Take a Knee

Life doesn’t always feel like a steady journey — many times, it feels like a battlefield. Deadlines pile up, a critical bug suddenly appears, an escalation email lands in your inbox, the calendar is packed with back-to-back meetings, and before yu even process what’s happening, everything feels urgent. The pressure builds, thoughts scatter, emotions start spiraling, and yu feel yourself inching toward that breaking point. And in those moments, the natural instinct is to push harder — to type faster, react instantly, scramble, multitask, and somehow fight the chaos by becoming even more chaotic inside.

But if you’ve followed me for a while, yu know I resonate deeply with David Goggins’ mindset. One of his ideas that stayed with me — especially during tough phases — is the simple but powerful concept of “Take a Knee.” In the military, when bullets are flying and everything is unpredictable, soldiers don’t just rush blindly forward. They take a knee — not to quit, not to escape — but to pause, breathe, reassess the situation, understand where they stand, and decide the next move with clarity instead of panic.

We don’t live on battlefields, but we face our own kind of fire. Sometimes it’s in our careers: deadlines closing in, expectations rising, tasks multiplying faster than we can tick them off. One bug leads to another, testing fails, production goes down, and then that escalation email arrives — the one that throws your heartbeat off rhythm. In those moments, the brain says, “Move faster. Fix everything right now.” But that’s usually when the exact opposite is needed.

That’s when taking a knee becomes crucial.

Taking a knee means stepping back mentally — even if physically you’re still at your desk. It means acknowledging the chaos, but not letting it hijack your response. It’s pausing just long enough to regain control of your mind, reorder priorities, and remind yourself: “I don’t need to solve everything at once. I just need to choose the right next step.”

This applies beyond work, too — in running, when yu hit a wall; in relationships, when miscommunication spirals; in life, when things don’t make sense anymore. We’re conditioned to keep grinding, keep reacting, keep moving — as if slowing down is a sign of weakness. But taking a knee isn’t quitting. It’s refusing to let panic make decisions for you.

Sometimes strength isn’t about pushing harder — it’s about pausing long enough to reset your strategy, regain your breath, and rise with clarity.

So the next time life feels overwhelming — whether it’s a half marathon, a career deadline, or an emotional storm — remember this:

Yu don’t have to sprint through chaos.

Take a knee.
Breathe.
Re-center yourself.
Then get up — and move forward with intention.