Over the next two weeks, we’re exploring what a trapped fly can teach us about getting unstuck. This week: identifying invisible barriers. Next week: finding your way out.

Inches From Freedom

You’ve seen a fly trapped between a window and a screen, slamming frantically and repeatedly against the mesh. Freedom is inches away—visible, tangible.

The fly senses only daylight and fresh air, signaling that the path is clear. It makes repeated attempts but goes nowhere. We see what it can’t: it’s trapped, beating itself valiantly, yet futilely against barriers it can’t perceive.

No amount of effort will free the fly.

Invisible Barriers

You know this feeling. We can envision exactly where we want to be, yet no matter how much mental or physical energy we expend, we can’t get there. We’re stuck, confined by invisible boundaries.

It’s easy to interpret this as personal failure—proof you lack discipline or commitment. But trying hard and failing repeatedly isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a sign you’re aiming at the wrong problem.

You’re focused on the goal (the open air outside) instead of what’s blocking you (the screen).

Are the barriers holding you back the ones you’re actually planning for?

Forcing the Goal

Maybe you’ve been trying to establish a consistent exercise routine for years. Every New Year it’s at the top of your list of resolutions. You’ve bought workout clothes, joined the gym, and researched multiple workout routines. You’re ready to go.

But inevitably, just a few weeks into the year, you’re stuck. Struggling with inconsistency or not seeing the results you hoped for.

You blame yourself for lack of discipline or motivation. But that’s not it. The real barriers?

Your mornings are chaos—kids, deadlines, the endless rush before you’re even out the door. By the time you could exercise, you’re already depleted.

You expect results faster than they can possibly appear.

You’ve scheduled workouts for 6am, even though you’ve never been a morning person, and you hate getting up early. When the alarm goes off at 5:45 you hit snooze without even cracking an eyelid.

The barrier isn’t willpower. It’s your schedule, your energy patterns, and your expectations. But you’ve been staring right past them, focused only on the goal as written down on the paper.

Aiming At the Wrong Problem

At this point, you’ve become the fly. The plan isn’t working because the barriers you’re up against aren’t the ones you planned for.

The truth is simpler: a workout that doesn’t fit into your life doesn’t work out.

Not having workout clothes wasn’t the problem. The problem is trying to force a routine that doesn’t match your actual schedule, energy, or preferences. What makes it worse is that the frustration itself becomes another invisible barrier. The more frantic we become, the less clearly we see. We’re so fixated on why we’re failing that we can’t step back and examine what’s actually in our way. Like the fly, our desperate thrashing prevents us from pausing long enough to find a different approach.

Progress fails not because we lack effort, but because we’re solving the wrong problem.

The Obstacle Map

So how can we make the invisible visible? How do we stop staring out the open window and start examining the screen?

Instead of planning for the goal, we have to start planning for the barriers. Instead of mapping out the plan for success, map out the obstacles that you’ll encounter along the way. Here’s how:

• Pick one change you’ve failed at before
• List the exact actions required for success
• For each action, ask: “What usually stops me from doing this?”
• Design solutions specifically for those obstacles.

What you’re NOT doing here is planning how to achieve the goal. You’re planning how to remove what prevents you from acting.

Applied to our exercise example:

• Obstacle: Your work schedule is unpredictable
  • Solution: Find a variety of 20, 30, or 40-minute workouts that can be done at home or at the gym
• Obstacle: You struggle to wake up early
  • Solution: Start with a simple 15-minute stretching routine in the mornings instead of expecting a trip to the gym

The goal is to target your energy for making the change directly at the obstacles you’ve mapped out. You can’t target the obstacles until you make them visible.

See the Screen

For the fly, wanting freedom isn’t enough. It’s not stuck because it’s unwilling to try, it just can’t perceive what’s confining it.

You’re not trapped by lack of effort or motivation—you’re trapped by barriers you haven’t named yet.

Examine the screen. See what’s really in your way. Map your obstacles and plan for them. That’s how you stop being trapped and start making progress.

As always, thanks for reading. I’m truly happy you’re here.

All the best,

Nate