A young guy a few cubes over who is about 10 pounds overweight despite playing in sports leagues announced his current goal was to have six pack abs by summer, presumably as an indicator of his desired level of fitness.

One of the older guys who used to be a wrestler tried to give him a hint about the causal nature of outcomes being driven by actions, telling him he only needed to cut out beer.

“Oh, I could never do that,” replied the young beer drinker, memorializing a simple abstention into the eternal impossible.

“Switch to hard liquor if you feel you must drink,” offered the older guy.

“Nah, I like sugary tropical drinks with liquor. Those can’t possibly be good for me.”

At every turn he had an objection to lock in non-achievement.

How many years of self-sabotage could he endure?