The real reason most founders are lying to themselves

Had this realization that's keeping me up at night:

We're all playing a game of pretend.

• We pretend we're crushing it (while eating ramen)
• We pretend we know our market (while guessing wildly)
• We pretend we're confident (while panicking daily)
• We pretend we need more data (while avoiding real customer calls)
• We pretend we're 'strategic' (while procrastinating on hard decisions)

But here's the thing - the most successful founder I know told me: 'The day I stopped pretending and started admitting I don't know shit was the day I actually started building something real.'

Maybe we need to stop asking 'how to be successful' and start asking why we're afraid to admit we're lost.

Just a 3am thought. Anyone else feel this?