Decker’s Corner

One year ago today, I hit publish on the first post on this website:

Building Muscle – What’s Going On Under the Hood? Why Can We Build Muscle? And How to Effectively Build It

It wasn’t perfect.

But it was live.

And that mattered.

Because nothing happens until you publish.

When I launched this site, it was mostly going to be about building muscle.

And it still is.

But over the last year, I’ve discovered that building muscle is really just one part of a much bigger project.

Building better humans.

Building stronger fathers.

Building stronger bodies.

Building stronger minds.

Building stronger communities.

Building stronger lives.

Over the last year, I’ve written about a lot of different things.

Building muscle.

Fatherhood.

Music.

Dating.

An alien learning Earth. 🤣

And much more.

But somehow, it’s all connected.

Because becoming a better human isn’t compartmentalized.

It’s holistic.

The biggest lesson?

Just start.

I’ve spent much of my life waiting.

Waiting for the perfect time.

The perfect situation.

The perfect business idea.

The perfect business name.

The perfect domain name.

But perfect doesn’t exist.

And I finally realize that.

Perfection is procrastination wearing a disguise.

So what’s next?

More getting better.

More writing.

More learning.

More growing.

More gym.

More running.

More fatherhood.

More becoming.

Brick by brick.

We’re just getting started.

Martin Luther King Jr. changed the world because he was in control.

He never gave in. He never gave up—even when things looked bleak. Even when violence was calling.

That distinction matters.

Anyone can react. Anyone can rage, shout, post, and burn energy. Anyone can destroy.

Very few can carry weight without becoming warped by it.

That’s the muscle MLK trained daily. That’s the muscle we train daily.

Building a better you—and a better world—isn’t about lip service.

It’s about capacity.

Capacity to endure pressure. Capacity to resist bitterness. Capacity to stay disciplined when chaos invites collapse.

That capacity isn’t gifted.

It’s built—the same way muscle is built.

Rep by rep. Day by day. Under resistance.

MLK understood something every Musclebuilder must learn:

You don’t change the world by destroying it.

You change it by becoming strong enough to move it.

Strength of body. Strength of mind. Strength of soul.

The weight is always there.

Whether you lift it—or let it crush you—is the choice.

If you want to stand for something…justice, family, legacy, truth—you’d better train for the load that comes with it.

Otherwise, it will break you.

This isn’t a holiday about words.

It’s about work.

The quiet work of discipline. The unglamorous work of self-control. The long work of building something that outlives your mood…and outlasts you.

So ask yourself:

What am I building?

Because a better world isn’t built by wishing.

It’s built by those who can carry themselves…and can carry others.

Never give in. Never give up.

Carry the weight.

The past year is a mirror.

Not the kind you flex in—the kind that tells the truth.

It shows how you trained. How you ate. How you slept. How often you chose comfort over effort.

Did you hit the reps? Did you push the last set when it burned? Did you feed your body what it needed—or what was easy?

You can’t cheat this mirror.

It shows up in your waistline. In your posture. In the way your joints feel when you get out of bed. In the quiet pride—or frustration—you carry into the gym.

If the work didn’t get done in 2025, nothing changes at midnight.

New programs won’t build muscle. New motivation won’t lower body fat. New calendars won’t fix broken habits.

Unless you resolve to show up every day, no matter what year.

Consistency matters.

So use the New Year energy—but don’t waste it on resolutions.

Aim it at your plate. At sleep. At progressive overload. At showing up when you don’t feel like it.

Consistently.

Because your body isn’t moved by the year.

It’s moved by you and the mission.

While the world trades iron for wrapping paper, the Brickyard doesn’t close.

It breathes.

The work doesn’t vanish because it’s Christmas. Discipline doesn’t take PTO. The mission doesn’t care about eggnog.

Stand down today. Eat with your people. Laugh loud. Feel the weight of what you’re building.

But understand this:

Tomorrow the gates swing open again.

Chain on. Gains on. Anchors up. Back to stacking bricks.

Today is a holiday. And a reset.

Merry Christmas. Happy holidays.

Thanksgiving hits different when you get older.

When you’re a kid, it’s turkey, pumpkin pie, the parade on TV, cousins sprinting around the house, and the promise that Christmas is around the corner.

But when you’re a man—a man with responsibilities, a man with a mission—the day shifts.

It becomes a pause.

A breath.

A moment to look at your life and say,

“What am I truly grateful for? What’s carrying me through?”

My list gets simpler every year.

My kids.

My health.

My people.

My mission.

And the ability to wake up and keep building, brick by brick.

But as I’ve gotten older, one more thing has crept into the picture.

The land beneath my feet.

The place I call home now—the trails I run, the lakes I walk around, the cities and small towns scattered across the Upper Midwest—it all has a history long before I showed up.

A history that’s beautiful.

Complicated.

Woven with both resilience and loss.

And on a day like today, I feel the weight of that.

Thanksgiving didn’t start as a peaceful feast.

There’s a harder truth beneath the holiday—especially for the Native peoples of this region, the Dakota and Ojibwe, whose land became the foundation for the life I get to live now.

I’m not here to preach a lesson or pretend I have perfect insight.

I’m just acknowledging reality.

Real gratitude includes awareness.

Respect.

Humility.

And honesty about the ground we stand on.

So yes—I’m grateful today.

Deeply.

But I’m also aware.

Awake.

Listening.

This isn’t just turkey and football.

It’s a reminder:

Don’t take your blessings for granted.

Don’t forget the stories that came before you.

Don’t ignore the truth just because it’s uncomfortable.

As Builders, we don’t sugarcoat.

We don’t shy away from complexity.

We honor what came before, even when it’s messy.

We build forward with respect and intention.

So wherever you are today…

Slow down.

Look at who’s around you.

Look at the land beneath you.

Look at the life you’re forging.

And be grateful—not blindly, but fully.

-Brickwall

There are men who don’t get to choose comfort.

Men who don’t get to choose peace.

Men who stepped forward when others stepped back.

They didn’t do it for recognition.

They didn’t do it for applause.

They did it because something inside them said:

“I will carry the weight.”

Men of discipline.

Men of brotherhood.

Men of identity forged through fire.

Today, we don’t just say “thank you.”

We acknowledge the example.

They showed us what a man is capable of when he commits to something greater than himself.

To the men who served:

We see you.

We respect you.

We honor the weight you carried.