Have you tried to handle this on your own?

How’s that been going for you?

“Thanks, Paul. I really appreciate the detailed information about your program. For now, I’m gonna pass. I feel like I already know what I need to do and can handle this on my own.” 

So said fellow Old Grad, Brandon, as we wrapped up a recent Strategy Session. 

Sure, Bran, you probably do have adequate knowledge and experience to “handle this on your own.” 

But will you? And how’s that been going for you these past couple of decades? 

My skeptical prediction is that when I check in again with Brandon, he will be right where he is today—stuck—or worse. 

Knowing what you need to do and actually doing it are two very different things. 

Brandon isn’t stuck in his morass of sh*tty food choices, crushing work stress, chronic sleep debt, and consistent immobility because he doesn’t possess sufficient knowledge. 

He’s stuck because his excuses are consistently stronger than his willpower. 

He doesn’t need my knowledge about exercise and nutrition. What he needs is a Ranger Buddy to call out his bullsh*t and hold him accountable. 

When asked about what he felt was holding him back, Bran gave me the same excuse I hear from too many - “I’m just really busy.” 

After choking back my urge to snort, “Who the f^ck isn’t??”  I ask instead, with as much gentleness as I can muster, “So, how and when do you believe that will change?” 

Which always gets them thinking… “Oh geez, what if it never does? What if this is as good as it gets?” 

Once we acknowledge that we are never going to be less busy and that this is as good as it gets, what then? What do we do about it? 

It forces a binary outcome— action or stagnation. 

You either take a different path, reorder your priorities, and begin putting first things first. Or you decide to “handle this on my own,” which, for most people, means continuing to scuffle along, making a few half-hearted attempts to change but inevitably gravitating back to your unhealthy habits. 

The thing is, like Brandon, you were meant for more than this. His busyness is an excuse unworthy of him. Same for you. 

Like him, you COULD try to handle this on your own. But the same questions apply: Will you? And how has that been working for you these past couple of decades?