The Only Way To Understand Yourself Is To Stop Cheating On Yourself

The best advice I ever got in my life was from a female artist much older than me. I was then twenty years old, I complained to her that I didn’t have time to be creative: I had three jobs, my life was so complicated, I lived with a bunch of neighbors, I had lots of things to do, I wanted to write and not get distracted, but I always seemed to lack time. ​

She listened to me for a while, then paused and asked:
"What are you ready to give up in order to live the life that you are supposedly dreaming of?" The key word was "supposedly."
I felt a strong reaction inside of me. I was terribly offended. What does “supposedly dreaming of” mean? Everyone knew that writing was the most important thing in my life.

She said: “Why do you pretend that writing is the most important thing in your life, if all your life belongs to other things and goals?”
While I was trying to take a breath, she started again: “Suppose you have three jobs. What’s the name of your favorite series? ” - “Soprano Clan” - “From now on you should cancel your subscription to cable TV. It turns out that you have time to follow the life of the Soprano clan, but there is no time to live your own life? ”
I was silent.

“Which bar do you go to friends with? Forget the name. What is your favorite magazine? Stop reading it, stop dedicating your time to it.  

I liked her advice. It had no illusion called "you can get anything you want." Because you can't. What you do every day makes up your life. If your dream has no place in your daily life, then there is something more important to you than your dream.
The only way to understand yourself is to stop cheating on yourself. Twenty-four hours a day. What is important to me and what is not? Only by answering this question, you can accumulate time and effort to become someone. To become yourself.