Executing So Hard My To-Do List Has A Body Count-- This Thread Will Melt Your Face Off With Hustle Energy

[BellaPippin]

​

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[BellaPippin]

Scrape a big list of businesses in your area. (use apify "google business search")

Any industry.

Export big a$$ list

add column checkbox for good site or bad site

Filter for all bad sites then upload big a$$ list into a route optimizer and spend a day driving around.

Genius! Thank you! I can do this on a day off.

 

[EngineerThis]

Bella your personality shines through, I would assume your website design reflects that, if so I probably have a job for you in the near future. I want something fun, loud, and different!

 

[wal]

I can think of so many better dopamine hits than pitching stuff. Never had a whole pizza?

I imagine this is the same guys go thru to ask girls out.

"the worse she can say is no"

then she be like:

"I'd rather die of rabies"

I was more eluding to the dopamine hit you get when it WORKS. Not necessarily the pitch itself haha!

I've never made a sales pitch but I can imagine it's probably the same kind of reality lol

 

[Saucepan Steve]

I heard you like a good, clickbaity title...


AIGHT

You know the reason I don't make an execution thread is bc if I do it, then I gotta do what I say I'm going to do, and even if I do, I can fail. And that's hard, vulnerable and out of my comfort zone. :B

But here it is... even though I still don't want to do it.

The goal: make what I make (or more) at my part-time job before the 1st year anniversary (July), quitting optional.


I grabbed it to put more money into savings, pay off debt, pay the couple last semesters tuition from my mobile app program.


Hubs makes enough to be very comfortable while I took care of the household stuff/teens but I felt useless anyway. Especially with so many boxes of ish unsold in my basement.


Getting a job for a stable paycheck is one thing I'm good at. Was taught that way and I'm good at it.


But it's stupid because I could make what I make in a month with a single website, and do it from home in my pajamas without pretending I give a fudge about company culture.


You all know this, ofc. I know this.


Yes you can make a website with ChatGPT but let's not go into that again. Small biz in Boofoo Suburb, IL won't take advantage of that any time soon.



Le Action


Back in December I found this stupidly outdated, HTML 101 Y2K website for a spa in the next town over while I was looking for couples massages. After being told they were booked out, I squeezed my imaginary friend's hand and said something like:


"I noticed your website could use a new face and I'd love to help you, is the owner around to see if they are interested?"


Ofc I got a no, a "give me your contact and she'll come back to you after the holidays", and hung up.


I gotta follow up on that one until I can talk to the actual owner. I swear, that website is a crime.





Last Saturday I was having breakfast at my fav diner, we're some VIPs there, their avocado toast is fire. Everybody knows us. I checked their website while we were eating. Simple WP theme, not mobile optimized though. Did the job.

On my way out I squeezed my imaginary friend's hand again and approached the owner lady, who's always there and knows all her customers personally:


"Owner Lady, let me ask you a question... do you manage your own website and Facebook page? Or do you have someone do it for you?"



Honestly my follow up to that was gonna be "well, you know I can make and update websites and you'll be seeing me next weekend and next and next, so if you ever have any website needs I'd love to help you"



But I hit jackpot.


"I do actually --she said,-- I pay someone and they don't do for me! I pay them, I've sent them new menus and they haven't changed anything at all in idk how long! I did not know you could do that!"


After a couple questions on who has access to the hosting and whatnot, she wrote down my name/number and she said she'd be in touch after she gets the access from the person she's been paying.



Gotta follow up on that, but even if it doesn't land, that positive interaction felt godly.






Well, there you have it...

YES, GODDAMNIT.



Next steps:

1- Keep picking more places in town and be brave enough to ask the question until someone says yes. 3 places before the end of the week.

2- Think what to say after they say yes. How much do I charge? What are my payment terms? Should I get a basic contract ready?

Funniest post I've seen yet here, thanks for sharing and don't lose that charisma!

 

[Stargazer]

Bella your personality shines through, I would assume your website design reflects that, if so I probably have a job for you in the near future. I want something fun, loud, and different!

Is this the sort of thing you had in mind with a 'Fun Stuff' page you don't usually see on yawn inducing websites?

LINGsCARS.com: Car Leasing, Business & Personal Deals

Lease a new car with LINGsCARS – the UK’s quirkiest, most fun car leasing site! No hidden fees, no hassle, just epic deals & top customer service. Get started today!

www.lingscars.com

25 year old car leasing business she started with one car that outsells Hertz and Avis and others in her local area.

