Departing Friendly Lines
Welcome to the Jungle
Every January, the internet fills up with big talk and empty calories.
New year. New you. New plan.
And by February, most people are back behind friendly lines—safe, comfortable, and unchanged.
Here’s the problem: most “resolutions” are wishes wearing tactical gear.
If you want to keep a resolution, stop calling it a resolution. Start treating it like an operation.
In special operations, you don’t just hope you accomplish the mission. You define the mission, build the plan, rehearse, and then you step off.
That step matters.
Departing friendly lines is the moment you stop being protected by motivation and start being governed by commitment.
Science backs this up: the people who follow through aren’t the ones with the best intentions. They’re the ones who make the behavior specific, repeatable, and triggered by their environment.
So here’s your January checklist:
1) Define the mission in plain language.
Not: “Get in shape.”
But: “Ruck 3x/week for 45 minutes, building to 90 minutes by April.”
2) Identify the first visible waypoint.
Your first objective is not the summit.
It’s the first hill. The first week. The first 10 sessions.
3) Set the departure time.
Motivation is a weather report.
Time is a contract.
When does the patrol step off?
4) Build a “no-kidding” standard.
In a unit, if it’s not standard, it’s chaos.
In your life, if it’s not a standard, it’s negotiable.
That’s why January fails so often: people keep trying to feel ready.
You don’t feel ready.
You step off anyway.
Because friendly lines are comfortable.
And comfort is where goals go to die.
Walk point. Depart.
And don’t come back the same.
That’s how you Walk Point.
Until next week,
Thank you for reading. Please share this with a friend who needs it.
John
If you've read my book, Tough Rugged Bastards, thank you for helping make it a bestseller. I would appreciate it if you would leave an honest review on Amazon. Thanks!
Get ready for quitters day.
This framing makes New Year resolutions actually actionable. Most people treat goals like theyre negotiating with themselves, but the waypoint concept forces you to put a stake in the ground. I tried something similar last year where I broke down a six-month objective into twoweek checkpoints, and not having to think about the final summit all the time made it way easier to just keep moving. The departure time as a contract line hits hard because thats where most plans collapse, waiting for the right conditions that never come.