Connect with us

Success Advice

8 Harsh Truths About Success From a Psychologist

The truth is success only comes with discipline

Published

on

Image Credit: Midjourney

There’s a lot of trial and error on the path to success. I can personally attest to this fact, having been on the same journey myself. I was someone who would start a project with burning motivation, only to see it ebb away as I faced challenges and things got hard. I accumulated experiences of giving up and starting new.

I was always in search of quick fixes, easy wins, always expecting success to come easy. But with time and experience, I learned that this limited mindset was my biggest hindrance to being successful.

Today, I want to share 8 harsh truths about success, truths that have shaped my journey and can help yours.

1. Discipline Instead Of Motivation

The motivation we often seek in inspirational quotes or uplifting videos isn’t something you can depend on consistently. Motivation is too vulnerable; it comes and goes. The truth is success only comes with discipline. You need to form habits that make you take action, irrespective of how you feel.

Remember, you’re going to face setbacks. But it’s in these challenging times that your character is tested and shaped. Success is not an easy, quick process. It’s a journey that demands your patience, time, and undivided attention. Remember, when things get hard, these are the times when most people give up.

This is why not many people are successful. We expect it to be an easy and smooth journey with endless Motivation. The harsh truth is your Motivation will vary, and you will fail and experience many hardships. Still, you need to act regardless of how you feel and develop discipline. 

2. Single-Minded Focus And Consistency

Continuously switching between ideas will only decrease your energy. Instead, concentrate on one specific task, and dive deeper into it. Success is not achieved overnight; it’s the culmination of countless hours, days, and even months of consistent, focused work.

Find your passion, devote yourself to it, and give it at least a year before you start looking for outcomes. Remember, the road to success is a marathon, not a sprint. The harsh truth here is multi-tasking does not exist; dividing your attention will bring you nowhere. Pick something, stick to it, and pursue it.

Don’t evaluate after 1 month of trying; stick with what you pick for at least 1 year. Stay consistent and try without focusing too much on the outcome. You have to be patient; if you want to have easy money, easy success fast, you will fail. 

3. Physical Activity Is Key 

In our pursuit of success, we often overlook the importance of physical health. Exercise isn’t just about weight management or fitness; it’s also about improving your psychological well-being. It stimulates endorphin production, making you feel happier, more focused, and more resilient.

Neglecting physical exercise will make you more susceptible to diseases, laziness, and failure. The harsh truth is that you will fail if you think you can get ahead without being physically active. 

4. Create A Priority Checklist

Organization is key to productivity. By creating a priority checklist, you make sure that your most important tasks are handled first, helping you avoid distractions. This strategy promotes self-integrity and creates momentum as you see yourself completing tasks.

If you lack organization, you may end up avoiding the challenging tasks, hindering your growth. I used to spend too much time on less important things because they were easier to do, avoiding the important, harder-to-do tasks. Sure enough, I only made small progress.

The harsh truth is if you don’t organize your working days, you will procrastinate and not focus on what you really need to do.

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” – Pele

5. Evaluate Your Circle

“You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.”

Look at your friends. Are they ambitious and supportive? Or are they complacent and laugh at your goals? Sometimes, your friends are the ones to pull you down, fearing your success. The harsh truth is sometimes loneliness might be the price you need to pay for success.

6. Focus On What You Can Control

It’s easy to lose ourselves in the problem, but you need to focus on the solution. If you can’t change the situation, move on. Complaining about uncontrollable factors will only hinder your progress.

The harsh truth is: If you are constantly complaining about things like who the president is, the taxes you need to pay, the weather, and the selfishness of people, etc., you will fail. Focus on things you can control.

7. Outwork Your Self-Doubt

One thing is for sure. You will doubt yourself. You will have imposter syndrome. Affirmations are cool, but again, not sustainable. In order to be truly successful, you need to change within. You need to build integrity. That means you will outwork your self-doubt by doing the things you said you’ll do.

Self-doubt is normal; you can use affirmations but don’t forget your work. Here again, the harsh truth is Work Work Work, no matter how you feel, outwork your self-doubt until there is no denying anymore.

