The Brutal Truth About 'Doing Everything' to Start a Business

By Art Harrison • July 16, 2025

Stop lying to yourself about "doing everything" to achieve your dreams. This dangerous delusion keeps you stuck and damages your mental health.

One of the most blatant and frankly dangerous lies we tell ourselves is that we're doing everything we can possibly do to achieve our dreams.

It's never true. Or at least, rarely.

This lie isn't just holding you back from success—it's actively damaging your mental health and keeping you stuck in patterns that feel productive but deliver no results.

Today, I'm going to expose this lie by being brutally honest about how bad I am at doing the things I need to do to grow my own business. Because if you can recognize this pattern in yourself, you can finally break free from it.

The Dangerous Delusion of "Everything"

When you believe you're doing everything possible and still don't succeed, one of two things happens:

You resent the world, thinking everyone's against you, that you're not getting a fair shake
You're consumed with self-doubt because you did "everything" and it didn't work, so it must be you

But what if you really didn't do everything? What if there's more you could have done, but you were avoiding the things that would have the biggest impact because you were scared or wanted to be in a "better position" first?

Then none of those negative feelings are true. All you need to do is figure out what you should actually be doing and go do it.

This avoidance often manifests as a sophisticated form of analysis paralysis—where we substitute busy work for the scary, important work that would actually move the needle.

My Own Brutal Honesty

For the past year, I've been telling myself I'm doing everything I can to grow this channel and get my business off the ground. And it's easy to believe because I am pretty productive. I do a lot of things.

I built an app that helps people find business ideas. I created a game. I make videos for this channel. These feel like important work.

But they're not the most important things I could be doing.

In that same time:

I haven't posted once on LinkedIn about my business, even though LinkedIn is probably the best platform for people trying to escape their nine-to-five jobs
I could be running ads to my program
I've avoided podcast invitations because I wanted the channel to be more successful first
I'm delaying all these opportunities because I'm "just not where I want to be"

I know this feeling incredibly well. I've been using this lie my entire life.

In my 20s, living in my parents' basement trying to get my first business off the ground, I had dreams about what I'd do when I finally succeeded. That's when I'd have more friends. That's when I'd date more.

I'm used to delaying things I want or should be doing in pursuit of some goal. But the problem is, I'm either missing out on life or missing opportunities that would actually make that goal more likely.

This pattern often stems from impostor syndrome—feeling like we need to be "more successful" before we're worthy of taking bigger actions.

The Productivity Trap

Here's the thing: I don't even need to hustle more. I don't need to wake up at 5 AM or work harder. I don't use my time particularly well.

It's easy to go to sleep feeling like I had a good day. I made a video. I worked on an app. But I conveniently forget:

The couple of hours I spent playing video games "to get in the mood"
The time I spent obsessing over something that had no real value
The productive procrastination that feels like work but isn't

We all do this. We're going to start dating when we get in better shape. We're going to apply for better jobs when we have more experience. We're going to launch our business when we have more followers.

I'm telling myself I'll be in the best shape of my life in my late 40s. I'm making some steps toward it—I go to the gym. But just because I go to the gym doesn't mean I'm doing everything. I'm still eating chips for lunch and having cereal three times a day because it's easy and makes me happy.

The Question You Need to Ask

Why are you telling yourself this lie?

Sometimes you're not doing everything within the construct of the life you want, and that's okay. You don't want to do those things because they'd be too much work or disrupt time with family and friends.

Don't lie to yourself—just say: "I'm doing everything I'm willing to do."

Other times you're telling the lie because:

You're scared
You want to be seen as more successful before taking action
You don't want to admit there's more to be done
You're scared to start because the real actions feel too risky

The Real "Everything" Looks Different

If you really want to change your life, find love, or start a business, be honest about whether you're doing everything you can. And be okay with the answer.

The real "everything" might include:

Making those uncomfortable cold calls
Posting about your business before it feels "ready"
Attending networking events instead of just working on your project
Spending money on ads instead of hoping organic growth will be enough
Asking for help instead of trying to figure it out alone

You can't just count on the project getting you the promotion—maybe you need to go to the networking event. You can't just count on the channel feeding customers to your program—maybe you need to spend money on ads.

This shift from passive hope to active pursuit is central to building real entrepreneurial confidence.

Breaking the Cycle

If you want to achieve your goal, sometimes you have to do a little more. It doesn't have to break the bank or destroy your work-life balance, but if you want different results, you need different actions.

Otherwise, you're just repeating the same mistake over and over: going to sleep feeling like you're doing everything right, then waking up wondering why it hasn't worked out yet.

The Honest Assessment

Try this exercise: Be brutally honest about whether you're actually doing everything you can.

Don't record it, don't share it—just be honest with yourself. List:

What you're currently doing
What you could be doing but aren't
Why you're avoiding those things
What you're actually willing to do about it

The Freedom in Truth

Here's the liberating part: Once you stop lying to yourself about doing everything, you gain back your power.

Instead of being a victim of circumstances or your own inadequacy, you become someone with choices. You can:

Choose to do more
Choose to accept your current level of effort
Choose to change your goal to match your effort
Choose to change your effort to match your goal

But you can't make good choices based on lies.

Your Next Step

Stop telling yourself you're doing everything. You're not. None of us are. And that's actually good news.

It means there's still more you can try. It means your dreams aren't impossible—they just require different actions than the ones you're currently taking.

The question isn't whether you're doing everything. The question is: What are you willing to do differently?

