You can only make progress when you start with the truth. The hard thing is to see the truth. Suffering is the moment when we can no longer deny reality.
Outside of suffering, you have to get your ego out of the way because your ego doesn’t want to face the truth. The smaller you can make your ego, the less conditioned you can make your reactions, and the fewer desires you can have about the outcome you want, the easier it will be to see reality.