Why We Don’t Do The Things We Know We Should Do
And How To Fix It
I was training D.B. this afternoon, and we started with one of his favorite mobility drills. Same pattern he’s done a hundred times, just with a small tweak I added today. And about eight reps in, mid-breath, mid-stretch, he goes:
“Man… I gotta do this every day.”
He wasn’t looking for a coaching moment. He wasn’t trying to impress me. It was one of those honest slips people make only when they’re fully in their body and not filtered through their mind.
So I paused.
Let the silence do a little work.
Then I asked the question:
“Why don’t you?”
We both laughed — because its both obvious and uncomfortable.
It hit at something much deeper.
We let it hang there for a few seconds.
Long enough for him to hear his own truth landing inside his own chest - and me consider my version of this.
Because that single moment — that tiny comment — opens the door to a question almost every man avoids:
Why don’t we do the things we know are good for us?
Why don’t we stretch more?
Why don’t we go to bed earlier?
Why don’t we drink the water we say we need?
Why don’t we train the way we promised ourselves we would?
Why don’t we follow the plan we literally asked for?
It’s never because we don’t know what to do.
It’s because most of us live almost entirely unconscious in the exact moment where the decision is made.
Picture yourself at 8:00 PM on the couch.
You get that tiny flash of awareness — that little whisper:
“I should get on the floor and stretch.”
“I should pack my lunch for tomorrow.”
“I should down one more glass of water.”
And then almost instantly… Resistance steals your attention.
Not with force. Not with drama.
Just a gentle nudge.
A thought about your phone.
A distraction from the dog.
A new episode starting.
A quick, quiet “later.”
And the window closes.
It didn’t feel like a decision (even though it was) — it felt more like a drift.
This is the moment most men never see.
And because they never see it, they think the problem is discipline.
They think they’re weak. Or lazy. Or “not that kind of guy.”
But it’s not discipline they lack — it’s Internal Leadership.
Most men learned one strategy for navigating internal resistance.
Avoidance.
Push it down.
Ignore it.
Don’t feel that.
Don’t think about it.
Stay busy.
Stay distracted.
Stay numb.
It works… until it doesn’t.
And the body always keeps the score on that strategy.
Discipline — real discipline — doesn’t come from ignoring yourself.
It comes from learning how to meet yourself.
Recognition.
Ownership.
Direction.
Execution.
Integration.
This is the part men never learned, because no one ever taught it to them.
And without it, the “I should stretch” moment is always lost before it even begins.
Watching us laugh, then feel the truth of the question “Why don’t you?”, reminded me how universal this all is.
Every man has that moment.
Every man has that drill, that habit, that thing he knows would change his life if he just did it more often.
The difference between who we are and who we want to become is almost always found in those tiny, quiet, unconscious moments where Resistance wins by default.
Internal Leadership gives you a fighting chance.
It lets you see the moment.
Step into it.
And decide instead of drift.
And honestly…
Once you’ve seen that moment clearly, you can’t unsee it.
And that’s where real change starts.
If you’re a man who’s tired of drifting, my 8-Week LFP Group starts February 1, 2026.
It’s designed to help you build Internal Leadership, navigate Resistance, and finally follow through on the things you keep telling yourself you’ll do “someday.”
If this hit something in you, that’s your signal.