| can’t blame the donuts. I want to, but it’s not their fault. It turns out that every donut I’ve ever eaten has been consumed by choice.

I am firmly convinced that I could have rock hard abs if I was willing to make the sacrifices that people with rock hard abs are willing to make, but the simple truth is that I’m not.

If I really cared about rock hard abs as much as my wife probably wishes I did, then I would have a reason to pass on the donuts my bank shares every Friday. If rock hard abs were really a priority, then I would act differently.

The problem is I have never met a donut that didn’t seem more important than rock hard abs. Do I know that if I want rock hard abs I need to make better choices about what I eat and how often I exercise? Of course. Does that knowledge change my behavior? No.

I recently received a note from a reader who asked for some tips to help them move forward on a project they had been putting off and I immediately thought about donuts because this reader effectively said, “I know I should be doing X, but I’m not doing X. Help!”

So here’s the secret for those of you who are facing down a stalled project: you probably know the thing you should be doing. The “thing to do” part is actually pretty easy to sniff out. If you honestly can’t solve the mystery of what to do, just ask a friend or a complete stranger because it will be perfectly obvious to them. The difficult part, the part that makes us want to read one more book or ask three more friends for advice, is the doing part.

Few people have a hard time understanding what they need to do to get rock hard abs, but most simply aren’t willing to do the work.

So do yourself a favor and stop pretending like you don’t know how to get (metaphorical) rock hard abs. Choose to do the work necessary, or choose to acknowledge that you simply aren’t willing to do the work.

Wait! I didn’t even mention the chocolate milk…