Caveat being this is her personality and therefore comes across like this on TV and radio.

Dan

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Private Witt]

Is this the sort of thing you had in mind with a 'Fun Stuff' page you don't usually see on yawn inducing websites?

LINGsCARS.com: Car Leasing, Business & Personal Deals

Lease a new car with LINGsCARS – the UK’s quirkiest, most fun car leasing site! No hidden fees, no hassle, just epic deals & top customer service. Get started today!

www.lingscars.com

25 year old car leasing business she started with one car that outsells Hertz and Avis and others in her local area.

Caveat being this is her personality and therefore comes across like this on TV and radio.

Dan

 

[Jerma]

I was doing something similar in the past (15 years ago, wow). One thing that really helped was when I started working with a small marketing agency. They did all the client acquisition and I gained a lot of experience. Maybe something you could try replicating.

 

[Antifragile]

I heard you like a good, clickbaity title...


AIGHT

You know the reason I don't make an execution thread is bc if I do it, then I gotta do what I say I'm going to do, and even if I do, I can fail. And that's hard, vulnerable and out of my comfort zone. :B

But here it is... even though I still don't want to do it.

The goal: make what I make (or more) at my part-time job before the 1st year anniversary (July), quitting optional.


I grabbed it to put more money into savings, pay off debt, pay the couple last semesters tuition from my mobile app program.


Hubs makes enough to be very comfortable while I took care of the household stuff/teens but I felt useless anyway. Especially with so many boxes of ish unsold in my basement.


Getting a job for a stable paycheck is one thing I'm good at. Was taught that way and I'm good at it.


But it's stupid because I could make what I make in a month with a single website, and do it from home in my pajamas without pretending I give a fudge about company culture.


You all know this, ofc. I know this.


Yes you can make a website with ChatGPT but let's not go into that again. Small biz in Boofoo Suburb, IL won't take advantage of that any time soon.



Le Action


Back in December I found this stupidly outdated, HTML 101 Y2K website for a spa in the next town over while I was looking for couples massages. After being told they were booked out, I squeezed my imaginary friend's hand and said something like:


"I noticed your website could use a new face and I'd love to help you, is the owner around to see if they are interested?"


Ofc I got a no, a "give me your contact and she'll come back to you after the holidays", and hung up.


I gotta follow up on that one until I can talk to the actual owner. I swear, that website is a crime.





Last Saturday I was having breakfast at my fav diner, we're some VIPs there, their avocado toast is fire. Everybody knows us. I checked their website while we were eating. Simple WP theme, not mobile optimized though. Did the job.

On my way out I squeezed my imaginary friend's hand again and approached the owner lady, who's always there and knows all her customers personally:


"Owner Lady, let me ask you a question... do you manage your own website and Facebook page? Or do you have someone do it for you?"



Honestly my follow up to that was gonna be "well, you know I can make and update websites and you'll be seeing me next weekend and next and next, so if you ever have any website needs I'd love to help you"



But I hit jackpot.


"I do actually --she said,-- I pay someone and they don't do for me! I pay them, I've sent them new menus and they haven't changed anything at all in idk how long! I did not know you could do that!"


After a couple questions on who has access to the hosting and whatnot, she wrote down my name/number and she said she'd be in touch after she gets the access from the person she's been paying.



Gotta follow up on that, but even if it doesn't land, that positive interaction felt godly.






Well, there you have it...

YES, GODDAMNIT.



Next steps:

1- Keep picking more places in town and be brave enough to ask the question until someone says yes. 3 places before the end of the week.

2- Think what to say after they say yes. How much do I charge? What are my payment terms? Should I get a basic contract ready?

Fun read.

What would it take for you to use AI and create a website for the “crime spa”?

See, I can use fancy copywriters’ secret fun language too! And in an old and old school businessman.

Jokes aside, I mean it. Instead of asking for business, what if you did it, gave it away?

Monetization is hard but here something crazy. I have this old mentor, he’s in his 80s. He’s “I retired in the 90s, bought a few thousand acres and since I’m bored… helped over 400 businesses succeed too” kind of guy.

His pricing model - I’ll come in, do the work, you decide what it was worth to you and pay me that. If it leads to future interactions, great, if not, great.

It’s shocking how much he makes!

When someone delivers something truly valuable, most people will do whatever it takes to continue with that person.

Just a thought.

Good luck.


Edit: just because you seem like a good person who needs a little confidence boost. For my business, I’ve paid:
- simple website: $10k per project
- complex “mothership” website: $60k + annual $6k maintenance service.
That’s on top of me paying for all hosting, backups (with hosting) etc.

