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I used to go to the gym about six times a week. I don’t intend to share this as a brag, but as an example of a season of personal discipline in my routine. I would go every weekday evening besides Wednesday and two times on Saturday. At the end of 2019, I just kind of drifted out of that habit. It did not take long to go from six times a week to a grand total of zero times a week. When the pandemic hit, I had an easy excuse, but when lockdowns lifted, I still did not resume t

Monday: Alarm. Coffee. Traffic. Emails. Screen time. Sleep. Tuesday: Standups. Laundry. Quick lunch. Grocery run. Sleep. Wednesday: Midweek slump. Errands. Dinner prep. Sink full of dishes. Sleep. Thursday: Calendar notifications. Commute. Unread texts. Fold clothes. Sleep. Friday: Deadline push. Takeout. Scroll feed. Collapse into sleep. Saturday & Sunday: Chores, yard work, a quick breath, reset, sleep ...and right back to Monday. Look at your own weekly rhythm. It raises a

Last year, I took part in an exercise to get still, quiet, and just listen. We were instructed to observe whatever was going on around us in a quiet patch of woods with a creek running through it. Naturally drawn to water, I picked a spot right on the bank. Upstream, the creek was narrow, choked with large stones, busily churning and roaring as the current forced its way through the rock-strewn path. But directly in front of me, the creek widened into a deeper section. It did

BY DARREN GOULD | AUGUST 17, 2026 Every Tuesday night, I sit in a room with a group of men from my Bible study fellowship. Recently, we were asked a question that cut right to the chest: What is one sin you struggle with? When it was my turn, I had to be honest about something I usually keep tucked away. My struggle is with irritability, a short fuse over seemingly mundane things, and anger. To the outside world, I probably look like I have it all together. People wouldn’t k

There’s a specific kind of magic in finding a place where you truly belong. I’ve been going to the same church for a long time now. When I first walked through those doors, I was a young adult trying to navigate my way out of a particularly difficult season. I initially visited because my family went there, but what really pushed me over the threshold was a conversation at work. A guy my age stopped by the shop where I was working. He didn't come to sell anything or pitch a p

BY JON HODGIN | JULY 27, 2026 If you’ve been following The Fellow Warrior for a while, you know we talk a lot about brotherhood, vulnerability, and refusing to fight life’s battles in isolation. It’s easy to write about those principles when the sun is shining and the path ahead is clear. But a few months ago, those principles stopped being just ideas on a screen. They became my lifeline. After almost 20 years with the same company, I was let go. Twenty years. Nearly two deca

BY JON HODGIN | JULY 21, 2026 It has happened countless times before and unless you stay isolated or are still a child you've seen it too. You're involved in a group, or watching from the sidelines of a friend’s life, and the red flags start popping up. A brother may be drowning under the weight of circumstances like a layoff, a medical issue, or a marriage that just isn't working even though he feels like he's giving it all he has. Maybe he’s drowning because of his own choi

BY JON HODGIN | JULY 13, 2026 We’ve all been there. You hand off a project to a colleague with what you think are crystal-clear instructions, only to get back something completely off-target. Or you find yourself deeply hurt because a friend didn't respond to a hard situation the way you would have. In psychology, this is known as false consensus effect or psychological projection. It's the deeply ingrained habit of using ourselves as the blueprint for everyone else. We proje

BY JON HODGIN | JULY 6, 2026 Not long ago, I was walking through a parking lot and spotted an absolute beast of a vehicle. It was a brand-new Jeep Wrangler, completely built out for serious, hardcore off-roading. It had massive 37-inch mud-terrain tires, a four-inch suspension lift with top-of-the-line reservoir shocks, heavy-duty steel bumpers, a high-powered winch mounted on the front, and a snorkel intake winding up the side of the windshield. It even had a row of intensel

BY JON HODGIN | JUNE 29, 2026 This week, our nation reaches a milestone that few experiments in human history ever achieve: 250 years of independence. As the fireworks light up the sky and we gather around grills with our families, it is easy to look back at the founding of America through a romanticized, textbook lens. We see statues of pristine men in powdered wigs and think of liberty as an inevitable conclusion. But history tells a much grittier story. In the summer of 17

BY JON HODGIN | JUNE 22, 2026 I’ve spent a lot of time on rivers over the years. Whether navigating the intense whitewater in Colorado or taking an epic, freezing-cold trek down the Buffalo River here in Arkansas, I’ve learned a universal truth about moving water: The moment you stop paddling, you lose control. On a river, there is no such thing as holding your ground. If you pull your paddle out of the water to just float and relax, the current takes over. At best, it allows

I met with some fellow warriors this morning and was presented with a great topic. We’ve all been there. Your partner comes to you, venting about a stressful day or a frustrating spat with a friend. Before they’ve even finished their second sentence, your brain is already firing at 100 mph. You’re calculating logistics, identifying the "root cause," and preparing a three-point plan to make the problem go away. In your mind, you’re being a hero. In their mind, they just wanted

I've been working over the last couple weeks on goal setting for work, for my personal goals, and for goals that my wife and I can share together. In the past I was prone to write out goals that I genuinely wanted to hit, but that were far to vague to measure progress. I know many men that write out goals, track them, and achieve them on a very regular basis. I used to be in awe of this fact. To be fair, I still am, but I was presented with a system that has been working for

Work can be challenging at times. Family can as well. Life in general can be a challenge. I recently had a work challenge present itself. An important member of our IT staff gave his notice and was gone in what felt like just a moment. It left a void. He was a great fit in the team and helped in quite a few ways. I am a bit melancholy about the issue even still, but it is a challenge I am ready to confront, deal with, and grow from. That has not always been the case. Just las

In 2020, the world experienced a threat. We were told that it would be devastating. News outlets advised that the healthy should...

Practical Ways to Be a Fellow Warrior for Other Christian Men Life for a Christian man is often described as a battle. Scripture reminds...

This morning I joined a few men from our church for breakfast at a local spot for our Saturday morning study. We were looking at Matthew...

This week has been a tough one. I was confronted with the fact that I tend not to communicate in a timely manner which has affected the...

"Consistency is the key." It's a suggestion I heard several times when I was talking about writing on my own site. I have not done a...

A few months ago I heard someone at work recommending a book. Oftentimes those recommendations are great books, but generally secular business books. I enjoy reading many of those titles. They help formulate a plan or a system to improve habit formation, communicate more effectively, and manage your responsibilities like a pro. I continue to read titles like that and determine what I can implement to improve myself. That was not the case for this one. It was a book written ab