A couple months ago, I signed up to Arnold Schwarzenegger's daily email. It's awesome. You can get it here.

Today, he wrote about something that I have personally experienced. Back around 1999, I injured my lower back to the point of barely being able to walk. Every single second of every single day was filled with pain.

I went to doctors, physical therapists, chiropractors. I tried medicine. Supplements. Horse pills. (To be honest, it wasn't Ivermectin. It wasn't even a pill. It was DMSO. It helped. A LOT.)

I didn't want to have surgery. I dealt with it.

I couldn't sleep. I was depressed. I was taking prescription pain killers. I was living in a fog.

I remember the minute I stopped taking the meds. I quit cold turkey. It sucked. For about two weeks, the fog became a tilt-a-whirl. I felt like I was getting dumber by the second. My short-term memory was shot.

I can't say I wanted to die. But living certainly wasn't what I'd hoped it would be. At that point, I think I understood why people kill themselves.

To say I was “stuck” would probably be an understatement.

Fast forward. I now have a wife, four kids, a house, and responsibilities.

Over the past 25 years or so, I've come to know quite a few people who are “stuck.”

Then this gem came across my desk this morning. I'm posting it here, hoping Arnold doesn't beat me to a pulp for stealing his words. I'm telling you right now: Go get his newsletter so I don't have to do this again!

Trust me, I get nothing from the referral. I've always looked up to Arnold; he's been a life-long inspiration and these words solidify his standing with me as the most inspirational person I've ever known.

(Please don't make this political.)

I keep getting a question from people in our email replies and on social media, and I want to take it on this week.

People ask me what to do when they feel like they can’t get out of bed, and my first thought is to say, “I just gave you workouts, a story about how I had to come back from a surgery where it was a win to walk ten steps, and a system for meeting your goals, how can that not get you going?” But last week, I told you to flex your empathy muscles, so now it’s my turn. I have realized a lot of people are just stuck, and I want to reach out to you, too.

When you feel like you can’t even get out of bed, my motivation to you can’t really do its job. So let’s analyze what’s going on. We are going to share more studies about how people get unstuck, but in the meantime, I think that part of this is, whether it is chemical or something else, you’ve convinced yourself you don’t have any power, and you don’t have a reason to try any more. Maybe you’ve tried a few times, and you’ve failed, and you just think you’ll fail again no matter what. You’ve internalized that whatever is holding you back will always win.

I think you need to show your mind and your body that you are in control and you need a reason to try.

Let’s start with the reason. Even when I feel like crap and sleep a little longer, by 6 am, the sun is coming through my window, and the animals are screaming to be fed, so I can’t let them down. They give me a reason not to get stuck in bed. I also tell my friends to meet at 7 am to start our bike ride. I can’t let them down.

Do you have anyone — animals, friends, anyone — that can be your reason? Can you make a commitment to meet so that you have no choice but to get out of bed? If you don’t, I have news for you, you’re going to have to make yourself the reason. Let me be the one to tell you, you are worth it.

Now, let’s deal with how to show your mind you’re in control. You can do this. I’m not asking for anything crazy.

I don’t want you to set insane goals. I want you to start tiny because I want zero chance of failure. I don’t want your mind to be able to say, “See, I told you that you couldn’t do it.” Because if that part of your mind wins, then I lose, and, more importantly, you lose. We don’t want that.

Write down the smallest goals. It can be: “I will train for 5 minutes a day.” “I will get out of bed.” “I will do five squats next to my bed.” Hell, if getting out of bed feels like too much, then try, “I will do 5 toe touches in bed.” I want you to write your goal on a piece of paper, put it next to your bed with a pen, and make a tally every day when you do it. No matter what happens, I want you to make that mark.

Don’t worry that it seems small. Right now, we are just showing your mind that you can do it. Once you start to feel unstuck, we can make your goals bigger.

This is physics; an object at rest wants to stay at rest. So we aren’t trying to get you moving fast, we are just trying to get you moving at all.

Go write that goal down. Text someone and make a commitment to meet them tomorrow morning at a park or the gym or on your front porch. Do that, and we’ll be here to pump you up every day.

Arnold's Pump Club

I hope you got something from this one. I adore Arnold. I think his advice here is excellent. If you're ever “stuck,” try his method.

I can personally attest that it works.