Facts are scary things because they force you to tell the truth.
To face reality for what it really is as opposed to living in some fantasy world that you’ve dreamed up in your brain.
That’s the double-edged sword of being a human endowed with the incredible power of creativity.
On one hand, it has led to the creation of things like automobiles, boats, planes, central plumbing, rockets, medicine, the printing press, the internet, smartphones, and computers.
Yet on the other, it allows you to deceive yourself.
It allows you to tell a fabricated story instead of facing the cold hard facts.
For example…
You avoid looking at your credit card statements and bank account so you can continue telling yourself the lie that your personal finance plan is working.
You avoid looking at your profit and loss statement so you can continue telling yourself the lie that your business is working.
You avoid stepping on the scale, looking at yourself in the mirror, or throwing down in the gym so you can continue telling yourself the lie that your training and nutrition plan is working.
You avoid asking your wife how loved, supported, and intimate she feels in your marriage so you can continue telling yourself the lie that your marriage is working.
And so on and so forth…
Yet facts are not and should not be scary.
They are neither good nor bad.
They just are.
But fearing the facts and an inability to face the facts for what they are that’s prohibiting you from evolving into the person you desire to be.
Because growth cannot happen without first facing the facts.
You have to clearly know where you are right now before you can determine what direction you must head.
For example, I’ll take very different routes to get to New York City if I’m currently in Boston vs. London.
You have to be able to look at the facts objectively without emotion and say - “Okay, these are the facts about how x is right now.”
Maybe the facts are great and you don’t need to change anything.
Or, more importantly, maybe the facts show you that you’re off track and need to course correct.
That’s the thing with lies and failing to face the facts…
All big lies stem first from little lies.
Little lies that build up day over day, week over week, month over month, and year over year.
They seem harmless at first, but then next thing you know 2 years have gone by and you’ve totally missed the mark.
Think of it like running a marathon.
There’s a starting line, there’s a destination and there’s a route to get you from one to the other.
As you run the race you take a wrong turn.
There are dozens of warning signs alerting you to the fact that you are off course and need to turn around, yet you ignore them and keep on running, and running, and running…
Until you stop 5 hours later wondering how in the world you hadn’t crossed the finish line yet.
Even worse, if you’re like much of society today, you’ll blame the race coordinator or anyone else you can find for letting you get off track (even though YOU are the one who failed to face the facts).
Ultimately, if you aren’t happy with your fitness, finances, family, friendships, or faith right now, it’s because you have failed to face the facts, take ownership and course correct.
🎯 Your Fact-Finding Mission
In that post, I said the following:
If you don’t feel like you are winning in life right now, take a hard look at these 5 f’s and assess yourself honestly:
What are the facts about your current fitness?
What are the facts about your current finances?
What are the facts about your current family?
What are the facts about your current friends?
What are the facts about your current faith?
And I received numerous follow-up questions asking if I could unpack those 5 questions further.
Below you will find a series of prompts to help you gain more clarity on what the facts are in the big 5 f’s in your life.
This list is by no means comprehensive, but I believe it’s a great starting place.
So, look at your calendar now and find a time to block off 2 hours to work through the below questions seriously.
Your first instinct will be to rush through it, but I implore you not to do that. Give yourself a full 2 hours in a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed, with your phone on airplane mode.
If you take this seriously, I promise this will be some of the most important work you do this year.
Now go 🚀
Fitness
What are the facts about your fat, muscle, body image, height, and weight?
What are the facts about your gut, colon, hearing, eyesight, spine, brain function, injuries, and disease?
What are the facts about your sleep?
What are the facts about your current workout routine, fitness, strength, athleticism, mobility, flexibility, physique and cardio?
What are the facts about your energy levels?
What are the facts about your sex drive?
What are the facts about your physical hobbies?
What are the facts about your current “medical” team (doctors, trainers, nutritionists, chiros, dentists, physical therapists, etc.)?
What are the facts about your current blood work, hormones, toxicity and inner organ function?
What are the facts about your food consumption and daily supplements?
What are the facts about your use of alcohol?
What are the facts about your overall sense that your body is a weapon?
Family
What are the facts about your authentic communication with your spouse?
What are the facts about how much quality time you spend with your spouse?
What are the facts about your sex drive and sex life with your spouse?
What are the facts about your friendship with your spouse?
What are the facts about how much fun you have with your spouse?
What are the facts about your open and honest communication with your children?
What are the facts about how much quality time you invest in your children?
What are the facts about your parenting skills and leadership of your children?
What are the facts about your guidance and leadership of your family to a better future?
What are the facts about the amount of time and energy you invest in yourself outside of marriage, family and business?
Friends
What are the facts about your current friends and your trust in them?
What are the facts about your friends helping you grow into the person you desire to be?
What are the facts about how much time you spend with your friends?
What are the facts about how much fun you have with your friends?
Finance
What are the facts about your relationship with money?
What are the facts about your current income, your method of making that money and how you feel about both?
What are the facts about your current savings?
What are the facts about your current assets and investments?
What are the facts about your debt?
What are the facts about your emergency/rainy day fund?
What are the facts about your taxes and tax knowledge?
What are the facts about your current financial literacy and money lifestyle?
Faith
What are the facts about your connectedness to God, religion or some greater purpose/spirit?
What are the facts about your meditation practice?
What are the facts about your journaling practice?
What are the facts about your self-awareness, vulnerability and authenticity?
What are the facts about the role personal development plays in your life?
What are the facts about the energy you invest in better understanding yourself?
What are the facts about you living your purpose and vision?
What are the facts about you demonstrating spiritual leadership for others?