I spent months shopping for a new espresso machine and finally chose one.

Most of the ones I was looking at run $3,000 to $5,000.

As the child of an immigrant parent, it pains me to even type that.

So before I pulled the trigger, I made myself do one thing: write down what was actually wrong with the machine I already own.

Not "it's old." Not "I want better espresso."

Two specific things:

1. I don't like the way it steams milk.
2. It leaks during the second shot every morning. Weirdly, only the second one.

That's it. That was the whole list.

Today I bought an $8 replacement gasket. No more leaking.

Then I spent 15 minutes watching a YouTube video on steaming milk.

Problems solved. $5,000 saved.

Dig this: 

You don't like carrying excess fat. You want more muscle. Your plan isn't working.

Must be your age. Must be your metabolism. Must be the program. Time to find a better one.

So you go looking for it.

But here's what I'd bet on. Your plan isn't broken. It works fine for about three weeks. Then a work trip lands, or your kid gets sick, or you have three late nights in a row, and it quietly falls apart. And when you come back to it a month later, you don't come back to your plan. You come back looking for a new one.

The problem was never the plan. It was the one or two specific places it breaks.

So do what I did with the machine. 

Write down what actually goes wrong. Be uncomfortably specific.

Not "I need to be more consistent." 

That's just "my machine sucks." 

More like: I always skip the gym on Thursdays because I get home at 7pm and I'm fried, so it's a write-off until Monday. Now that's a gasket. You can fix that.

Not "I eat bad on weekends." 

More like: I don't track anything after Friday dinner, so Saturday is a free-for-all and Sunday is damage control.

Most guys never write the list. 

They just feel vaguely like it isn't working and go shopping for something new.

Take two minutes today. One or two lines. What breaks and when?

Hit reply and send it to me. 

I read every one, and I'm collecting these. The specific ones are usually the easiest to fix, and I might use yours (anonymously) in a future letter.

Quit telling yourself you need a $5,000 machine to solve an $8 problem.

Talk soon,
Matteo