I can't keep doing this to myself

Guys, I'm making this video out of necessity. There's a large part of me—it's been the prevailing part of me as of late—that makes me not want to make this video because it's unfiltered, because it's not ready. What I want to say isn't totally polished. I haven't thought of all the shots that I'm gonna use; I haven't thought of the lenses that I'm gonna use. This perfectionistic part of me needs to die because it's getting in the way of what I want to do with my life.

I've known my whole life that overcomplicating things, thinking about them a million times, planning things endlessly, pales in comparison to doing the thing with an unrefined decisiveness. Right now, I'm supposed to be editing a completely different video, but it's taking me so long to do it, and I'm growing so increasingly frustrated with myself that I had to pull out this camera and talk to you guys about my own inner struggle. Hopefully, you guys can relate.

This is why I made this channel: it's because I'm trying to live and get out there as much as I can, gain new experiences, and I will always have sort of an "aha" moment that I want to share with you guys. It happens all the time—talking about life and the best way to live it—it goes so deeply into the core of my being. I never stop talking about this type of stuff. But what ends up happening is I have something very genuine I want to say, then I put on a whole charade around it that sometimes, by the end of it, what I'm saying isn't as genuine. It has turned from a core idea that is extremely authentic into a little bit of a production, and that's not all bad.

A good example of this is probably my favorite video on the channel in action: "Is a Slow Death." That video, from beginning to end, is probably my favorite video on the channel by far. Everything that I said was carefully considered—not from a place of trying to sound smart—but it was something I genuinely felt with every fiber of my being. The shots and all the imagery that I used to convey this message came naturally. It was like, "Oh, of course, it'd be so cool if I did this," and, "You know, I feel like that would be such a good moment if this happened."

But there are other times where I kind of forget what I'm doing. You know, I sit here because I have a deadline for a sponsor, like this video by the way. I'll sit here, and it's like, "Oh, it's time for me to sound smart now. Here." When you think about your life, I watched older videos of mine where there's periods where I just feel very basic and I just don't really care about how I'm coming across, and I preferred that way more. It just reminds me of how overcomplicated I'm making everything, and you're probably the same way because I have a feeling that I'm not alone with my overcomplication.

I actually feel like procrastination, and when you're not living your best life, it's just a form of overcomplication. I use the gym example all the time, but I think it's a really good example. When you really want to go to the gym, maybe you've gone to the gym very consistently in the past, and you start thinking about how you should be going to the gym more, so you start looking up, you know, the best workout split to do, the best supplements, workout clothes, and your mind goes down this rabbit hole that has nothing to do with working out because all working out is is going to the gym and lifting heavy stuff.

All you need to do to get jacked is show up to the gym three days a week, push more weight than you did last time, and eat more food than you usually do gradually. That's all you need to do, and I guarantee you can have the best physique of your life on beans and rice. The only catch is you show up to the gym and you try as hard as you can to push more weight than you did last time. That is it.

The person who does that day after day, week after week, month after month will be in an infinitely better place than the person who knows the best workout split, the best supplements, yada yada yada, the best diet to be on, and maybe guiltily convinces himself to go to the gym like a few times within that time frame. That person is left in the dust.

I feel the same way about making content right now, to be honest. I'm watching so many people who, you know, make worse production value videos than I do, and they're killing it. You know, they are crushing the YouTube game because they're making content, they're showing up and making videos, and sometimes it misses, and sometimes it's a banger. But they're just showing up; they're putting in the work, whether an idea is super refined and it's their favorite idea of all time or not. They're just showing up, talking to the camera, and putting in the work.

It's really got me thinking about how there is no substitute for putting in the work. There is zero substitute, and any sort of overcomplication or procrastination, it's just denial. You're denying the reality that you will eventually have to sit in front of the camera and talk to it. You're denying the reality that you'll have to drive to the gym and push heavy weights. You're denying the reality that you're gonna have to sit down and do your taxes and file them, and it's going to be very difficult and very boring. But it's a reality that you cannot escape from, no matter how hard you try.

You'll be faced with the suck. Shit's gonna suck, and the sooner you realize that and embrace the suck for what it is, you fully submit to it. Then right around the corner, there is the redemptive element of it. You embrace the suck, and then you're transformed by it. You feel good about yourself because you're no longer living in this anxious denial. You're sitting down, you're doing the hard thing, and you're moving your life forward.

It's that simple. Changing your entire life, being a good person, being a strong person, developing virtue, eliminating vice—there is not a thing that's complicated about it. But it's not the same as it being easy. It's very difficult; it's very uncomfortable. It's a sucky thing, but the sooner you can embrace the suck, the sooner that you can make something out of it.

You don't have to shroud your life in this anxious regret, this denial, this running from, "Oh, what if doing my taxes is less fun than scrolling Instagram?" It is! But is scrolling Instagram for 16 hours fun? I don't think it's very fun. It's like there's dopamine or something, right? There's something going on that keeps you doing it, but your soul leaves your body. You start to decay as a human being. That's not fun; you're not living in this really good, enriching, empowering existence when you're doing that. You're living in denial.

But instead of living in a triumphant pain, you're living in a degenerative pain. It's pain either way, but one builds you up and makes you feel really good about yourself. The other one makes you hardly recognize yourself after a long enough period of time, utterly stripping you of your identity. So this begs the question—you watching this right now—what are you overcomplicating in your life? What is something that you want to make progress on? You know, if it's a habit, or a lifestyle change, or whatever, what is that thing, and how are you overcomplicating it?

What creative ways are you employing to deny the fact that it sucks? So I implore you, I beg you, to take a deep breath, relinquish all that stress from your body, and put one foot in front of the other and go do it. That's it! Yeah, it sucks. Embrace it.

I want to thank Athletic Greens for sponsoring this video and for being a cool, chill company that lets me say whatever I want, whether or not it's related to health and wellness. As I've mentioned before, Athletic Greens is a unique sponsor because I reached out to them; they didn't reach out to me. I reached out to them because I used their products for like a year and a half, or two years or something like that continuously, and it made me feel so good that I reached out to them and said, "Hey, I would love to rep your stuff. I am a huge believer in AG1 and the way that it makes me feel throughout the day."

That's because it's packed with over 75 vitamins, minerals, whole foods source superfoods, and adaptogens. With every single scoop, AG1 makes sure that you're giving your body everything it needs to stay focused, energized, healthy, and optimized throughout the day. Probably my favorite thing about AG1 is that I essentially ditched my cupboard full of various herbal potions and multivitamins and whatnot in favor of just a single scoop of AG1. It's kind of the simplest way to give your body everything it needs to function well.

So, as usual, if you want to check out Athletic Greens and join me in this very simple health optimization habit that I've been doing for over two years, then click my link in the description below. You'll also receive a year's supply of the vitamin D3 and K2 complex, which I also have every single morning, as well as five AG1 travel packs with your first purchase. So make sure to hit up that link, and thanks again to Athletic Greens for sponsoring this video.

So guys, turn off the phone, stop living in denial, go do what you need to do.