Men, we must raise the floor, not just chase the ceiling. Many men think about improvement the wrong way. We tend to focus on peaks, the intense workout phase, the spiritual retreat, the burst of discipline that lasts a few weeks before life presses back in. We chase motivation. We wait for the right season. They tell themselves they will get serious “once things slow down.” But real masculine formation doesn’t happen at the peak. It happens at the baseline.>Your baseline is what you do on an average Tuesday when no one is watching. It is the minimum you allow yourself to fall to when you are tired, busy, distracted, or discouraged. Over time, that floor becomes your life. For Catholic husbands and fathers, reestablishing the baseline is not optional. It is a duty.>

The Quiet Drift Toward the Minimum

Most men don’t collapse overnight. They drift. Prayer becomes rushed, then skipped. Exercise becomes occasional, then nonexistent. Reading becomes scrolling. Sleep becomes shallow. Patience becomes thin. Nothing dramatic happens. You still show up. You still work. You still provide. On paper, you’re doing fine.

Originally published in Catholic Manhood. Read original article