Most of the money went for copywriting. Technical design was pretty easy and fast. No one needs more coders.

All people but one (out of a few dozen) that I hired for copywriting sucked so bad, I wanted to tear my own hear just to have a distraction from frustration. Mostly because none of them even remotely understood my business the way I did.

And yes, I paid all that because it had to be done.

If you ever find a way to niche down and understand a business you are supporting, like an owner does, there’s a lot of money in it. I pay to buy back my time. That’s how I price who I hire.

 

[BellaPippin]

*UPDATE*
In the last episode I set this goal of 3 biz called before the end of the week...

I know I'm supposed to make the time so this isn't the update I was hoping to give, lol. I'm not gonna make excuses other than I need to find a way to call within business hours- possibly my lunch time plus I wasted all my winter break and now I have school on top of everything bc I procrastinate like that. I'm thinking of asking for less hours so I have two off days and work on this then, besides class.

If this thread works for accountability the way having a weekly nutrition coach helped me get rid of 25lbs of fat I was carrying from medication-related overeating, I'll get somewhere, I promise.

Fun read.

What would it take for you to use AI and create a website for the “crime spa”?

See, I can use fancy copywriters’ secret fun language too! And in an old and old school businessman.

Jokes aside, I mean it. Instead of asking for business, what if you did it, gave it away?

I like this. I might get more interest/easier YES if I show how it could look like. I promise you I don't even have to try to make it look better, because it is that bad. And I don't need to code it or anything I can make a simple mock up to show. The thing with Crime Spa is that the receptionist is a total gatekeeper and I haven't been able to find contact info for the owner to try to go around her. I might have to drive there for which I need time, however they are probably open during the weekend or at least Saturday. I doubt the owner is there on a Saturday BUT maybe I can leave a printed mock up, something physical for her to pass on.

I'm also going to follow up on Diner lady when I see her tomorrow for breakfast. It's been two weeks. I know she's really really busy because she's told us all she does, so I'll bring it up tomorrow when she's going around asking everyone how they're doing.

Is this the sort of thing you had in mind with a 'Fun Stuff' page you don't usually see on yawn inducing websites?

LINGsCARS.com: Car Leasing, Business & Personal Deals

Lease a new car with LINGsCARS – the UK’s quirkiest, most fun car leasing site! No hidden fees, no hassle, just epic deals & top customer service. Get started today!

www.lingscars.com

25 year old car leasing business she started with one car that outsells Hertz and Avis and others in her local area.

Caveat being this is her personality and therefore comes across like this on TV and radio.

Dan

This is hilarious. Reminded me of this:

I'm not gonna lie I have a very low capacity for hustling compared to everyone here. I hit my sleep goal every day or I crumble like a Nature Valley granola bar. I'm all over town either working, running errands for the household, doing chores, maybe homework if I don't leave it for the weekend, by 7pm after dinner is done I'm gassed, my brain is smooth and I'm ready to go to bed. Not even doom scrolling, just sleeping.

I'm going to try hitting a second coffee/yerba mate/regular coke in the afternoon to extend that time, but it's risky, because that ish hits like a truck so I don't get just a few hours, I go full insomniac with lasting consequences.

Anyway there it is. I will try to update something more successful next time.

 

[PursueLiberty]

I'm going to try hitting a second coffee/yerba mate/regular coke in the afternoon to extend that time, but it's risky, because that ish hits like a truck so I don't get just a few hours, I go full insomniac with lasting consequences.

If you’re prone to caffeine, please don’t do this. If a good night’s sleep allows you to get through 10 hours a day productive and feeling fine, please don’t give this up for 1/2 extra hours of “productivity”. Just by those numbers that’s a bad investment, a long term solution might be more suitable for the situation.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[BellaPippin]

If you’re prone to caffeine, please don’t do this. If a good night’s sleep allows you to get through 10 hours a day productive and feeling fine, please don’t give this up for 1/2 extra hours of “productivity”. Just by those numbers that’s a bad investment, a long term solution might be more suitable for the situation.

I had a couple little ceramic jars of yerba mate last Sunday at 3pm (my little jar is the size of a shot glass) and I couldn't sleep all night. To be fair I haven't had yerba mate in like a year. An extra coffee in the afternoon doesn't f me up that much. I might try that first. XD

But yeah I need sleep very much. Can't grab time from there.

 

[Simon Angel]

Bella, just pick up the phone and call somebody. Ask them how their business is doing. If their website is bringing them clients.