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Video Transcript

One of the most blatant and frankly, dangerous lies that we all tell ourselves, is that we're doing everything we can possibly do to achieve our dreams. It's never true, or at least rarely. And today, I'm going to show you just how far apart those two things can be, the truth and the belief that you're doing everything by being honest about just how bad I am at doing the things that I need to be doing to grow my own business. The reason I think it's important is because it can be incredibly dangerous when you believe that lie. Not only are you blinded to the things that might actually have the biggest impact on your outcome, but you're also risking your mental health. When you think you're doing everything right, when you think you've done everything you could possibly do and you don't succeed, you either end up completely resenting the world, thinking that everybody's against you, that you're not getting a fair shake or you end up just consumed with self-doubt because you did everything. You tried everything and it didn't work out, so it must be you. But if you really didn't do everything, if there's more you could have done, if you were just avoiding the things that you probably knew deep down, we're going to be the biggest opportunity for you because you were scared or because you wanted to be in a better position before you had to do them? Well, then none of those things are true. And all you need to do is figure out, be honest about what it is you should be doing and go and do that. You know, for me, it's pretty easy to see why I sometimes believe my lie. And it's simply that I am still pretty productive. Most of us are. I do a lot of things. For the past year, I've been saying I'm doing everything right, or I'm doing everything I can, as I try to grow this channel, as I try to get a business off the ground But when I look at all the things that I could be doing, I realize that I am nowhere close to doing everything, and I'm definitely not doing the most important things. The last couple of weeks, I spent time building an app. An app I'm really proud of that helps people find their business ideas, or refine the ones that they already have. I built a game. There are things that I share on this channel here. You can click the links in the description but they're not the most important thing that I could be doing. They're not everything. In that same time, I haven't posted once on LinkedIn about my business, even though LinkedIn is probably the best ground for people who are trying to escape their nine to five jobs, who are trying to start businesses, but I haven't done it because I still feel a little weird posting about it when it hasn't fully gotten off the ground yet. I could be running ads to my program. I've had people ask me to be on their podcasts and I'm avoiding it because I wanted the channel to be more successful. These are all things and I'm delaying because I'm just not where I want to be. And I know that feeling incredibly well. I've been using that lie my entire life. In my 20s, I was living in my parents' basement trying to get my first business off the ground. And I had all these dreams about what I was going to do when I finally succeeded. That's when I was going to have more friends. That's when I was going to date more I'm used to delaying all of these things that I want or things that I should be doing in pursuit of some goal. But the problem is, I'm either missing out on life or I'm missing opportunities that'll actually make that thing more likely. Right now, there is so much that I could be doing, but the first idea I had was that I would grow this channel. And this channel would build a community and that community would funnel to my program. And my program would create more fans and we would also all go off into the future in the sunset feeling happy and good. But that's just the first idea I had. It's not the only way I could be growing this business. And I have to realize that. I also have to realize that I don't even to hustle more. I don't need to wake up at 5 a.m. I don't need to do anything differently because I don't use my time particularly well It's easy to go to sleep at night feeling like I had a pretty good day. I made another video. I worked on that app, but I never talk about the couple of hours that I spent playing video games to get into the mood or the time that I spent just obsessing over something that really didn't have any value. That's what we all do. You know, we're all going to start dating more when we get into better shape. Right now, that's another lie I'm telling myself, I'm going to be in the best shape in my late 40s And I'm making some steps towards it. I'm always doing something towards it, but just because I go to the gym doesn't mean that I'm doing everything. I'm still eating chips for lunch. I'm still having cereal two or three times a day because it's easy and fast and because it makes me happy. And that's okay. I think that's the other thing about this lie. You have to ask yourself, why are you telling it to yourself? Are you doing everything you can within the construct of the life you want? If so, that's okay. sometimestimes you don't want to do those things because they're going to be too much work. They're going to disrupt the time that you have with your family or your friends. Don't lie to yourself, just say, this, I'm doing everything I'm willing to do. Other times you're just telling that lie because you're scared, because you want to be seen a little bit better. You want to be more successful before you go out and do something. Or just, you don't want to have to admit that there's more to be done. but whatever it is for you, I just want you to think about that. If you really do want to change your life, find love, start a business, be honest about whether or not you're doing everything you can be doing and be okay with the answer. If the answer is that you're not, well, then you have to decide what you want to do about that, what you're willing to do And if you are willing to make some changes, and if you really want to achieve that goal, that might be what you have to do. doesn't have to break the bank. It doesn't have to break all of your energy and the life you're living right now, but if you want to achieve it, sometimes, yeah, you got to do a little more. You can't just count on the project getting you the promotion. Maybe you do have to go to the networking event. You can't just count on the channel feeding all the customers that you need to your program. Maybe you got to spend a little money on ads. Maybe you got to make some cold calls or find a new partner. You've got to do something. Otherwise you're just repeating the same mistake over and over again, going to sleep at night feeling like you're doing everything right and then waking up wondering why it hasn't worked out for you yet If any of that resonates with you, then try it out. Just be honest with yourself. You don't have to record it, but be honest about whether or not you're doing everything you can. And if you're the type of person that needs a kick in the pants, at this type of video, where I talk about either my own shortcomings, so the things you're probably lying to yourself about, well, then take a look at this playlist. This is still one of my favorite series of videos that I've ever made, but nobody has really seen them before. and it's all sarcastic takes on the lies we tell ourselves. If you're interested in this kind of thing, check out this series, I think you'll like it a lot.