Weekly Letter #3 · September 17, 2026
The Jug on My Desk
The doctor kept telling me I was too dehydrated. So I put a bright orange gallon jug where people can see it.
There is a bright orange gallon jug on my desk.
I carry it everywhere. It drives my wife crazy.
I did not buy it because it looks nice. I bought it because a doctor kept telling me the same thing.
You're too dehydrated. We have to get you hydrated.
The way I finally did it was simple. Times on the side of a gallon jug. Water in it. The jug where I can see it, and where other people can see it too.
I picked the bright color on purpose so people would notice it and help remind me.
That is what God taught me this week. I do not get better by hiding the work. I get better when the next right thing sits out in the open.
Hydration Is Not a Side Note
I used to treat water like a nice extra. Drink some if I remembered. Catch up later if I forgot.
The doctor did not treat it that way.
Hydration is part of the same health journey as the scale, the walks, and the food. If I am dried out, I do not think as clearly. I do not feel as well. I do not make the next decision as cleanly.
By six o'clock, the jug is usually gone. That is my routine. It is not a gallon-a-day assignment for everybody. Water needs vary.
If sugary drinks are still part of your day, start there. Replace one of them with water. Then make the habit easy to see.
My giant jug does that for me.
Instant Accountability
I keep the jug on my desk at work. People can see the times on the side.
They comment on it all the time.
Hey, you're ahead of schedule.
That is what they usually say, because I obsess about being ahead of schedule.
If I ever get behind, they do not mind pointing that out either.
It's instant accountability.
I used to think discipline was a private project. Just me, just willpower, just hoping I would remember.
That is a lonely way to change. It is also a fragile one.
A scoreboard you hide is not a scoreboard. A habit nobody can see is easy to skip.
Faith, Work, and the Next Right Thing
I still have to choose the water. Nobody drinks it for me.
But I do not have to carry the habit alone.
God has been patient with me on this journey. He has also used people. A doctor who would not drop it. Coworkers who glance at a jug. A wife who has put up with me hauling this thing through the house.
Faith this week did not look like a big speech. It looked like asking for help in a form people can see.
That same lesson shows up at work. In the stores, in leadership, in the tools I build, the useful systems are the ones that make the next step visible. Sales. Catering. A checklist. A reminder. Something a person can look at and know whether we are ahead or behind.
AI can send a ping. A spreadsheet can hold a number. I will keep building those things.
This week the reminder is plastic and orange.
You do what works for you. Trust me, though. Hydration is very important. And so is letting someone else help you keep the promise.
What's Your Jug?
Maybe yours is not water. Maybe it is the walk you keep skipping, the conversation you keep delaying, or the page of Scripture you keep meaning to open.
Put it where it can be seen. Give it a time. Let somebody else notice.
Hit reply and tell me: what is sitting on your desk this week?
- 1.Name one habit that keeps slipping when nobody can see it.
- 2.Make it visible: a jug, a mark on a calendar, a text to someone who will ask.
- 3.Stay hydrated, and stay honest about whether you are ahead or behind.