8. Recognize And Challenge Your Mindset

Recognize that you have a poor mindset. You might be surrounded by less successful people than you aspire to be. Recognize that you have been programmed to have a poor mindset and to resist growth. To resist money. You have to break out of that. The harsh truth is here; If you don’t recognize your poor mindset, you will self-sabotage yourself whenever you see success.

Looking back, I realize how my old habits of not exercising, complaining, being inconsistent, hanging around with poor-minded friends, and having a poor mindset myself were blocking my path to success. I am still a work in progress, but I take these 8 hard truths as my mantra.

I remind myself daily that the road to success is not easy, but it’s worth it. I want to leave you with Charles Bukowski’s words, which I put as my screen saver: “If you are going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start.” 

Heythem Naji is a psychologist and blogger dedicated to teaching mental and physical health. Heythem's Blog integrates the complexities of mind and body, giving comprehensive, actionable insights by combining professional expertise with a personal narrative. Learn more here.

Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Change Your Mindset

You Become What You Absorb: How Input Shapes Your Life

We let the world dictate who we spend time with and what input we allow in, rarely stopping to consider the effects it’s having on us

Published

on

How Input Shapes Your Life
Image Credit: Midjourney

“Input” is anything from the outside world that influences your mood, mindset, and emotional state. It includes the media you consume, the books you read, the podcasts and music you listen to, and the movies and shows you watch. But it also encompasses much more: the environment you live and work in, the conversations you have, the people you surround yourself with, and the events, personal or global, that unfold around you. (more…)

Continue Reading

Success Advice

This Overlooked Skill Drives Real Business Growth

It strengthens relationships, enhances decision-making, and fosters trust.

Published

on

Importance of listening in leadership
Image Credit: Midjourney

In every successful leader’s toolkit, one skill stands out above the rest: the ability to listen. While good leaders are known for making confident decisions, great leaders understand that those decisions are only as strong as the information they’re based on. And that information? It comes from truly listening to their teams, peers, and even critics. (more…)

Continue Reading

Scale Your Business

Tired of Wasting Money on the Wrong Marketers? Here’s How Smart Entrepreneurs Are Finally Hiring Right

Published

on

truthmetric, burning money on marketing

If you’ve ever Googled how to hire a Facebook marketer or best TikTok marketing agency only to spend thousands on someone who couldn’t deliver…congrats, you’ve joined a very expensive club! For many entrepreneurs, hiring a digital marketer feels like more like visiting a casino and gambling with your runway, than it feels like securing a partner who’ll help build your business. Often,  it feels like you’re betting on a stranger to grow the dream you’ve poured your savings into.

And way too often, you lose that bet.

You don’t need another list of the “Top 10 Agencies” with five-star testimonials and polished logos. You need to know which marketer can actually drive results for your business. Not in theory. In practice.

This is where entrepreneurs are learning to pivot. And it’s why a new platform called TruthMetric.com is turning heads across the startup world.

Why Most Startups Burn Through 3–6 Marketers Before Finding the Right One

Here’s the hard truth: most startups don’t fail because of their product, they fail because they can’t get sales or sell it fast enough. And in trying to fix that, founders usually go through five or six marketers, burning tens of thousands before finding someone who truly knows how to convert.

You build your product, get your website live, maybe even launch an ad campaign. But when you search for help and look up how to “hire a YouTube ads agency” or “top Facebook ad expert for Shopify”, you get hit with a sea of shiny portfolios, “ninja” titles, and endless promises.

Three months later, you’re still waiting on your first profitable campaign, and you’re most likely out tens of thousands, feeling utterly defeated…and maybe grinning with an affinity for that upcoming boxing class with a picture of that marketer’s fac……nevermind.

If this sounds like you, it’s time for what one entrepreneur called a strategic shift to scale smarter, not harder.

Introducing TruthMetric.com: The Transparent Marketplace for Hiring Marketers Who Deliver

TruthMetric.com isn’t just another freelancer platform or agency directory. It’s the first hiring solution where you can see three years of real, verified marketing performance before spending a dime.

