Take a moment to think about the times in your life that make you proud—the extraordinary moments that stand out. Maybe it was landing your dream job, making the college sports team, winning a championship, launching a business, or asking your future spouse out on that first date. Perhaps it was losing weight, running a marathon, speaking up for your beliefs, or standing strong through adversity. Think about those moments.
Now, I want you to reflect on the time and effort leading up to those moments. What did it take to get there? My guess is, you faced some serious challenges. Maybe it was long hours, sacrifice, or pushing through doubts and setbacks. In every story of triumph, there are chapters of struggle. The more intense the challenge, the sweeter the victory.
That’s because it’s not the absence of struggle that creates fulfillment in life; it’s the presence of it. The best moments—the ones where you felt most alive—were born from pushing through hardship.
Lately, I’ve been reading a powerful book, Fighting Shadows: Overcoming 7 Lies that Keep Men From Becoming Fully Alive by Jon Tyson and Jefferson Bethke. In it, they talk about a survey where 400 women were asked what they believe is wrong with men today. The most common answer was…apathy.
Think about that for a second. Apathy. It’s subtle, but it’s destructive. When men lose their drive, their passion, and their vision, they slip into coasting through life. And this isn’t just a personal battle—it’s spiritual warfare.
Ephesians 6:12 tells us, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Satan doesn’t always attack head-on with obvious temptations. One of his most effective tactics is to lull us into passivity. To make us think there’s nothing to fight for, nothing to strive toward. He wants us discouraged, distracted, and stuck in mediocrity.
I’ve experienced this firsthand. When I feel lost or lack confidence, I tend to pull back. Passivity creeps in. But we have to recognize this for what it is: a deliberate attack. And we need to fight back.
So how do we combat apathy? How do we get out of the rut and break free from coasting through life? The answer is in taking on meaningful challenges.
One of my favorite quotes is from Brendon Burchard, “There is but one word to bring to the center of your mind, which can define the path to an engaged life and mobilize the great energies of potential within you: challenge.”
We were made to rise to challenges. It’s when we push ourselves, when we take on something difficult, that we come alive again. It’s through challenge that we focus, shed distractions, and step into our full potential.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
I know you’re the kind of man who cares about your life and potential. You’re here because you want to live intentionally, and I know you are willing to step up when the time comes. So, here’s my challenge to you today: Over the next three months, what’s one thing you could do that would make the biggest positive difference in your life?
This could be in your relationships, your career, your finances, your health—whatever it might be. What would have the most significant impact?
It should be something that excites you and maybe even scares you a little. It won’t be easy, but it should stir something inside you. It’s supposed to be just outside your comfort zone. But it will be worth it.
Could this be the season where you finally stick to that fitness goal? Or make a breakthrough in your business or career? Or maybe it’s deepening your most meaningful relationships or pursuing a closer relationship with God.
Here’s the key: Take on a challenge that will wake you up, break the habit of apathy, and call out your warrior spirit. The enemy wants you coasting through life, but God has made you to fight, to conquer, and to live with purpose.
If you’re serious about this challenge, I encourage you to recruit some accountability—whether that’s friends, mentors, or coaches. You don’t have to do it alone. In fact, research shows you’re 60% more likely to succeed when you pursue a goal with someone else.
Remember, we’re in a battle. But through Christ, we are more than conquerors. So rise up, take on your challenge, and live fully alive.
I want you to think for a minute about the moments in life that you are most proud of…the extraordinary moments of your life. Some of your greatest memories…it could be when you got that dream job, when you made a college sports team, a championship you won, when you launched your own business, when you asked your future wife out, when you lost weight or when you ran a marathon, when you spoke up for your beliefs, when you didn’t crumble in adversity.
Go ahead and think for a minute about some of those moments
Alright now, think of the time and effort leading up to that moment. Think about the time right before that extraordinary event.
My guess is that in the time leading up to that moment, you faced some big time inconveniences. You faced some struggles. You had to overcome some sort of challenge or adversity. You had to put in blood, sweat, and tears before you ended up at that moment.
Typically, the harder the struggle and the more obstacles you had to overcome, the sweeter the moment of triumph is.
Really think about that. The best moments in your life. The moments you are most proud of. The moments where you felt the most alive…came on the other side of challenge and inconvenience.
It is not the absence of challenge that creates a fulfilling life…it is actually the very presence of challenge and struggle that creates an energized and fulfilling life.
Let’s Go to War
I have been reading a book called “Fighting Shadows: Overcoming 7 Lies that Keep Men From Becoming Fully Alive” by Jon Tyson and Jefferson Bethke and in it, they said they recently surveyed 400 woman asking them what they believe to be wrong with men today. They said they got some different answers but the one main one that stood out and was a pretty consistent response across the board was: Apathy
Apathy was the main response from women when they were asked what was wrong with men today.
