I’ve been thinking about something lately. I don’t know if what holds us back is some massive failure or obvious mistake. I think it’s smaller than that. It might be the habits we’ve slowly made peace with. The late nights that chip away at tomorrow’s clarity. The constant stimulation that keeps us from sitting with our thoughts. The comfort we lean into when something feels uncomfortable. The hard conversation we keep postponing. The standard we quietly lower because we’re tired. None of it feels dramatic. That’s what makes it easy to justify. I wonder if potential doesn’t collapse all at once. Maybe it erodes. Quietly. And maybe the hardest part is that the habits that slow us down feel normal. Everyone else is doing them. They aren’t extreme. They don’t look dangerous. They just don’t fully align with who we say we want to become. There’s a verse that always makes me pause. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2 NIV I think the word pattern is important. Patterns aren’t loud. They’re repetitive. Daily. Familiar. Sometimes I catch myself calling certain habits “deserved” or “harmless,” and if I’m honest, I wonder if they’re actually just dulling my edge. Not ruining my life. Just slowly reducing what I’m capable of. And drift is strange. We don’t feel it in the moment. It’s only when we look back that we notice how far we’ve shifted. So maybe the better question for us today isn’t dramatic. It might simply be this. What habit have we been protecting that doesn’t really serve who we want to become? No shame in that question. Just honesty. Let’s take a few quiet minutes today. No noise. No phone. Just stillness. Ask God gently. Is there something small that’s quietly costing me more than I realize? And instead of trying to overhaul everything, maybe we just change one thing. Go to bed a little earlier. Put the phone down sooner. Move when we’d normally sit. Speak up instead of staying silent.

1. If you want to change the world, start with yourself. 2. Bibles before breakfast, daily. 3. We need way less than we think we need. 4. You don't need to go start a multi-million dollar company to be happy. 5. Serving others IS serving yourself. 6. You cannot outgive God. 7. If you are happy right now, put your phone down and enjoy it. Don't let the enemy put new thoughts in your mind to change it. (because he will) 8. Group prayer is more powerful than we think. (in a circle, going around, one at a time) 9. Nature is the best doctor on the planet. 10. All the things we have are keeping us from the life we actually want, which requires nothing but a connection with God the Father and a few humans we can laugh with...

This is a wild time to be alive. We have access to so much information, tools, and resources. I find myself finding my identity in the things that I do. I am a husband, christian, father, brother, son, entrepreneur, millionaire, home owner, gym rat, tennis player, and the list goes on. These are the things this I do but it barely scratches the surface on who I am. Years ago my wife introduced me to the idea of creating a to do list (nothing new) and pairing it with a to be list. This has been a game changer for me. I write my to dos for the day and next to them I write who I want to be in each one of those tasks. For example: to do; meet with sales team about new leads to be; energetic, open, leader, patient, and kind. On a good day I will write a to be that I am working on like empathetic and then I am more prone to looking for areas of my life, throughout the day, that I can be more empathetic. I am a human being, not a human doing. This has helped me with feeling like I have to prove myself and become more of who God made me to Be.

A revelation I had yesterday. Nothing new, but a deeper reminder that I feel called to share here: Faith requires you to believe in something you cannot see. Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” On the surface it sounds straight forward, but if we are honest it can also be unsettling. It’s scary to think about stepping forward into the unknown. Moving before we have clarity or certainty. But, something we often miss or overlook: fear operates the exact same way. Fear also asks you to believe in something you cannot see. It paints pictures of outcomes that haven’t happened, losses that aren’t guaranteed, and failures that exist only in imagination. On 1 hand Faith says “I cannot see what is ahead of me, but I choose to step forward in Faith anyway and trust in God that it will work out.” On the other hand fear says “I cannot see what is ahead of me, so I choose to stay here where at the very least I recognize my surroundings.” Often even if you’re unhappy with those surroundings. Both require belief. Both involve uncertainty. One keeps you moving forward while the other keeps you stagnant - frozen in comfort until it becomes a cage. The game changer is when you realize WHO you’re putting your trust in. Is it yourself? People around you? Or is it God? You don’t get to choose whether or not you’ll believe. Those thoughts arise all on their own. Belief is already there. However, you do get to choose which voice you’ll follow! Today, identify an area where fear has kept you standing still. Then take one intentional step, no matter how small or big, toward what God has placed on your heart. Share that step here if you feel up to it! Let’s choose faith together and move forward, even when we can’t see the whole path yet. I’ll go first. I’m saying yes to being on a small, relatively new, faith-based podcast I’ve been invited to as an opportunity to share my testimony. I don’t feel ready, nor do I feel worthy, but I do feel called.

“Why does someone else’s success quietly bother me?”… Most men don’t realize when comparison starts. It doesn’t arrive as jealousy in the beginning. It shows up as a distraction. You notice what someone else is building. How fast they’re moving. How visible they are. Their “followers” and influence.. Without meaning to, your attention leaves your own life and focuses on theirs. That’s where the damage happens. Comparison doesn’t usually make you quit or cause you to act urgently. It makes you hesitate. You pause longer than you should or would have. You question work you were once confident and joyful in. You delay action waiting for a new clarity that never comes because it was never meant to be your focus. There’s a strange comfort in watching others live. No risk. No exposure. No responsibility. But there’s a cost. Scripture speaks to this, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.” 1 Peter 4:10 NIV Not someone else’s gift. Yours. Talents aren’t ranked. They’re entrusted. By God. For you, specifically. When you measure yourself against another man, you abandon stewardship. You stop tending what’s been placed in your hands and start staring at a field you were never asked to work. We’ve all heard the saying “everyone wants what they don’t have” and that is the work of the enemy. In real life it looks like this. A man gifted with stability envies momentum. A man built for depth compares himself to speed. A father with influence at home feels small next to public, material success. Nothing is wrong with your gifts. The problem is where your eyes are. Here’s the trade most men don’t see. Comparison offers: Short-term motivation A sense of urgency Something to react against But it takes: Peace Clarity Forward motion Faithfulness doesn’t usually public influence. It feels quiet, lonely, and narrow. And narrow paths don’t invite spectators. But they do require commitment and they do lead to a fulfilling life. So sit with this question today,