That includes:

  • Verified ad campaign performance
  • Actual return on ad spend (ROAS)
  • Industry-specific experience
  • Platform specialties (Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Google Ads, and more)

Whether you’re looking for a Facebook ads expert, a TikTok marketer, or a YouTube growth strategist, TruthMetric.com lets you filter and compare based on what actually matters, results.

This level of clarity is something you won’t find on platforms like Upwork or Fiverr. And it solves what many founders know too well as the New York Pizza Problem: where every marketer claims they’re “the best,” just like every pizzeria in Manhattan says they’re #1. Often without showing you results, you get sucked into this dream of collaboration, until the nightmare commences the moment you fork that first invoice payment. Hence the deception that leads to many business owners losing their hard earned savings and budget to launch their grand idea.

With TruthMetric, you finally get the data to decide for yourself, BEFORE you hire. Now if only New York Pizza shops had the same transparency then maybe you’d finally find the best pizza in New York, perhaps the perfect post work out after a boxing sesh? I think so!

Why Founders Are Shifting to Results-First Hiring

Most entrepreneurs think they need to do it all themselves, until they burn out or burn through their budget. That’s exactly why this founder had to drop the Superman complex and hire a marketing genius.

What makes TruthMetric so powerful is that it turns hiring into a confident move, not a hopeful one. You’re no longer guessing. You’re choosing from proven performers. You know what vertical they dominate. You know their past client performance. You see the monthly results from the campaigns they ran, and the outcomes they achieved.

It’s not just efficient. It’s empowering.

Scaling Quickly Requires Automation and Eliminating the Noise

Founders who scale quickly understand one thing: growth isn’t just about hustle, it’s about systems. TruthMetric is the system for finding great marketers at speed. No more DM’ing ten freelancers or interviewing agencies feeling like you are asking the world of them to just see some prior results. Instead you get to see the information you need to make an informed decision and plug into verified talent, all ready to perform.

This difference allows for you to match perfectly with the right talent quickly. If you’re building your business to run lean and fast, this convenience plugged in with automation can help you scale your small business right alongside your new marketing hires.

Why TruthMetric Is Also a Boon for Marketers, Not Just Founders

This isn’t just a win for founders, it is a gift for great marketers, too.

If you’re a freelance marketer who’s been quietly pulling 10x ROAS for clients while being passed over for flashy agencies, you now have a stage where your results speak louder than your brand.

TruthMetric is a true meritocracy. No fluff. No sales tricks. Just data.

If you’re tired of being overlooked and ready to stand out based on what you actually deliver, this is your home.

The Secret Weapon for Investors and M&A Operators

There’s another angle here that some of our readers might miss.

Investors, private equity firms, and M&A advisors should be drooling at the thought of having a proven talent pool they can plug and play and the ability to use TruthMetric to revive underperforming companies. Imagine acquiring a business or becoming an active investor, then dropping in a verified operator with a history of explosive growth in that niche.

It’s plug-and-play. Scale on demand.

That kind of insight has never been available before. You couldn’t do this on Upwork. You certainly can’t do it through a friend-of-a-friend referral. 

And when it comes to attracting high-performing talent, here’s how to hire top talent and keep them around.

Let’s Really Drive This Home…

If you’ve wasted money on agencies or freelancers who couldn’t deliver, it’s not because you’re bad at hiring, it’s because the game was stacked against you. Trusting dreamy charismatic sales pitches over data was a doomed approach from the start. 

TruthMetric levels the playing field by showing you what no other talent marketplace does and that’s proof.

Real marketers. Real results. Real growth.

It’s time to stop guessing and start hiring based on data.
Visit TruthMetric.com and make your next marketing hire the one that actually works.

Continue Reading

Personal Development

The Real Reason Successful People Are Never Late

More than just good manners, punctuality is a vital professional and personal trait.

Published

on

Successful people are punctual
Image Credit: Midjourney

How do you feel when your flight is delayed, throwing your entire schedule into chaos? Or when a patient dies due to a doctor’s tardiness? What about missing a job opportunity because your driver showed up late? And how do you react when someone walks in late without the basic courtesy of apologizing? (more…)

Continue Reading

Trending