So… What Are You Going to Do About It?

Whenever someone in my circle complains about something not going well, I often ask a simple question:

“So, what are you going to do about it?”

It usually draws a blank stare. Not out of rudeness—but because the question catches people off guard. Most of us assume things are stuck because someone else isn’t doing what they’re supposed to. We feel like observers of a problem, not participants in the solution.

But here’s the thing: if you want change—real change—you can’t just wait for it.

Something in your approach has to shift. A new action, a new habit, a new level of discipline. Different outcomes come from different inputs.

Robert Fritz, in his book The Path of Least Resistance, put it beautifully: like water, we tend to flow along the path of least resistance—unless the underlying structure changes. If the riverbed stays the same, the water keeps flowing the same way. No matter how much you want it to move differently.

It’s the same with our lives.

If the deeper structures—our habits, our routines, our responses—don’t shift, we’ll keep getting more of the same. Change begins when you reshape the path, not just wish for different results.

So next time something isn’t working, pause and ask yourself:

What can I do differently to change this direction?

This question is often where real progress begins.