8 Brutally Honest Truths About Life That Will Help You Get Your Sh*t Together

Life has never been a smooth journey. There’s not a single person who has been at least 30 years on the crazy journey called life that will ever tell you that it gets easier. Because it doesn’t.

And I know that it’s easier to believe that life is all sunshine and rainbows and live inside our own bubbles than accept and face the truth that life is not a fairytale or a Hollywood movie with a happy ending.

We’re bombarded with all those successful life stories that usually begin with some person who had a dream, then worked hard to achieve it, and voila, there they are – celebrating their success and giving us advice about how to live life to the fullest.

But, how come these “happy, successful, and inspiring” people almost never mention the bad parts: the mistakes, the failures, the disappointment, the heartbreaks, the problems, the losses?

Because that’s the truth – life doesn’t always go according to plan. No matter how sure we are that we’re in control over our lives, the universe somehow always finds a way to remind us that life is full of brutal truths. Yeah, life can really suck sometimes.  

But no matter how harsh these truths may appear, you should never ignore them because it’s only through accepting them that you’ll be able to take full responsibility for your life.

Here are 8 harsh truths that will help you get your sh*t together:

1. Life has no meaning without goals.

If you don’t have concrete goals and passions to pursue, your whole existence becomes pointless. We’re all running after something, be that a career, or finding the love of our life, or broadening our knowledge of the world, or improving ourselves, both personally and professionally.

You need to understand that it’s living your life with a purpose and knowing exactly where you’re headed that give you peace of mind and make you feel like a whole, complete person.

2. What others think about you is none of your business.

Worrying about what other people think and say about you is not only a complete waste of time but it’s ridiculous too. The thing is, no matter how good you are to people, there always be those who will say bad things about you, try to put you down, and even tarnish your reputation.

You have no responsibility to live up to other people’s expectations, always please them, and seek their validation. You’re the master of your own life and it is you who determines the course of your life.

What you need to remember is that other people’s opinions of you don’t and can’t determine your self-worth.

3. No one lives forever.

This one is probably the harshest truth of all and you might hate me for telling you this, but that’s the reality. Everyone you know, including you, will eventually die. No one can change this.

So, make sure you spend enough quality time with and appreciate your loved ones while you have them. Hug and kiss them and show them how much you love them.

4. You can’t control everything.

While you can change and improve some things about your life that you’re not satisfied with, you need to always bear in mind that you can’t control everything in life. Those who believe they can control every segment of their life always end up feeling anxious, disappointed, or angry, and they even blame themselves when they experience failure.

We all gain weight, fall ill, fail, go through heartbreaks and losses – you simply can’t control things like these. So, instead of trying to control what is impossible to control, focus your time and energy on things you actually can.

5. Failure is inevitable.

It’s true that failure makes us feel bad about ourselves and shakes our confidence, but it’s also an inseparable part of our lives. We’re all on the journey to finding our happiness and success, but no one can reach the final destination without experiencing failure.

Thus, sooner or later in life, you’ll make mistakes and terrible decisions, you’ll make a fool of yourself, and kiss a couple of wrong guys or girls. But, what you need to understand is that failure is not fatal. Oftentimes, it’s failure that provides you with the most valuable lessons about life.

If you don’t fail, you’ll never know how to pick yourself back up and find the strength and willingness to move on and continue firmly paving the road to your happiness and success.

6. What you own doesn’t add value to you as a person.

You could own the biggest and most beautiful house in the world, have luxurious cars, and accumulate tons of money, but the truth is, material things don’t define you as a person. If you’re a terrible, lying, dishonest, human being, no one is going to like and appreciate you anyway.

So, instead of running after possessions and money, focus more on gaining meaningful, rewarding experiences, creating harmonious, deep relationships with other people, and doing things which can make you a better person and which can provide you with genuine happiness and give you a sense of fulfillment.

7. Thinking is not the same thing as doing.

Daydreaming feels great, but it’s useless if it’s not followed by actions. So, if you want to be a writer, start writing. If you want to be an artist, start painting.

You may have great plans for your future, but if you don’t act on them, they’re just futile plans. You can’t just lay back, do nothing and expect some miracle to drop success in front of your door, or bring you the love of your life, or get you the career you’ve always wanted to have.

8. Worrying is useless.

Worrying won’t change the fact that things won’t always happen like we want and expect and that we’ll make mistakes and bad decisions, have problems, and fail. Whether a problem can be fixed or not, worrying about it won’t help you accomplish anything. In fact, it can only make things worse than they are and cause you to feel stressed out and helpless.

So, instead of worrying about what tomorrow will bring and what the potential future outcome of your decisions and actions might be, try to live in and enjoy the present moment and focus on the things that truly matter in life.