Start on Sunday: Setting the (Mental) Stage for Success

The difference between dads who reclaim their strength and those who stay in endless restart cycles isn't discipline, time, or genetics it's the stories they tell themselves about what's possible.

Start on Sunday Series

Where we stop hitting the snooze bar on life.

You know the cycle. Weekend indulgence followed by Monday morning promises to "start fresh." But here's the truth: Mondays don't exist. They're just a psychological scapegoat we've created to normalize procrastination and delay the life we actually want.

This paid series is for Dadbod Rebuilders who are tired of the restart cycle. You used to be an athlete. You know what discipline looks like. But somewhere between work deadlines, kids' schedules, and life's demands, you started treating your health like something you'll get to "when Monday comes."

Ancient Stoics had great disdain for putting off actions of virtue to some future time because it signaled that you didn't think it was important to be virtuous in the current moment (the only moment that we actually have). By putting off things that are important to us, we're saying that the current version of us doesn't matter.

That doesn't sit well with me. I hope it doesn't sit well with you either.

The Start on Sunday series gives you one sustainable strategy to break the Monday restart mentality and build lasting change. Because the current moment is too precious, and we hold too much value in ourselves to keep waiting for tomorrow. Read the Manifesto here.

Setting the (Mental) Stage for Success

You know that voice in your head that says you'll never stick to eating better? The one that whispers "I'm just not a disciplined person" when you skip the gym for the third time that week?

That voice is lying.

But here's the thing—it's been your operating system for so long that you've started believing it. And that belief system is exactly why you're stuck in the same cycle of starting strong Monday morning and face-planting by Wednesday afternoon.

The Real Reason You Keep Failing (It's Not What You Think)

After 25 years of helping dads reclaim their strength, I can tell you this: The guy who loses 30 pounds and keeps it off isn't more disciplined than you. He doesn't have better genetics or more willpower.

He has a different mindset.

Every decision you make—from grabbing that protein bar instead of the donut, to doing 15 minutes of pushups while your kids watch cartoons—is filtered through your belief system. If you believe deep down that you're "just not an athletic person anymore," guess what your choices will reflect?

Most dads I have worked with are carrying around a mental framework that worked against them from day one. They think they have a slow metabolism. They believe they're "too old" to get back in shape. They've convinced themselves they don't have the discipline their high school athlete self had.

These aren't facts. They're stories you've been telling yourself.

A Tale of Two Ways of Thinking

Your mind puts limits on what you can achieve and maintain. It's often your mindset—not your schedule, not your genetics, not your age—that causes you to retreat back to old habits and lose the progress you've made with your body and health.

Here's what separates the dads who transform their bodies from the ones who stay stuck:

Fixed Mindset Dad believes his abilities, body attributes, and health characteristics are static. He thinks he was born with a certain set of skills and there's little he can do to change them. "I'm just not good at this nutrition stuff. I was never the disciplined type. My metabolism is shot."