The Manager: The Impact Of Getting By

Introduction:

Welcome my friend,

Due to some deeply personal matters of real importance, I honestly shouldn’t have been able to sit down with you this weekend.

Yet somehow, there's always just enough time for you, even if it comes at the cost of good sleep after an exhausting, draining day on every level.

That's a reflection of how much these moments matter to me and I'll always be here, whatever it takes, because above all else, the time you make out to be on the other side, is an honour I'll never get used to.

Thank you, my friend.

Discussion:

In our conversation today, we’ll lean on a simple everyday example to shine light on how things in our lives might not actually be functioning the way they’re meant to at this stage.

When we hear that someone or something is “getting by,” the picture that instantly forms is one of bare minimum survival; managing, far from thriving or optimized.

Which means that there's still considerable room for things to be significantly better.

So why don’t we step in and make the necessary changes?

Truth is, when something is utterly broken, the pain and dysfunction creates an immediate pressure; we have to fix it, or it simply stops working altogether.

On the contrary, when something is only partially damaged, when it can still limp along, when we can still “manage” with it, we tend to leave it in that compromised state or apply a quick, temporary patch.

Only to allow that patch to become permanent, long after its usefulness has expired.

Consequently, over time, the abnormalities start feeling normal.

This is what it means to be the manager, merely getting by, but satisfied with it because we've lost touch of what thriving feels like.

■ Lost – Erasing Our Identity

Certain parts of our lives have fallen far below what we once held as our standard.

Yet, we’ve quietly settled for less, giving up on who we could still become.

So many of us begin strong, full of promise and drive, only to meet seasons of hardship that force us into pure survival.

We shrink into the version of ourselves that’s just trying to stay above water.

In time, that diminished version stops feeling temporary.

It becomes familiar.

It becomes us.

We grow accustomed to this smaller self, even though deep down we know it’s far less than we’re capable of being.

This was never meant to be permanent.

For some of us, love once came naturally, we grew up surrounded by it, gave it freely, received it deeply.

However, heartbreak or disloyalty arrived, with such sharp pain that we labeled vulnerability itself as weakness.

Now we keep everyone at arm’s length, guarding what’s left.

We’ve damaged our own capacity to connect, to love without reservation.

This loss is real, and it is not who we were designed to be.

For others, we've lost our trust having seen it shattered in ways that left lasting scars.

Repeated betrayal taught us that safety lies in solitude, so we’ve chosen isolation over the risk of being hurt again.

Yet, no human thrives as an island.

Which makes this guarded, disconnected life a wounded state, not our true design.

Then there are those of us who have quietly surrendered our financial ambition.

We once excelled, built careers, created wealth, stood confidently in our ability to provide and grow.

However, loss came, whether through failure, crisis, or betrayal, and it stole not only resources but also the courage to try again.

Now we simply get by, comfortable in a standard of living we would've once refused to accept.

Mediocrity has become the new normal.

Then there's another group made up of some of us that have let discipline slip away when it comes to our bodies and health.

We used to move with strength and energy; we took care of ourselves.

Then injury, illness, burnout, or life’s interruptions pulled us off course.

Now we're fully recovered, but the old habits have never fully returned.

We’ve grown content with a weaker version of our physical selves, settling for “getting by” when we could, step by step, rebuild what was lost.

Truth is, this, too, was never supposed to last.

In so many areas, we have allowed life’s blows to redefine us downward.

We’ve traded our original identity for a survival edition of ourselves, one that feels safer but costs us everything that once made us come alive.

This slow erasure of who we truly are continues to steal from us the fullest, truest, most vibrant version we were always meant to become.

It doesn’t have to stay this way and it's time to make those changes.

Summary:

For time constraints we'd be unable to continue this conversation any further today.

Hopefully, when we return next week we'll have more time to wrap it up.

Until then let's ponder on these words.

See you, my friend.

Master Apprentice.