjoy sharing knowledge and experiences with you.

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Harsh Truths You Must Face if You Want to Be Successful

Author

Tim DENNING


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Like working for a boss, trading time for money, hating on strangers, and being jealous.

Society has gotten weak.

I don’t mean that in a navy seal, drop and give me twenty kind of way. I mean it in terms of how we think.

The modern adult is barely able to survive. Now, if you’re wealthy, successful, or a 10/10 in the fulfillment category, click away. This article isn’t for you.

But if you feel behind, or are angry with the world, or don’t know what to do with the rest of your life, you’re in the right place.

This was me only a few years ago.

Existing. Lifeless. Bored. Angry. And yelling at randoms in the Youtube comments who had what I secretly wanted in life. So…

It’s time for some harsh truths to interrupt the bad programming.

No one cares about your dreams. They care what you’ve done 🔗

There are a lot of dreamers out there.

They think one day the dream will come true. They clutch onto that hope like they clutch onto their cheeseburger so it doesn’t slop sauce everywhere.

In 2009, a 47 year old woman with crazy hair stepped onto the stage of a popular tv talent show. She told the audience she wanted to be a professional singer and this was her moment.

The audience laughed.

The judges judged her before she sang and giggled too. There was no way she could sing. Then she opened her mouth and shocked the 1000s of people watching live.

What she looked like and how she sang were at opposite ends. This led her to achieve her dream and become a professional singer.

Her name is Susan Boyle.

Before her big moment nobody gave a damn about her dream. They only cared whether she actually had achieved it or not.

To change her circumstances she made a decision to change her future. She took a risk and did an audition on a talent show. Bet on herself. And didn’t give a crap if people liked what she sang.

What you do defines your future. So do more things. Take more risks.

Financial freedom lowers your anxiety 🔗

Many people hate the phrase financial freedom. It triggers them. But it’s misunderstood and has little to do with money.

Alex Hormozi

It’s impossible to control a man who needs nothing.

That quote is the whole point. When you sort out the money side of life you don’t have to be part of a dog and pony show anymore and do tricks for a dumb boss or employer to get paid.

You don’t have to think about every decision with “how much will I get paid” being the driving force.

Imagine showing up for stuff and connecting with others and not giving two hoots whether it makes money or not. This is true freedom.

This level of freedom removes the anxiety many of us face when we wake up in the morning. With lower anxiety you can think straight. And…

Freedom protects you from recessions, bad bosses, and layoffs.

Mastering business helps you not become an emotionally immature baby 🔗

Another right hook to the face.

The art of business teaches you a lot about life. And many people suck at business. They think the labels of entrepreneurship, millionaire, or founder are evil.

Whether you master business at your job or own a business, it teaches you how to think for yourself.

You have to be:

  • Useful
  • Proactive
  • Efficient
  • Persuasive
  • Open to feedback

Don’t these also sound like success traits?

That’s because they are. People who fail in business often go on to fail in life. The two are more closely linked than the average person realizes. The reason is business requires you to understand human psychology.

So learn about business and master it.

Losing friends is one of the best ideas in the world
The personal trainer at my gym loves football.

He eats half a wheelbarrow of steak on the weekend, plays football, watches every AFL football game, and slams down 24 beers on a Saturday.

I’m an alien to him. The things I do in life threaten the way he identifies with the mediocrity he has chosen.

But I don’t care.

I don’t want to become mediocre so I can gain his friendship. Most of us are already friend hoarders. And that’s silly when you think about it because you can only have around ten close friends anyway.

Drop friends who bring you down to a lower level so they can feel safe.

Most people barely survive until the weekend 🔗

Most adults get through the week by thinking “if I can just make it until Friday afternoon” then things will be better next week.

They repeat this pattern until they’re 65 and 10 years away from death.

If you find yourself saying this sort of nonsense and living for the weekend then it’s time to make a drastic change. You’re pissing your life down the toilet for no good reason — and it’s sad.

College has done more harm than we realize 🔗

Many people attack college for the BS education they sell for 6-figure, out of control, prices.

The harsh truth is their biggest crime is far worse.

They’ve done an excellent job at making people feel safe. They sell the dream that if you just get one of their overpriced degrees then everything will be okay little darling and you’ll live a nice, comfortable life.

This has produced generations of people afraid to fail or get rejected. The majority of them can’t take a risk or do anything hard.

In a world that desperately needs to innovate, they’ve become mostly useless. They can barely do an email job for a tech company.

The only real solution is to unlearn much of the bad programming and relearn through self-education.

Divorce your love affair with the “p-word” 🔗

The p-word of privilege pisses me off.

It takes all your hard work and chucks it on a bonfire.

Writer Pete Williams says privilege is “being resentful at someone for having something that you don’t.”

Turning this word into a grenade has given many an excuse to embrace mediocrity. They assume everyone has rich parents or got a huge boost to their bank account thanks to the Zip code they live in.

The hate you can have for others, thanks to the idea of privilege, is because of jealousy. You want what they have and you’re mad you didn’t get it.

Being mad by itself will do nothing. Use the anger as energy to produce different results than last year.

That’s how you become “one of the lucky ones.”

Slavery isn’t physical anymore 🔗

Modern slavery still exists.

Except now it’s mental slavery. It’s given us the digital dark ages, where most work boring-ass email jobs that require zero creativity. Netflix is used to recover from the boredom and artificially spark mild excitement.

It feels like the movie “Don’t Worry Darling” but ten times worse.

The medications to treat the issue are sugar, fat, salt, and fake dopamine spikes through apps like TikTok. They keep us mentally numb.

The only way out of the mental prison is to do the opposite of what 99% of people do. Then there’s a chance you’ll see reality for what it is and make different decisions that set your mind free.

The game is rigged unless you understand it 🔗

To escape many of the hard truths in this article you need the currency of time. The problem is the game is rigged.

You have a life and 24 hours each day. A large number of minutes in the day have to be given to work that buys food and shelter.

In this economic process, time is stolen from you through the way you’re taxed, inflation, and money printing.

Employees get taxed before they get paid. Those who get paid through a business pay tax whenever they want and however much they want. Central banks and governments every year create more money out of nowhere that makes the money in your bank account worth less.

This leads to high inflation that causes the price of everything to rise to extremes. All this leads to less money and more time needed to survive.

Without enough time, life starts to speed up and feel like it sucks.

Unless you get this game and spend time to understand it, you’ll continue to be robbed blind.

A badass human acts insane and is absolutely ridiculous 🔗

In light of everything you’ve just read, a successful person who understands these truths acts insane and is absolutely ridiculous.

And that’s the point.

Successful people say screw being normal. They realize being the odd one out is ten times better than being a boring slow-cooked froggy in a saucepan full of warm water that’s about to boil.

Expose yourself to more radical ideas. Get around uncommon people. Dare to think differently and don’t be ashamed for doing so.

Because the alternative is the modern American nightmare many people around the world live until they die.

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