No? Tell them you can build them one that will.

Not sure? Tell them you can implement a tracking system that will let them know exactly which leads came from their website.

Yes? Tell them they could be doing much more with some tweaks to their existing website.

Then, ask them if they can meet you for coffee on Tuesday at 2 PM. Since you're a woman, this will be an easy sell.

 

[BellaPippin]

Since you're a woman, this will be an easy sell.

 

[FJ123]

*UPDATE*
In the last episode I set this goal of 3 biz called before the end of the week...


I know I'm supposed to make the time so this isn't the update I was hoping to give, lol. I'm not gonna make excuses other than I need to find a way to call within business hours- possibly my lunch time plus I wasted all my winter break and now I have school on top of everything bc I procrastinate like that. I'm thinking of asking for less hours so I have two off days and work on this then, besides class.

Hmm, seems like you have lots going on. Work, class, marriage and ontop of that you wanna start a biz.

One of these might have to give.

 

[BellaPippin]

Hmm, seems like you have lots going on. Work, class, marriage and ontop of that you wanna start a biz.

One of these might have to give.

I know. I couldn't make it happen and I took the part-time job instead bc it's what is in my comfort zone and now I feel bad for quitting because that's not a guarantee I'll make it happen anyway. But I can get another day off I'm just part time so I might try to open up a bit more of time with that and make sure I use it wisely.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[FJ123]

I know. I couldn't make it happen and I took the part-time job instead bc it's what is in my comfort zone...

This might be irrelevant to you, but I'll tell you about myself anyway because you might find it useful. Sorry if you find it self indulgent haha.

For my biz to work, I needed 3 things. Energy, fearlessness and the feeling of impending doom.

Back when I started my biz, I decided to give up my career. There's no way I would ever step out of my comfort zone if I had a 70k salary to fall back on. That's just me.

Feeling of impending doom - I gave up my career and worked as a mailman instead. On paper, it was a really dumb decision. But, I just had to do it.

Energy - The mailman thing was zapping all my energy - so I decided to do it part time. Massive risk lol. I was making 1000 bucks / mo working 2 days / week.

Fearlessness - Then... I made my first cold call. Why a call and not an email? Because a call is scarier. I knew if the biz had any chance of working, I would have to commit to doing something scary. Whenever I feel helpless (like I did a week ago), I go back to cold calling. It's some kind of weird coping mechanism.

End result - Combine my PT job with my web design stuff and I have a solid monthly income.

Moral of the story - You need energy + fearlessness for sure. Impending doom is optional.

My web design biz was making scraps at the start. But, the money you make goes up exponentially as you get better at marketing yourself.

 

[BellaPippin]

This might be irrelevant to you, but I'll tell you about myself anyway because you might find it useful. Sorry if you find it self indulgent haha.

For my biz to work, I needed 3 things. Energy, fearlessness and the feeling of impending doom.

Back when I started my biz, I decided to give up my career. There's no way I would ever step out of my comfort zone if I had a 70k salary to fall back on. That's just me.

Feeling of impending doom - I gave up my career and worked as a mailman instead. On paper, it was a really dumb decision. But, I just had to do it.

Energy - The mailman thing was zapping all my energy - so I decided to do it part time. Massive risk lol. I was making 1000 bucks / mo working 2 days / week.

Fearlessness - Then... I made my first cold call. Why a call and not an email? Because a call is scarier. I knew if the biz had any chance of working, I would have to commit to doing something scary. Whenever I feel helpless (like I did a week ago), I go back to cold calling. It's some kind of weird coping mechanism.

End result - Combine my PT job with my web design stuff and I have a solid monthly income.

Moral of the story - You need energy + fearlessness for sure. Impending doom is optional.

My web design biz was making scraps at the start. But, the money you make goes up exponentially as you get better at marketing yourself.

I feel you I've done many things out of my comfort zone and many of them were highly influenced by the feeling of impending doom... there's no way I can go back into that zone without idk... breaking up with my husband and starting from scratch. I'm literally working this job bc I was bored at home. I have everything I need, I just want to pay off some debt faster, and afford some things that aren't fully out of my reach but add a bit of stress to the finances, I'd like to have my husband working optionally or on whatever he wants whenever he wants... but we have all we need and we live comfortably. Unless a tragedy happens (please no) putting myself in the impending doom zone is really hard. And I mean, saying it like that, I'm super blessed LOL. Y'know? I'm super grateful. This is more of a... "prove you can do it"... but I could just be comfortable and not do ish... but I can't live like that either for some reason.

