If you're on a journey to a healthier and happier you, you know the road is not smooth.

It's bumpy as heck.

You start getting some momentum, lose focus for a little while, get busy, and the longer you're "off track" the harder it is to get back on.

That's why we preach slow and steady consistency, not beating yourself up if you miss a week here and there, because, in the long-term, it's more about just showing up consistently.

Ok, we get that.

But, I'm on this road to a healthier and happier me, and I still have "problems."

And that's the problem!

We think that once we get going, once we hit a certain goal, once we accomplish something all our problems go away.

In his book "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*CK", Mark Manson talks about how life is all about trading problems for better problems, but it's also an understanding that we'll always have problems.

Let's think about it...

When you first start a fitness journey you're scared, you're intimidated, and you're not in the shape you want to be in.

That's a problem that you're looking to solve.

So, let's assume things go great, you find a gym you're no longer scared of, you're into a routine, and you're getting results.

And guess what?

A new problem emerges...

You now have to balance how do I fit these three hours at the gym into my hectic life.

Who and what do I say no to at home or at work in order to take a priority of ME for a couple hours?

Still a problem, but a better problem.

Let's keep rolling...

You're crushing it, you've found balance in your schedule and you're getting all kinds of results.

Another problem emerges.

You may have to go buy an entirely new wardrobe, you may have a non-supportive spouse or some jealous friends that make fun of you every time you try to eat healthy.

Again, a better problem, but still a problem.

The problems I solve today running a business with eight employees, hundreds of clients, consulting on the side, a kid, a wife, and all the other factors that play into it are completely different (and better) than the problems I had to solve seven years ago when it was a one-man operation and I just started dating Megan.

But they’re still problems...

This is a great reminder, and something Mark preaches in his book, that we will never eliminate problems in our life. If you set yourself up with that expectation you're going to fail.

The goal is that you continue to grow and develop, in all aspects of life, so that you trade bad problems for better problems.

But they'll always be problems....

And that's ok.

That's what makes it fun.

We are internally motivated to solve problems.

As much as we dream of everything being perfect and going smoothly 110% of the time, we crave the ability to fix stuff that's broken, we crave problems.

We just hope we're trading good problems for great problems.

I'll end with my favorite quote from the book...

"There is a simple realization from which all personal improvement and growth emerges. This is the realization that we, individually, are responsible for everything in our lives, no matter the external circumstances. We don’t always control what happens to us. But we always control how we interpret what happens to us, as well as how we respond...

Life is essentially an endless series of problems. The solution to one problem is merely the creation of another....

Don’t hope for a life without problems. There’s no such thing. Instead, hope for a life full of good problems."

1% Better.

Dedicated to Your Success,

Doug Spurling