I saw this video a while ago and it annoyed me so much here I am writing a letter to you about it...
Two wealthy entrepreneurs were at a restaurant talking, overlooking the water, and one of them goes, “If I order steak and they bring me chicken, I just eat the chicken.”
They laugh and go back and fourth landing the plane with: “if you’re worried that your meal is wrong, that’s how you know your problems are too small.”
are you joking me?
If I’m spending hard-earned money on a steak that costs like $50 bucks and someone brings me out $20 chicken, I’m not saying I’m going to flip tables, but I’d let them know I got the wrong meal.
I moved on. Kept doom scrolling so that the dopamine hits put me in a better mood (I don’t recommend that, just being honest about where I was).
Time went on and I started making changes, BIG CHANGES, in my life. I was sharing with a friend how I was sticking to my goals this time around and I remember explaining that “my problems were too small & I needed a bigger problem to make those current problems feel small to me.”
Oh the irony. Those guys were right. I was majoring in the minors. Making mountains out of molehills. But hey, the things I was struggling with, insecure about, and felt defeated by were very real.
I was 50 pounds heavier than I was back in 2020.
My nervous system felt completely shot.
And I was being reactive instead of responsive to my wife & kids, and I felt totally out of control.
I’d try to make a change, it would last for a week or two, and then it would fall apart.
I’d be met with resistance.
I’d be met with lack of discipline.
I just couldn’t keep the good habits going.
I repeated that cycle until I got so annoyed with myself that I had to reframe my mindset around my “problems”.
What I realized is… I had made the wrong problems big.
The little *problems* were feeling massive.
You have anything in your life like that?
Making your bed? taking the trash out? responding to messages? going for a walk? Little things feel like something way bigger than they should be?
So my solution? I found a bigger problem. Sounds weird but trust me, it’s working!
God forbid I have to get off my comfortable mattress. God forbid I can afford healthy groceries to treat my body like a temple. God forbid I have a $1k+ iPhone that allows me to set multiple alarms. God forbid I I have 3 beautiful children that look to me to lead them. You see what I’m getting at here?
My blessings were becoming barriers. I needed a reframe.
I set goals so big that those small little forms of discipline got easier because they weren’t my mountain anymore… They were a step on the staircase of getting to where I wanted to go.
I shifted from:
“Can I get up earlier?”
to
“I want an hour alone with God every morning as well as a few hours to put myself together, and knock out some work.”
I now wake up at 2am and I have ZERO qualms with it. (I go to bed around 8pm for those wondering)
I went from just trying to get by, to pursuing the fullness, favor, blessing, & joy that God encourages me to walk in. I have a lot more specific goals that I will share when the “A Better Way” resources start to roll out!
Would resources on navigating hardship in a healthier way be helpful for you?
If you need a great example as to how this change works there’s a book called “10x is easier than 2x.”
And the concept is basically that 2x’ing your income is actually harder than 10x’ing your income.
If you want to double (2x) your income, most people just double their output.
ex: if you’re working 35 hours a week making 45k a year, the “2x” plan becomes:
Work 70 hours a week and earn 90k/year.
But if you want to 10x your income, aka go from 45k/year to 450k/year… how would you do that?
It’s an entirely different problem to solve.
Bigger and still attainable.
But you have to think differently.
Now carry that same energy over to what changes you’re trying to make in your life.
What I’m sharing doesn’t mean your life will suddenly become easier.
It just means you’ll get better at troubleshooting all the trouble that’s being shot at you.
And if you want proof that this is real for me… it’s 4:45am 1/18/26.
I woke up at 2am to write this encouragement for y’all.
My oldest is now awake and I tried to get him to go back down and he won’t.
I was afraid his crying would wake up his two brothers, so I had to bring him down to the basement to join the early bird writing session. Small problem.
Because those problems I used to have… they’re just steps now.
Steps toward where I’m going.
And who I’m becoming.
So here’s the question I want to leave you with:
What’s one “problem” you’ve been treating like it’s huge… that actually needs to get smaller?
And what’s the bigger calling God is inviting you into right now… that needs to get bigger?
My bigger calling I am so thankful to have uncovered is to help fix problems that I didn’t create.
As we wrap up I want to draw attention to a friend who is doing amazing things to help believers just like you?
My friend, Kieran, created Malachi Daily… A free email newsletter that helps you memorize 1 Bible verse every other week and learn its context via emails. In addition to memorizing Bible verses, you’ll learn its biblical, historical, and cultural context and how each passage fits into the cohesive story of the Bible.
Click here to get started today.
Love yall,