I'm fighting my own laziness basically.

 

[FJ123]

breaking up with my husband and starting from scratch.

yo i refuse to accept any liability for this lol

 

[BellaPippin]

Aight I got my extra day off. I've got until Monday to make a decent call list and also decide what the next steps are for whoever shows interest.

 

[FJ123]

Aight I got my extra day off. I've got until Monday to make a decent call list and also decide what the next steps are for whoever shows interest.

Good luck. If you want, I can post a tutorial on prospecting in this thread.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[BellaPippin]

Every time I prospect someone to call I look at their website and think "eh, it could look better" however obviously I can't recall from memory how X or Y component is coded/works or immediately point out how exactly I would make it look better. That immediately sends me into a spiral of anxiety and doubt bc I feel I can't back up my words.

Like when we talk about needing to know or "study" all the theory, "take all the courses" before you put it in practice. It won't happen like that. I gotta pull the trigger and get the "yes" and then figure it out no matter what. But it's scary as fucc, because obv I don't want to fail that person.

I'm such a chicken!

I followed up with Diner Lady during the weekend and she asked me for my phone again bc she lost it. She said her person just quit so she would reach out. I'm pissing my pants but she doesn't need anything complicated.

 

[FJ123]

I followed up with Diner Lady during the weekend and she asked me for my phone again bc she lost it. She said her person just quit so she would reach out. I'm pissing my pants but she doesn't need anything complicated.

This is huge. This seperates you from the 99%.

 

[FJ123]

I'm such a chicken!

Self talk is everything. I learned that lesson from Rob.

 

[EngineerThis]

Every time I prospect someone to call I look at their website and think "eh, it could look better" however obviously I can't recall from memory how X or Y component is coded/works or immediately point out how exactly I would make it look better. That immediately sends me into a spiral of anxiety and doubt bc I feel I can't back up my words.

Your customer is not a web developer. Speak in plain English; they wouldn't understand the technical jargon, and it wouldn't sway them anyway. They want to sell more products, have a better customer experience (To sell more products), and for someone else to run it so they can work on other tasks that will enable them to... (sell more products). That's all they care about, show them how you can help

 

[Lex DeVille]

There's a phone sex website where you set your own rates. $2/min, $4/min, $10/min whatever. I've had an account for like 7 years. I make a solid passive income there. But I make $0.00 from phone calls. I haven't taken a single call, ever, even though it's the purpose of the site, because I F*cking hate talking on the phone. $4/min = $240/hr, $10/min = $600/hr. I refuse all calls, yet I make money there.

Some people have the disposition for cold calls and some do not. It doesn't mean the business can't work. It just means you have to find another way. A man with no arms can learn to drive with his feet and a woman with no legs can learn to walk on her hands. If you aren't willing to reach out to businesses, then you have to get them to contact you. Your job is to answer... how?

And if you're worried about not delivering a good enough product...just be very clear about the product you deliver before you start the work. I sold an old coffee table the other day for $75. It's not perfect. The edges are coming apart. When I listed it, I mentioned its flaws. I also highlighted its benefits. Then I let the right person come to me. Now I have $75 in my pocket and the table is gone.

Go on Facebook into a big local jobs group. Share what you're trying to do and ask if anyone knows someone who needs your service. There are a lot of business owners in these groups because they post jobs. I've seen others get work this way, including web designers.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[BellaPippin]

There's a phone sex website where you set your own rates.

I thought this was gonna go a different route after Simon Angel's comment, not gonna lie XD

Some people have the disposition for cold calls and some do not. It doesn't mean the business can't work. It just means you have to find another way. A man with no arms can learn to drive with his feet and a woman with no legs can learn to walk on her hands. If you aren't willing to reach out to businesses, then you have to get them to contact you. Your job is to answer... how?

You're right. You're so right. And being creative to work around obstacles is something I have done many times. Gotta keep the options open.

Self talk is everything. I learned that lesson from Rob.

I know I know I'm not trying to put myself down. But it IS an obvious weakness I have to overcome if I want the reward.

And if you're worried about not delivering a good enough product...just be very clear about the product you deliver before you start the work.

I'm going to adjust my prospecting for the extra-extra ugly ones that can use a simple improvement just to start, and not the ones that would need fancier stuff to get better.

 

[BellaPippin]

The update is that there is no update because I'm like



Nobody here is gonna like this but I'm gonna make a (my) website first and I'm gonna do the stuff that I've been seeing that makes my mind go like "wHaT iF tHeY wAnT tHiS" so I can prove to myself I can do it.


