Stop Thinking the Journey Has to Be Painful and Arduous.

You're allowed to enjoy it. You're actually supposed to. Otherwise, you become bitter and resentful.

I used to think I wasn't doing anything worthwhile if the process wasn't excruciatingly painful.

I thought you were supposed to suffer first so you could succeed.

Ironically, this type of mindset let me down paths I shouldn't have pursued because I ended up making my life and pursuits more complicated than they needed to be.

I delayed moving forward on many occasions because I thought, 'There's no way it can be this simple.'

The reality is many of us (the overthinkers) make the idea of performing or doing a task much harder than it actually is.

And in that process of imagining how hard it will be, we either sabotage our progress or quit altogether because we think we don't have what it takes to do it (and never will).

I wanted to share with you some truths about doing anything in life that have helped me move forward and accomplish goals I used to dream of.

1. No one is ever really ready.

If you told me two years ago that I would be renting a one-bedroom apartment, living completely independently and according to how I always wanted, I would have laughed in your face and said you were confusing me with someone else.

I wasn't ready to move out when the time came for it. I didn't feel like I had figured out everything I needed to figure out to do it.

But that didn't matter at the time because there was the urgency of needing to find a place to live or return to my parent's place.

(I love them, but I wasn't going to do that after eight years).

So, I asked for help.

I told a few friends about my situation, and one of them connected me to someone they knew was looking for a tenant, and it was a match made in renter heaven.

I've lived in my apartment for over a year and six months, and it's been one of the best experiences.

But like I said, I wasn't ready for it when the time came.

Instead of overwhelming myself with ideas of what could go wrong, I took the pressure off myself to figure it all out and took it one month at a time.

Because that's all you can really do.

It was the same with writing and publishing on this platform for the first time.

I had no idea what to expect, but instead of overthinking it, I clicked 'publish' and hoped for the best.

2. Nothing will ever get done if you don't ACT.

You can't think your way out of your current situation. You have to do something about it.

In college, I dreamed of moving out, having a place, and doing whatever I wanted with the space.

Looking back, I realized I had plenty of opportunities to do so.

The only thing that ever stopped me was my overthinking and lack of action.

I talked myself out of many different opportunities because of my fear of what the action looked like.

(I constantly thought I would epically fail at every attempt because I didn't 'feel ready.')

I thought that to get what I wanted, I needed to go through crazy, ridiculous challenges and be at the top of the mountain to finally reap the reward.

In those days, I mostly imagined myself acting; I wasn't actually doing anything.

This is another trap many of us fall into.

We think we're doing enough to get to the next level. But we're often just spending a ton of energy thinking about it.

We think our mental exhaustion is a sign of work, but it's not; it's just obsessing over the destination.

And as the subtitle says, nothing will ever get done if you don't act.

So stop thinking so much, stop overcomplicating what 'it' looks like, and take the plunge.

Just count to three and go.

3. You don't have all the answers and NEVER will.

Humble yourself and ask for help. It will make the process a lot easier.

I used to think I was a lone wolf. In many aspects, I am because I like to figure out how things work, and I love spending time alone.

But I took it too far in the past, thinking I had to do everything alone.

It wasn't until I turned twenty-three that I humbled myself and asked for help because I realized I was unhappy with who I was and what I was doing.

Ever since, I've learned to ask questions and look for answers constantly.

Granted, I still get that kick to want to go at it alone, but now I'm much better at recognizing when to ask for help rather than suffering and wondering what the heck to do next.

4. It won't happen on the first try (for the vast majority of us).

If it does, you got lucky, but as the saying goes, smooth seas never made a skilled sailor.

I used to think that if something didn't work out the first time, then it wasn't meant to be.

I had to learn the hard way that things not working out is due to giving up, which is 100% my fault.

Not something anyone wants to hear, but it's necessary if you're sick and tired of getting in your own way.

This is why picking something you genuinely enjoy is key.

It's why I picked writing.

Writing, for me, is more than just a side hustle. It's a way to express my thoughts, organize them, make sense of them, understand them better, get a better idea of what I want to say, what I truly mean, etc.

Writing is how I get to know myself better and understand what I want to do and where I want to go.

It's one of my guides that helps me understand life.

But just because it's simple doesn't mean it's supposed to be easy.

Making money as a writer is one of the craziest, most challenging things I've ever done, and I'm only at the start of my journey.

But I'm enjoying every part of it, the good and the bad.

The great thing about enjoying what you do is that the bad isn't so bad.

And when it's good, it's pretty freaking amazing.

So go out there, try that side hustle or side job, or take that new opportunity that seems way out of your comfort zone, but you're still willing to try it (I did it with bartending, and now I make a cushy living from it).

Go out there, start your journey, find what you enjoy, and don't believe anyone telling you you have to struggle and suffer most of the way.

You can enjoy the journey regardless of the obstacles and reap the rewards.