I think that is the main way that the enemy is attacking men right now. I think he has found that it’s an effective strategy to get a man distracted, uninspired, bored, and unintentional with his life. He knows if he can get you coasting through life that you will be ineffective.
This is always a serious struggle of mine. It’s so easy to get inspired or motivated in waves and then revert to passivity. When I lack confidence - I revert to passivity. When I lack direction - I revert to passivity. When I lack purpose - I revert to passivity.
We have to recognize this is one of the ways the enemy is attacking us and we have to take a stand. We have to go on the offensive. We have to rise up and fight back!
So many times, when I feel apathetic or passive, I blame myself. I get mad at myself. I start to talk down to myself. But that only expands the problem. That’s exactly what the enemy wants you to do.
I think it’s important to realize that this is an attack from the enemy on men today.
Ephesians 6:12
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
In this book, there was a paragraph that really struck me.
“Satan hates men with vision. He hates men who refuse the mediocrity of their day. He hates men with an insurgent mentality. He will do anything within his power to sabotage their call. Sometimes he uses a direct assault, tempting us with what we know is obviously wrong. But he knows the best way to immobilize a man is more subtle. His most effective strategy to destroy men is to lull them to sleep with apathy - to ease them into a sense that there is nothing to do, nothing to become, nothing to fight - to get them to sip the sweet wine of self-pity and despair and never realize their strength.”
We have to remember that we are at war. There is an enemy who hates men. There is an enemy out there who is trying to destroy you - he has come to kill, steal, and destroy you.
He wants to steal your vision and your dreams. He wants to kill your integrity and your relationships. He wants to steal your joy and your self-esteem. He wants to take away your confidence. He wants you to slip into a life of apathy and passivity.
He wants you to think that you can’t take on challenges. He wants you to think that you are stuck and you can’t do anything about it.
He wants you to think that there isn’t more to life than what you are experiencing now. He wants you to think there is no place for you to thrive.
We need to fight back! We are in a war and God has made us to be warriors. It’s time to put the armor on and go to battle.
It says in Romans 8 that we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus
And in I John 4 that greater is he who is in you than he who is the world.
We have everything we need to fight back, we just need to go do it!
Challenge Is The Solution
I have found that one of the best ways to fight against apathy is to take on meaningful challenges.
One of the best ways to get out of rut, to stop coasting, to get out of autopilot mode and to fight back against the enemy is to take on meaningful challenges.
“There is but one word to bring to the center of your mind, which can define the path to an engaged life and mobilize the great energies of potential within you: challenge.” - Brendon Burchard
I believe that oftentimes it is the exact lack of meaningful challenge in our life that we fall into apathy. We were created to be warriors. We were created to fight. We were created to build and conquer and lead.
One of the best ways to shed passivity and to come alive again is to pursue a meaningful challenge.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
I know the kind of man that you are. I know if you are here you care about making the most of your life. I know that if you spend time investing in learning and growing by listening to trainings that you are someone who cares about pursuing your full potential. I know you care about throwing off apathy. I know that you are a man who will rise to the occasion and persevere in the face of challenges. I know that are a man that is willing to get uncomfortable in order to pursue your dreams
So here is my challenge to you today, I want to encourage you to take on a meaningful challenge in the next three months that will engage your focus, your energy, and your passion.
Here is the question I would like you to answer: What one thing could I do in the next three months that would make the biggest positive difference in my life?
Pause this if you need to in order to answer that question. This could be in your relationships, it could be in your career, your finances, your health…whatever it might be, what would make the biggest positive impact on your life right now?
This should be something that excites you. This should be something that lights a fire in your belly to pursue. It doesn’t mean it will be easy. It is supposed to be just outside your comfort zone. But it should excite you!
Could this be the three months where you finally stick to the diet you have been talking about? Where you finally get control of your health?
Could this be the three months where you make the breakthrough in your business or your career?
Could it be the three months where you create the most meaningful relationships in your life? Or consistently spend time with God and grow closer to him than you ever have?
View this challenge as a way to break you out of apathy and to fight back against the enemy. He wants you coasting through life. He wants you distracted. He wants you discouraged. He has come to steal, kill, and destroy your confidence.
One of the ways that you can fight back is take on a meaningful challenge that will engage your creativity, energy, focus, and strength.
If this challenge is something you are excited about and serious about making happen, I want to encourage you to recruit some men, coaches, mentors, or resources to help you do it. You don’t have to do it alone. In fact you are 60% more likely to succeed if you do it alongside someone else.
If you don’t have those systems or people in your life, the Intentional Man community could be a great place to start. Please reach out to me and I’d love to get you resourced and ready to take this on!
Please share this with someone meaningful in your life and start fighting against apathy today by taking on a challenge that is going to bring excitement and engagement back to your life.
You got this! I believe in you! I know you can do it!
Go live a life you’re proud of by living intentionally.