Also...y'all gonna scoff at me too for paying attention to this but apparently my psych has me as OCD, not as what I thought (BP). I have no compulsion stuff I do so I was like.. "the what?". It turns out you can do those in your mind, not just physically. But what makes sense of all this after learning a bit about it is that my brain seemingly demands a stupid, irrational, unattainable amount of certainty before making decisions, especially when they are considered high-stakes. So if anything this just helps cement the fact that enabling the "I gotta be prepared by analyzing every possible scenario" before I feel confident to do something is just mental masturbation and not me just being thoughtful, so I gotta make it a thing to do this THROUGH the discomfort and despite it cause I'll most likely never feel certain.



Writing this made me realize that me making the website is enabling that. FUC$!

 

[Simon Angel]

The update is that there is no update because I'm like

View attachment 64055

Nobody here is gonna like this but I'm gonna make a (my) website first and I'm gonna do the stuff that I've been seeing that makes my mind go like "wHaT iF tHeY wAnT tHiS" so I can prove to myself I can do it.


Also...y'all gonna scoff at me too for paying attention to this but apparently my psych has me as OCD, not as what I thought (BP). I have no compulsion stuff I do so I was like.. "the what?". It turns out you can do those in your mind, not just physically. But what makes sense of all this after learning a bit about it is that my brain seemingly demands a stupid, irrational, unattainable amount of certainty before making decisions, especially when they are considered high-stakes. So if anything this just helps cement the fact that enabling the "I gotta be prepared by analyzing every possible scenario" before I feel confident to do something is just mental masturbation and not me just being thoughtful

You're thinking yourself into a hole. Psychiatrists gonna psychiatry, it's the name of the game. I've got OCD, used to have severe depression and apathy, PTSD, and went into mild psychosis in 2019. And that's just the stuff I'm aware of.

No, I've never been officially diagnosed. But I can walk into any shrink's office and convince them I have all of the above in 2 minutes.

So what are you going to do now that you've been enlightened by the OCD diagnosis? More therapy? EMDR? Seek reassurance from Reddit support groups? Drug yourself to homeostasis?

Because none of that works.

People used to just deal with this the best they could and carry on. Were they subjected to discrimination? Yes. Were they misunderstood? Sure. But life isn't fair... and nobody will ever understand you anyway.

Having said that, I've suffered in life due to OCD. I've put off doing things I should have done. I've lost clients. I've wasted way too much water because my brain convinced me I'd get hit by a car or that all of my close ones would suffer gruesome deaths if I didn't rinse my glass three or seven times—and never two or four—before drinking water. A few times, I'd convinced myself I had tetanus. Rabies. Ten different types of cancer. Blood clots. And more.

Now, I'm not writing all of this to say I have it worse than you. I don't know you. What I do know is that excessively talking about your problems, taking drugs, and victimizing yourself will get you nowhere.

so I gotta make it a thing to do this THROUGH the discomfort and despite it cause I'll most likely never feel certain.

You're right on the money there. That's the only way you get anything done.

Funny story: I used to be very indecisive. I thought it was a personality trait but in hindsight, it likely stemmed from catastrophic thinking, which turns out is a symptom of OCD.

Well, years ago, I got into a relationship with a woman who was the same. You can imagine the dynamic. I forced myself to change for the greater good. Now I just make a decision or plan a course of action, and stick to it.

Eventually, my girlfriend asked me: "How come you're always so sure about what to do? What if you're wrong?"

- "I'm not."

"But what if you are?"

- "Then I'll figure it out."

Most decisions aren't life or death. And most mistakes aren't the end of the world. But with OCD, they all feel like they are.

 

[EngineerThis]

Funny story: I used to be very indecisive. I thought it was a personality trait but in hindsight, it likely stemmed from catastrophic thinking, which turns out is a symptom of OCD.

Well, years ago, I got into a relationship with a woman who was the same. You can imagine the dynamic. I forced myself to change for the greater good. Now I just make a decision or plan a course of action, and stick to it.

Eventually, my girlfriend asked me: "How come you're always so sure about what to do? What if you're wrong?"

- "I'm not."

"But what if you are?"

- "Then I'll figure it out."

Most decisions aren't life or death. And most mistakes aren't the end of the world. But with OCD, they all feel like they are.

This is me, and 100% my wife has asked me this.. And I replied the same.. I am in-desicive! So I force myself to pick, and move on!