The following is a guest post from Hannah Brencher and is taken from her new book, The Unplugged Hours, available wherever books are sold. Order your copy today!
I belong to the population of people who fully believe we are one Peloton bike away from changing our lives.
We are the ones easily lured in by ads. We are highly, highly susceptible to multi-level marketing. We buy all the creams and the powders and the serums. We often feel like the latest thing being advertised—an ice roller, retinol serum, or a new workout app—will be “the thing” that wipes away all our problems. It will be the product that finally propels us into a new and improved way of life.
Who knew a cast-iron pan could be the secret to happiness and abundance? Me. I knew that because I consumed the ads, imagined my family gathering around the pan as if it were the fountain of youth, and saw the life-changing pan in my browser enough times that I finally bought it. Life change status: pending.
That's what constant connectivity paired with overconsumption is doing to us—it's getting us to believe a narrative about how that thing in our Amazon cart will be the thing that finally brings progress into our lives. We'll be changed. We'll be new.
I see this all the time with the students I coach in writing. The most common reason they don't start is because they're convinced they need something outside of themselves before they can get started. A new writing software. A different notebook. Fresher ideas. I tell them the same thing I tell myself whenever I begin writing: You don't need another thing. You need to sit down and start with what you have. What you have is enough.
It's easy in this digital age to get swept up in other people's momentum. Even as I unplug more and more, I'm aware of how quickly I can be influenced by what seems to be working for someone else when I log onto social media or open my inbox. If the results I'm getting aren't instant enough, and someone else's journey looks more seamless, I'm tempted to exit the lane I'm running in to follow them. Do that enough times and you'll find you're not actually moving forward; you're moving side to side and wondering why nothing seems to be working for you—why the weight isn't coming off, why the book isn't being written, why the growth isn't happening. One powerful thing I've been learning to do in this season is to see someone else having amazing breakthroughs and say, “That's amazing that that is working for them. I'm going to stay the course, though. I don't want to miss what's happening in my own lane.”
Psychology tells us that watching others can be a motivating factor. But at some point, we start to confuse information with action. We convince ourselves that a steady stream of content, blogs, podcasts, sermons, coupon codes, reels, products, and videos will give us everything we need to grow and transform. However, the truth is that all that information flying at us from every angle is immobilizing us. It's holding us back. We keep buying the products, the courses, the programs, the apps. But we don't bother to take that first shaky step. We become so busy spectating, watching from the sidelines, and convincing ourselves we need what others have that we never begin.
It's easy to romanticize what other people have, the things they've put time and sweat into earning. It's easy to want those things for ourselves. But meaningful progress has never been a spectator sport. Technology may rapidly advance, but AI can never step in and live our life for us. That part is on us. I don't want us to miss out on the growth and transformation that could have been ours because it was “good enough” to watch someone else write the book, go back to school, get healthy, or cultivate a rich and deep faith life.
And while part of me wishes I could show up at your door and blast into your room with a megaphone like one of those over-the-top coaches on reality television, I know that's impossible. Pep talks only go so far, especially when you're terrified to change or grow because you've gotten comfortable with not moving. I can't be the one to convince you that watching others is not enough. I can't get you to stop buying all those things that promise to change you. You have to get to a point where you come to the realization on your own, where you tell yourself, “It's not enough anymore. It's not enough to watch. It's not enough to make excuses. I'm going to step into my own progress.”
I saw my friend Phil at a coffee shop the other day. It had been months since I'd seen him, and I couldn't help but notice a striking difference. He looked so healthy. He exuded a vibrancy I hadn't seen before, and I had to ask him what he was doing differently.
He proceeded to tell me about a dusty set of barbells he'd found in his parents' basement, along with a bunch of other old gym equipment that once belonged to his grandfather. He'd been wanting to move his body more and establish some better habits, but he kept telling himself he needed an expensive gym membership to make that goal a reality. And then one day he grew tired of telling himself that story. He transported the gym equipment to his house and, with a yoga mat set on the grass outside along with those dusty barbells, he began working out. He decided he could build from there. He went off the grid for a little while. He pressed into his progress. New habits took form. And he discovered a new way of living was waiting for him.
I love the image of the dusty barbells in the basement. It's another reminder: You and I don't need yet another “thing” before we can show up today. We don't need another gadget. We don't need that new app with the seven-day trial. We don't need that workout program or those microgreens the influencer is peddling on her story with a 20-percent-off code. We don't need another self-help book or podcast episode.
What we need is already within us. It's sitting there, waiting to be acknowledged, like an old set of dusty barbells. We must stand up, remove distractions and excuses, and begin. Imperfectly. Wobbly. Simply. Unsure. Afraid. We must turn down the volume of our culture and listen to the rhythm of our own aspirations telling us in quieter ways: Begin, begin, begin.
Begin writing.
Begin moving.
Begin picking up the camera again.
Begin stepping toward God.
Begin healing.
Begin mapping your way forward.
Begin powering down.
Begin moving off the sidelines and back into your life.
SO GOOD 👏👏👏
Hannah is great! What an incredible book. Thanks for sharing, Jon!