February 2, 2026
Too often we are caught in the complacency trap of comfort.
Like a wise man once said, the more you avoid discomfort, the more you make misery your master.
Choosing to not assess yourself is a choice that will lead to a life of misery.
Misery is the result of attempting to improve something when you don’t even know what it is you are trying to improve.
If you don’t know what it is you are seeking to improve, there is no way you will even know how.
This is why growth towards the life you are attempting to build is hitting the metaphorical brick wall.
You know you need to get better but you aren’t sure what needs to get better or how to go about doing it.
This is the byproduct of failing to assess yourself
Growth, as a metric, relies heavily on your ability to perform a cold, hard, and honest assessment of yourself in all aspects of your life on a regular and frequent basis.
While this may expose the misery, it will also reveal to you the areas that need work.
If you choose not to perform this task, you won’t have an accurate feel for where you are and where you are trying to go.
The complacency monster will take control and pretty soon you will end up back to square one – “I know I need to get better but I don’t know how.”
I find that when I am seeking improvement I take a daily self assessment on the 5 most important topics in my life
First: how is my relationship with God?
Second: how am I taking care of myself in my habits of consumption (think sleep, eat, music, exercise, reading)?
Third: how am I taking care of my wife?
Fourth: how am I taking care of my children?
Fifth: how am I taking care of my business?
Every single day I start and end my day with this quick run down.
If there is a specific area that needs work, it gets put on my daily focus list.
The biggest take away I have from this is the process of continual self assessment helps me focus on continual self improvement.
Do I make mistakes?
Absolutely – every single day.
But the factor that separates those who win from those who embrace the victim mindset is what you do after the mistake.
Commit to the honest, often, truthful assessment of yourself and see how you eradicate misery from your life.
Otherwise, you will fall into the complacency trap, stagnate in growth, and fail to fulfill your opportunity to leave an impact with the time you have been given.
