Strength Without Shortcuts
Steroids, silence, and the search for substance across body, being, balance, and business.
August 12–19, 2025
What crossed my desk this week. What it means for your walk, your work, and your witness.
Every week, I take in a flood of conversations, articles, and signals from the world. Some get tossed. Some linger. And a few hit hard enough to demand reflection.
This newsletter is where I distill what matters—what deserves attention as you build a legacy through Body, Being, Balance, and Business.
Let’s get to work.
BODY // MEDICINE OR MASK?
One article caught fire this week: Steroids are wildly underrated for mental health.
It’s a flashy claim. And it opens a deep door. Testosterone and similar treatments are being pushed not just for strength or vitality—but for depression, energy, and focus. In other words, modern malaise.
Here’s the deeper question:
Are we healing, or just hiding?
Men are over-medicated and under-discipled. The promise of quick-fix hormones skips the deeper disciplines. You know, sleep, diet, purpose, brotherhood, repentance.
That’s not to say there's no place for medical intervention. But it must be rooted in truth, not just relief.
Your body is a tool for battle, not a science experiment.
Be slow to trust solutions that bypass struggle. Be quicker to confront the cause.
Want strength? Build it.
Want peace? Train it.
Want healing? Face it.
BEING // THE WEIGHT OF BEING SEEN
Another post stood out: “I became more private… but was it worth it?”
We live in public now. Even silence feels like a statement. Choosing privacy today is an act of rebellion. But it’s also a search for self.
The man’s reflection raised the right questions:
Who are you without an audience?
Do you want to be known, or do you want to be liked?
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield reminds us: “Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate; it will seduce.”
Sometimes, noise is the resistance. Privacy can be a path to clarity. In this noisy world, I am only able to achieve this through very long hikes.
Guard your soul. Curate your inputs. Seek solitude, not isolation.
BALANCE // FERTILITY, FATIGUE & FAITH
Two heavy pieces crossed my path this week.
First: a deep-dive into PGT-A testing—genetic screening of embryos. The ethics, the emotional cost, the illusion of control. It’s the crossroads of life, science, and sovereignty.
Second: a raw post that simply said, “I really am desperate… any help please.” A man overwhelmed, asking for order in the chaos of modern life.
These two threads reveal the same truth:
We are not gods. We are dust.
Trying to perfect what is beyond our grasp leads only to anxiety and sorrow.
Balance isn’t about controlling outcomes. It’s about yielding control to the One who holds outcomes. I still struggle with control today. It is amazing how fast God moves when I come to him first with my problems instead of after I wrecked it all up first and ask Him to fix it.
Your calendar won’t save you. Your to-do list won’t love you. Your systems won’t sanctify you.
But presence? That will anchor you.
BUSINESS // VALUE IS SPIRITUAL
A hot debate flared up around art commissions—specifically, whether 50% cuts are ethical.
Here’s the heart of the issue:
Do we price work based on value or volume?
If you lead a team, pay fairly. If you create, charge rightly.
And if you hire talent, honor their craft.
The market may race to the bottom. But men of God build at the top—through truth, craftsmanship, and justice.
As Proverbs says: “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.”
Build your business with clean hands and a full heart.
FINAL REFLECTION // WORK LIKE IT MATTERS
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." — Colossians 3:23
This verse is foundational.
You don’t need more dopamine. You need more discipline.
You don’t need more hacks. You need more humility.
Let this week’s topics refine your lens.
Strengthen your Body without shortcuts.
Guard your Being from performance traps.
Steward your Balance through surrender.
Lead your Business with integrity.
In His grip and for His glory,
RealJBMangum
RESOURCES:
Steroids are so wildly underrated for mental health
Became more private but is it worth it?
How Does PGT-A Work?
really am desperate... any help please
50 % art commission