The key to living a comfortable life is confrontation and chaos actually. You have to say no. You have to tell people to fuck off. You have to be mean in necessary situations. A life of peace isn't built off of being a yes man and taking a passive approach to everything
Ten lazy years can disappear the moment you lock in. Six months of discipline can erase a decade of drifting. Momentum is magic. It turns yesterday's failures into tomorrow's fuel.
A mistake that cost me 5 years: Thinking preparation was progress. Reading every book. Taking every course. Planning every detail. Meanwhile, someone dumber than me started badly and figured it out. Preparation feels productive but it's often just fear dressed up as strategy. You learn to swim by getting in the water, not by studying water.