Episode 23 - Being Honest With Yourself
Hello and welcome back to The Vision of Victory Podcast. I’m your host, Luke, and this is where we talk about practical, real-life strategies to help you turn your dreams into reality. If you’ve been listening along, you know we’ve been in a series about how to move from where you are to where you want to be.
A couple of weeks ago, I laid out four key components to making real change happen:
Be honest with yourself
Address what’s holding you back
Make a plan—even if it’s a bad one
Do it anyway, even when you don’t feel like it
Last week, we dove into the fourth one—“do it anyway.” That episode was all about following through, even when your motivation is low or when it’s hard.
But today, we’re taking it back to the beginning. Because before you can do anything else, you have to get honest. With yourself. About where you are, where you want to be, and what’s really keeping you stuck.
Let’s Start Here: How Honest Are You With Yourself?
If I asked you right now, “How honest are you with yourself?” what would you say?
And not just in general. I mean when it comes to your life—your priorities, your habits, your time, your money, your energy.
Let’s say I had access to a detailed log of how you spend each of those things. Would that log reflect what you say is most important in your life?
Most of the time, for most people, the answer is no. And I say that without judgment—because I’ve been there too.
When What You Say and What You Do Don’t Line Up
It’s easy to say things like:
“My health is a priority.”
“I want to be financially free.”
“My relationship with God matters most.”
But then your actions—the day-to-day stuff—tell a different story.
So the real question becomes:
Are you adjusting your lifestyle to match your goals?
Or are you adjusting your goals to match your current lifestyle?
That’s where a lot of people get stuck. They start lowering their goals, their dreams, even their standards, just to make them fit into the life they’re already living.
But if you're not where you want to be, something has to change. Otherwise, you’ll keep spinning your wheels.
Getting Real: What’s Actually Keeping You Where You Are?
Take a moment and think about one area in your life where you really want to see progress.
Maybe it’s your finances.
Maybe it’s your physical health.
Maybe it’s your spiritual connection.
Now ask yourself: Why haven’t you made progress in that area?
What’s holding you back?
What excuses are you still holding on to?
That’s the kind of honesty we’re talking about. And it’s not easy—but it is necessary.
Does Your Lifestyle Match the Outcome You Want?
Let’s say your goal is to get fit. Are you exercising consistently? Are you eating intentionally?
Or maybe your goal is to get out of debt or start building wealth. Have you changed the way you spend money? Are you learning about budgeting, investing, and long-term planning?
Because goals without lifestyle alignment are just wishful thinking.
My Own Journey With Money
Let me give you a personal example.
I’ve been broke before—and I hated how that felt. I didn’t want money to be the reason I couldn’t say yes to something important. So I made a decision: I was going to change that.
But first, I had to confront some of the things I believed about money:
That money is bad.
That wealthy people are greedy.
Those are messages a lot of us pick up, but they’re not true. Money isn’t good or bad—it’s just a tool. But if it becomes the goal, that’s where it starts to mess with your life.
I also had to face a hard truth:
I didn’t actually understand money. I thought I did—make it, spend it. But I had no real financial education.
I didn’t know about investing, or creating multiple streams of income, or long-term planning.
If that sounds familiar, I highly recommend the book The Richest Man in Babylon. It’s short, it’s written like a story, and it breaks down some of the most important financial principles everyone should know.
Another big realization?
My lifestyle wasn’t supporting the financial freedom I said I wanted. I was going out all the time, drinking, hanging out, wasting time. My energy was going to things that weren’t serving me at all.
Once I got honest about that—I knew something had to shift.
Making Space For Growth
Here’s what I did:
I cut out alcohol.
I took a step back and looked at who my real friends were.
I freed up my time, my energy, my focus.
But I want to say this clearly:
It’s not just about cutting things out. It’s about what you replace them with.
You don’t clear space in your life just to fill it with mindless scrolling, gossip, or TV.
You replace it with habits and decisions that align with where you want to go.
Moving Forward—Even When You Don’t Know How
After I made space, I started a business.
I didn’t have experience. I didn’t know what I was doing. But I didn’t ask, “What’s easy?”—I asked, “What’s necessary?”
If you want something different, you have to be willing to do something different. You’re going to have to learn new things, try new things, and keep showing up even when it’s hard.
Final Thoughts
For you, maybe the thing that needs to change is your relationship with money.
Maybe it’s the way you numb yourself with distractions—alcohol, social media, gossip, video games.
Whatever it is, it starts with being radically honest.
Because here’s the truth:
You can keep wishing.
Or you can start doing.
But only one of those moves the needle.
The Cost of Staying Stuck
When you stay stuck…
When you keep making excuses…
When you keep betraying your own intentions…
You start to feel disillusioned.
You start to doubt yourself.
And over time, you lose confidence in your ability to follow through on anything.
The Way Forward
Be honest with yourself.
Take one small, intentional step.
Then another.
You don’t need a massive breakthrough. You just need clear, consistent action.
Because your life will always reflect two things:
How honest you’re willing to be…
And what you’re actually willing to do about it.
Closing Thought:
“If you wanted something different, you would do something different.”
I hope this hit home for somebody today.
Thanks for tuning in. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe—and I’ll see you next week.
Watch the full episode here